Grape growing has been in the history books since the early development of farming practices. The techniques that are used today to manage and maintain a grapevine, have been perfected over centuries of trial and error. Like in any plant-growing process, weeding, pruning and pest control are required regularly to maintain a healthy vine, and to tame your plant to grow at a certain pace, and in the right directions. This process can take a few years, since the vine wont be fully mature until the third year of growth when it gives fruit. However, this enables the grape grower to tame the plant effectively for the very first harvest, and to obtain a top quality wine making grape in the very first picking.
Pruning is simply getting the plant growth to encourage more growth
Pruning is the action of clipping back shoots and cutting excess foliage to control the plants growth and to ensure that no energy is being spent feeding dry or unnecessary plant sections. Grapevines are trained to maintain a consistent plant shape, size and productivity; a process that takes about the time it takes to grow your first harvest.
Pruning Your Vine
After the trellis is set up and the grapevine is planted, vines will be permitted to grow from one main shoot that is tied vertically to the trellis. Any other shoots must be clipped back to prevent their growth. After the following dormant period, you must establish what will be the arms of the grapevine where your fruit will grow on. To do this, you tie two of the shoots that emerge from main shoot, horizontally onto the trellis. Make sure to trim back all other shoots to prevent their growth. After this step, the grapevine will begin to take shape on its own, with a pruning during the dormant season to help the plant. Pruning during dormant seasons is crucial to the harvest of healthy and flavorful grapes.
The Pruning Benefits
The way in which you will prune your grapes once they have taken shape, depends entirely on the type of grape that you choose to grow. If youve chosen a hybrid grape, you know these varieties are suitable for the winter since they endure both cold weathers, and many diseases. As they generally produce less foliage, they will generally require less work than a regular European variety of grapes.
Pruning will rid your grapevines of fruiting canes or spurs from previous years that are no longer productive. Vines canes only produce fruit during the first year of growth, so new, healthy canes must be grown consistently to secure your next harvest. Another benefit of pruning is the ability to reduce the amount of foliage in your vine, as well having control over your grapevines production. The amount of shoots that you clip will be proportional to size of your crop. If your crop seems to have excess foliage that creates a shady canopy, make sure to increase your regular pruning in order to maximize the amount of sunlight that the vines receive.
What to Use: Pruning Tool
Hand tools like loppers, hand pruners, and handsaws are typically used to prune grapevines. The goal for the grapevine owner is to avoid unnecessary injury to the plant. Most likely, when removing shoots that are one-year-old, hand pruners can be used effectively. On the other hand, larger wood should be cut with either the lopper or a handsaw.
Pruning is a simple process that will help you control the productivity and size of your vine, as well as the quality of the grapes it blossoms. Be patient during the first taming, and you are guaranteed to be rewarded with a top quality wine-making grape.
Pierre Duponte is a wine making enthusiast. He spends his time teaching others how to make fine wines. For more great tips on pruning grapes or you can get his free mini course on grape growing and how to make wine visit http://www.grapegrowingwinemakingtips.com/.
by Annie Phelan
Making homemade wine can a great hobby and a lot of fun to boot. There is nothing like the feeling of opening your own wine and knowing that what you created surpasses many of the high priced winery wines. However, while making wine may be fun, there is a bit of a learning curve.
Before beginning your wine making endeavor, there are some important things that you need to have a real understanding of. There are plenty of experts, websites and books where you can learn the basics and nuances of wine making. There are a lot of places where you can pick up all the equipment needed at reasonable prices both online and at a brick and mortar.
The easiest way to start making homemade wine is to purchase a wine kit. Beginners will find it much simpler to using a wine kit to start with and then move on and up from there.
While it might be a good idea to use quality equipment for wine making it is more important to use top notch ingredients. The higher the quality of ingredients the better your wine will taste, but fear not, if you are on a budget you can still make wine from juice concentrate!
It can take anywhere from seven to ten weeks to complete the entire wine making process and it varies between wine types. Do not drink your wine early because you will ruin the final product and wine is better the longer it gets to age.
Websites and books are great resources for finding yummy wine recipes from dandelion wine to merlot. You can turn your special homemade wine into a personalized gift for someone, tailoring the taste to that of the receiver. A wine lover will appreciate a gift of wine designed especially for them!
Packaging your homemade wine can be an important aspect of the wine making process. From the bottle to the cork to the wine label, it can all give your wine that special touch. Wine labels are probably the most important aspect for personalizing your wine.
The wine label will give one the overall impression of the wine. Wine labels are used for logos, the name of the wine and putting personal messages on the bottle that is used as a gift. Sounds like so much fun!
About the Author:
Annie Phelan writes post about making homemade wine and how to present your wine using
customized wine labels. Visit
Wine Labels World for more instruction regarding customizing your wine and creative packaging.
An essential part of the wine tasting experience is using the correct wine glasses. The proper wine glass will enhance the flavor of the wine being tasted dramatically. Wine glasses were created very purposely and their shape provides function.
The red wine glass incorporates a base, stem and large bowl and mouth to bring about the perfect glass for drinking red wine. The large round bowl helps to establish the unique bouquet belonging to each individual wine. The mouth is large to allow a person to sip their wine because red wine is made to be sipped.
Red wine glasses use the surface area of the large bowl to oxygenate and evaporate the wine allowing for a much bolder aroma. Red wine is known for its strong and bold taste. The large bowl is also used to grasp the glass by which helps keep red wine at the desired temperature, room temperature.
White wine glasses are encompassed of the same components as the red wine glasses with a few differences in size and shape. White wine is a much more delicate wine and the white wine glass has a tall and narrow bowl in order to focus the bouquet directly. The stem of the white wine glass is also taller, allowing for the consumer to hold the glass by the stem which allows the white wine to stay at the preferred cooler temperatures.
The mouth of white wine glasses is narrow providing for the wine to be tossed onto the back of the palette by making you tilt your head back in order to drink it. The region of the mouth where you taste the wine is crucial to the overall experience.
Champagne is also another type of wine requiring its own specially designed glass. This special glass is called the champagne flute. Flutes are tall and narrow which allows for the bubbles and effervescence of the champagne to last longer.
It has become apparent by now that wine glasses serve more than just the purpose of having a container to hold your wine in but to also help create the perfect flavor. Every type of wine has its own glass that it should be used with to enjoy the smells and tastes to the utmost. Pairing wine with food is also another experience that should not be missed!
White wine will pair perfectly with almost any type of seafood. Red wine goes great with red meat and surprisingly with chocolate. Feel free to play with food and wine combinations, but always remember to use the correct wine glasses!
Printed wine glasses are imperative to your wine drinking experience. Wine Glasses Co. provides tutorials and information regarding all things wine related, including helping you find the perfect wine glass!
