Vineyard Dec 2002

Not much happening in the vineyard in December. The leafs are completely off the vines and they are ready for winter. Due to a light crop load this year and everything getting picked well before we had a hard freeze, the vines should have matured properly and be ready for winter.

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MSU Course in Viticulture & Enology

Our interest in this program was started last year when one of the MSU students, Bernard Call, who is taking this program purchased some grapes at our farm and was measuring the brix of the grapes with a refractometer. The following year he returned to our farm after being in the program for one year and he was very enthusiastic, interesting and knowledgeable.

Sandy Paetz who graciously decided to help us sell grapes one day a week had also started the MSU course in Enology. There were some very interesting conversations between the three of us about what they are studying at MSU. These converstion convinced me that this is a very worthwhile program and these two gentleman have been very helpfull in giving us an insiders view of this course.

The studies will prepare the student to work in a commercial vineyard or winery dealing with grapes grown in cooler climates such as in Michigan.

Our farm has a slightly different focus than a typical commercial vineyard that grows grapes for a winery. My interest has always been in home winemaking, selling grapes to home winemakers and not being a commercial winery. Our 20 plus varieties of grapes gives our winemaking customers lots of room for experimentation - and thats what makes winemaking a craft.

We hope to have some inside stories of what Bernard and Sandy are doing at MSU in the next few issues of the newsletter. More details about the MSU program .....

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The following is an interesting site and the book may make a nice Christmas present.

Announcing "The Grape Grower".

Written from a combination of nearly 40 years of personal experience, university training, and information from growers worldwide, this is a long-overdue book on grape growing that is thorough, hands-on, with an organic approach, and covering more practical information than any other on the market today. It also covers more on table grapes than any book in many decades, though good wine grapes are included, too. It has the answers to how to grow grapes in conditions from the equator to the arctic and is ideal for home growers as well as commercial growers. There is even information on how to breed grapes. This is a book of use to beginners, Extension agents, commercial growers, nurseries, Master Gardeners, and more.

More details are on his website.