Bloom in the Vineyard,
Vine size increases dramatically, Some winter damage,
Try rose wine this year, Bernard Call is in Washington
State working at Chateau St. Michele, New products this
fall, Understanding Grape Berry Development, July/August
grape recipe.
It is wonderful to be able to walk through
the vineyard when it is in full bloom. The
scent is strong but not overpowering.
Click here to see what happens during bloom.
In July & August we are usually
busy mowing the grass between the rows, applying our
yearly fertilizer and monitoring bloom. The vines a
growing at a tremendous rate and the flower blossoms
quickly become pea size grape berries. Soon we will
be making plans for fall harvest. Time moves
very quickly at our farm.
By August the vines have quickly grown to just
about full size. The change from bud break
to mid summer is tremendous. Many of the berries are
almost full size.
Einset Seedless clusters ....
You may have heard about vine damage in northern
Michigan - may vines were killed to the ground because
of the long cold winter. I thought we had missed
some of this damage but a few vines in our vineyard
were still affected. The supply of white wine varieties
may be a little short this season, but the red wine
varieties and the concord types look real good.
Click here for pictures of typical winter damage this
year.
This will be a good season to try our version
of a "white zinfandel." Foch or Dechaunac
juice will make a nice blush wine - I had a Foch rose
given to me a while ago and it was excellent.
Regarding Foch blush wine - I heard
from Bernard Call (An MSU student who has written articles for us) recently. I
had questioned him regarding a case of wine that he
gave me and there were some bottles of an excellent
blush wine included in it. He emailed back telling me that is was Foch.
He also mentioned that he is in Washington
state working for Chateau St. Michele in their research
dept, doing some interesting work on riesling and he
will send us a report.
New services/items this fall:
We will be experimenting with 2 and 5 gallon
pails of crushed grapes with a nylon strainer bag
in it. Put a 2 gallon "grape bag"
into your juice, let it ferment and you finally have
a true red wine. After it ferments you can pull it
out and squeeze it or let it drain. These may be handy
for winemakers without a press.
We will also have a grape crusher site available
for you to use back by our barn. This will be self-
serve - You Use It - You Clean It!
**********************
Understanding Grape Berry Development
(An excellent article from Practical Winery & Vineyard Magazine)
BY James Kennedy, Department of
Food Science & Technology
Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
In the world of winemaking, there is a universal
truth about the quality of the vintage: It is directly
correlated with optimal grape maturity. Site
selection and grapegrowing practices have a tremendous
influence on achieving optimal maturity.
To continue ....
**********************
July/August grape recipe - Curried Chicken Salad
with Grapes
From American Diabetes Association's Diabetic Meals
in 30 Minutes - Or Less
This
Month in the Vineyard
