Grapes grown in garden. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
ProblemI've been to dozens of vineyard and winery visits and lots of the terms are highly technical.
Answers
I recommend that you plant grape vines in your garden, (or visit a friend's garden with vines) just to learn about what the importance of the terroir (meaning land or territory and fertility of the land).
If possible help pick the grapes. Many people go to vineyards and volunteer to help. If they only want professional pickers in the vineyards, they might want help in the office with answering the phone or translating visitors' letters.
Now that I've picked and packed grapes and helped start winemaking, the whole process and the technical terms are all much clearer. I'll explain it to you
Planting Grapes
First, we researched which vines grow well in our country and soil (which was London, England. We chose red and white wines. A friend of ours has half a dozen vines all together in one area of his garden, another half a zen in another area. Another has three vines, one over the conservatory, decorative, two others in different parts of the garden.
We planted the vines. You pick a good spot. One half of the garden was in the shade, the other in the sun. We chose the sunny side to ripen the grapes. Because of numerous trees and existing bushes, we had all our vines in one unshaded area. We bought six different plants to see which would do best.
After the grafted seedlings from the nursery arrived, we cleared the ground and dug holes for the stakes. The angle irons (metal stakes) already had holes for whatever you need holes for, so we threaded through the supports.
We planted three reds at the back, three whites at the front.
A year later we had teeny grapes on long branches. We set up wires to train the branches horizontally, picking the strongest shoots and getting rid of the weaker ones which would just take up space and light and divert the plant's energy from the better ones.
Netting
We bought netting to protect the grapes from predators. (Anti-hail netting in the commercial vineyards is now allowed by law since 2018 so they will be using that in France and Europe from next year, 2019. that's a good thing, because the netting doesn't change the flavour, and hail is an increasing problem with global warming and climate change and increasing numbers of countries and vineyards and production.)
First Fruit
20015 we bought the seedling vines.
We had tiny baby fruit the first two years.
Proper fruit year four 2018 (counting the year we bought them as year zero). If you counted the year we bought as year one it would be year four. A one-year-old baby is in their second year of life, same issue. (The Koreans say you are born aged one because you were planted in the mother the previous year. I found this out when I was teaching English and asked a Korean pupil his age. He replied that he was seventeen - in Korean - but sixteen in English counting.)
PICKING
I saw that it was about to rain and decided to pick the grapes earlier than I had been asked. I did it for the wrong reasons. I didn't want to go out in the rain and get wet and slip around in the mud. However, picking the fruit before it rains is the right thing to do.
We printed labels to remind ourselves which wines went where. If we did it again, we would plant them alphabetically.
When the grapes appeared in late August in London, England, it was obvious which were the red grapes and which were the white grapes. The so-called white grapes were green.
The red grapes for the red wines were two shades of 'red', one being almost black.
Saint LAURENT HAD NO FRUIT! We are thinking of sending photos to the nursery to ask why.
PLANNING PICKING
I was instructed to put a label inside each bag, not outside where it could fall off.
When I picked, I labelled each bag with the position of the vine. And took photos.
I had to look at the potential harvest, and ensure I had enough zip-lock bags.
I trotted off with my bags and secateurs. I had found my gardening gloves to protect my hands.
I was surprised how long it took to pick. First I had to disentangle the netting and lift it in order to reach the bunches of grapes. Then I had to locate the stalk to cut it - often around the back.
I had to hold the bag exactly under the grapes with the bag's mouth open to catch the grape bunch. I did not want the grapes to fall on the dirty ground.
I soon felt pricking in my ankles. When I got back Indoors I found I had been badly bitten.
I now have a much greater interest in which grapes are planted, which variety produces most fruit, whether you go for a bigger yield or better flavour, and when in the season you have to pick. Apparently, the commercial vineyard owner or manager listens to the weather forecast, the three-day forecast. As soon as they hear rain predicted, they contact the pickers.
Starting the Winemaking
Sorting table, training and trellising, vendange (not vendage which is selling but French for harvest), must (not a verb but a noun) and sulphite (not sulphide) fermentation, refractometer (which tells you how much sugar there is so you ferment until there isn't wany if you want a dry wine.
Starting the wine-making process at home involved orting table, de-stemming and crushing (with feet); adding potassium metabisulphite to sterilise equipment and must.
We expect to get only two and half bottles. Very little wine considering the time spent and the money on the vines and stakes and wine-making equipment, plus our time. However, the knowledge of the wine-making process has helped enormously in choosing wines from a menu, on vineyard tours, winery tours, and looking at plants growing in the wild and in botanical gardens and friends' gardens.
Gowing a vine is a bit like walking a dog. You suddenly have a shared interest with people all over the world, and a non-stop topic of conversation.
The Chinese say: "The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now."
Grapes for wine-making have thick skins, because the skins add the flavour as well as the colour to red wines. Eating grapes or dessert grapes have thinner skins. I was pleasantly surprised that the grapes were edible, slightly sweet, not bitter at all. If we hadn't wanted to spend the time and trouble and money making wine, we could have turned them into grape juice or just eaten them.
Technical Terms
millerandage - (French pronounce it meal-er, (pronunciation according to website forvo) condition of grapes in which there are many teeny seedless berries (causes include bad weather at flowering time) or shot berries
shot berries - small berries, rock hard like grapeshot, you can't crush them
chicken berries - normal berries are called chicken berries
Now, after understanding all that, you can go back to re-visit some of the world's great vineyards. My favourites are:
UK flag
Denbies has entertainment for everyone, offers both indoor and outdoor tours (pay for a combined ticket), a large supermarket and a cafeteria downstairs beside the supermarket and a fine dining restaurant on the top floor.
USA Flag
California - drive north from San Francisco until you reach the winery region, several wineries have supermarket size shops, and assorted tours. Calculate driving times and book a tour.
Plan now, or for next summer. The northern and summer hemispheres are different so somebody is running or booking tours somewhere.
Denbies in Surrey, England, has events all year including wine and cheese making days, autumn marathon, Christmas. Sign up for their newsletter.
Useful Website
Victoriana Nursery
https://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/Grape_Vines/
top vineyards around the USA
https://www.travelandleisure.com/food-drink/wine/best-vineyards-yelp
visittheusa.co.uk
visitbritain.com
visitengland.com
https://www.denbies.co.uk/tours-and-experiences/
https://www.denbies.co.uk/events/forthcoming-events/
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker
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