Grape Planting For Wonderful Wine
The quality of the grapes you put into wine are the greatest factor of the quality of the wine produced. Put simply, doing an effective job of growing grapes is essential to producing fine wine.
It All Begins with The Place
The initial step to grape planting is preparation. The most important planning step for growing grapes that are of good quality is choosing the right spot. One of the keys to a great spot is a lot of sunlight, spread equally across the grapevine. This provides your grapes to fill with natural sugars, which will be essential for the output of alcohol in the course of the fermentation.
Selecting good soil is one more important aspect of location choice. Your soil should not have stagnant water. So your soil should drain properly. It is essential to dig your planting holes deep to ensure the soil will be loosened for proper drainage. Also, steer clear of the common mistake of enriching your soil. You shouldn't make use of fertilizers at all, as these will only benefit the weeds. Compost must be used only when even weeds don't grow in the soil. Wine grapes need to be small, so it is vital to keep soil nutrients to the very least.
Your vines must be planted at least 6 feet apart. If you intend to have a huge vineyard, 8 feet apart is even better. If you do your grape planting correctly, one healthy grapevine can produce a gallon of wine. Then again, even if you do all the things right, there is the possibility of losing part of your grape crop to disease, insects, and birds. This is a good point to do more grape planting than seems necessary.
Tips on Growing Grapes
Needless to say, grape clusters are pretty heavy and hang from vines. So these vines are going to need to have a trellis to grow on and use for support. Throughout the first year of growth you will need to choose the strongest shoot from each vine to tie to the trellis for guide and support. String or another soft material is a much better choice than wire for tying, as wire can harm the shoot. The weaker shoots should be clipped. During inactive growth periods, you will need to prune the vines as well. When the vines begin growing again, usually during the spring, select the strongest new vines out of the shoot to softly tie to the wires. These will be the vines that support the grape clusters that will be utilized to make wine.
Harvesting Your Grapes
A hydrometer can help you with harvest time. A wine making store might offer a hydrometer. It is going to be used to test the gravity levels of a liquid. The basic idea is that you want to check for the proper sugar content of your grapes just before harvesting them. Generally, a gravity of approximately 1.105 is ideal, though it could be as low as 1.095 and still be okay for harvesting.
It may take years for your hard work in grape planting to pay off, but it will be truly worth your time when it does.