Good books for grape growing / winemaking

 I’ve read a few books on growing grapes and winemaking. Here are a few I’d recommended in no particular order:

Great book for technical aspects of making wine.

The book that inspired me to plant a vineyard, found on an old barrel at Benmarl winery when I knew little to nothing about wine or grapes. Miller was an artist that grew grapes as a hobby then later turned it into his profession. Includes many great illustrations documenting his journey, filled with interesting characters, struggles, success and travels to Burgundy. A great read for anyone interested in wine.

Great project ideas for building winery equipment. The ridding rack was particularly useful for making sparkling cider.

Not just a book about building a do it yourself cellar but an entertaining insight to many things oenophile.

The single most useful book I’ve read for home grape growing. I often reference it.

A really interesting insight into winemaking and some of the more intellectual and philosophical aspects of it. 

A densely packed book filled with the history of wine grapes and wine making dating many thousands of years.

Interesting read on the muscadine winemaking business in early North Carolina, the failed early attempts to grow vinifera and it’s resurgence in the 1970s much credited to Biltmore Estate.

2020 wine assessment and 2021 plans

I haven’t updated the winemaking portion of this blog in detail since the yields were only two gallons. (This year should be at least six and will greatly increase over time) Some sugar was added to bring the wine and acid into balance. This was because the grapes were picked earlier than they should have been. You can rely strictly on pH but in the end picking to ripeness comes down to experience and preference. This year we will increase the hang time to a higher brix.

Tasting both the merlot and cabernet, firstly the merlot was very fresh. The color was excellent. There was no oak treatment which generally contributes more to a sense of fresh fruit when the acid is in balance. It’s an average wine but it does display its varietal well and has notes of fresh red cherry and a sense of cherry cordial which is a character I notice in merlots from the area. But, the finish is short, tannic structure is lacking, and there isn’t much complexity.

The Cabernet displayed some sulphur flaws that wafted away after decanting. (A few of the bottles have sediment.) This wine I found to be more drinkable although it has a much lighter character than bolder California cabernet and lacks the complexity of good French Cabernet. Tannic structure was very lacking and skin contact may have to be extended. As the grapes get older and the winemaking improves hopefully so will the quality.

 

Last years grapes were completely ruined by frost, which struck again this year and wiped out many of the states crops. Fortunately we only lost ten percent. There are many buds on the merlot already and the Cabernet is coming in.

Plans for this year - I ordered more Cabernet franc from Wiemer vineyard and winery in finger lakes, NY. We will be installing new trellises for these grapes

Total vines - 154 

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Winter 2020

Establishing four more rows this year; one additional row each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Two rows of Cabernet franc.

Fall/Winter 2019

After fermentation, the wine is racked and enters cold stablization at a refrigeration temperature of 40 degrees f.

The purpose of this is prevent any reaction in the wine from occurring between tartaric acid .and potassium. After fermentation, but prior to bottling, cold stability (chilling the wine near freezing)  is conducted to prevent the tartaric salt crystals from forming after bottling that can shift the ph. Since there's only a few gallons of wine this year, they fit easily in a fridge. After a couple of months, the wine will be racked and stored at 55 degrees for six months or more before bottling.

I did not add malolactic culture to the wine so it will have to happen naturally if it happens at all.

Mulch is also added to the vineyard rows to limit weed growth.

Plans for next year: an additional row of cabernet sauvignon and merlot are ordered for planting next spring. This will effectively double the output of red wine. Viognier ripened nicely this year but has been so slow to establish that I'm leaving it to one row.

Fall 2019

First grape harvest began this year. Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon picked on Sept 9th. Merlot @ 23 brix 3.35 ph Cabernet @ 24 brix 3.5 ph.

Yield - Merlot 1 gallon

Cabernet Sauvignon - 1.5 gallon

Viognier - not harvested 

Yeast - bdx Bordeaux 

Below: ph meter for testing ph and tA

Summer 2019

Most vines now are in the third year. A few merlot and Cabernet vines died from disease the year prior and were replaced last year. Viognier continues to be slow to establish. 

 

Summer

The vines are doing better this year due to a regular spray schedule. Mancozeb and sulfur sprays for fungacide, and Sevin insecticide.

Below is a 101-14 Millardet et de Grasset that ended up growing outside of the merlot graft. Next year, this will be regrafted with Merlot scions.

Below that is a healthy Merlot vine grafted onto 101-14 rootstock. You can see the difference in vigor between the vinifera and its rootstock.

One change that's been made to the vineyard was to fill the rows in with clover and native grasses. Rainfall started to create too much erosion.

With continued growth this year, the follow year should begin to produce grapes on some of the vines.