All About Growing Grapes

Growing grapes is one those wonderful activitiesflavor in the skin. This results in a grape that is
that lets you feel connected to the earth and tounappetizing to eat but makes better wine. This
civilization itself. Man has been growing grapes andmeans you will have to make a choice between
drinking wine since the dawn of civilization. Todaygrowing grapes for eating or growing grapes for
the grape growing industry is alive and wellwine making. Perhaps your soil will make the
thriving like never before. But you don't have todetermination for you.
run a vineyard to enjoy this wonderful art. It alsoThe Fruits of Your Labor
makes a great hobby.Harvesting your crop is one of the great joys of
There are two primary varieties of grapes thatgrape growing. Only harvest grapes that are
are grown to produce wine. European varietiesfresh, healthy and disease free, once they are
are the original grape types brought from Francefully ripe. Assuming you have grown your grapes
and other European countries to California. Today,for wine making, visit your wine making store and
they are used throughout California and flourish instock up on yeast. You might also need to
the California climate, as well in their native lands inresearch the chemicals available for reducing the
Europe. The other variety is the hybrid grape vine.acid content of the grapes. Hybrids in particular
Hybrids are bred to be hardy and do well in areascontain a lot of acid which can affect the quality
where the growing season is shorter. They areof the wine. Different types of yeast will impart a
more resistant to disease and do well in placesdifferent flavor to the wine. Selection of the
where harsh winter conditions would threaten theyeast is one of the points on which a good
more delicate European varieties. Grape growing isvintner can distinguish himself.
an expanding industry. There are more and moreIt is the yeast that causes the grapes to ferment
places across the world that are growing grapesand change into wine. After about a week of
and learning to produce fine wine so the hybridfermentation the wine will be ready to age. A
varieties have been a welcome advance to manygood wine should be aged anywhere from a few
would-be vintners and hobbyists.weeks (as with Beaujolais Nouveau) or several
Maturing the Plantsyears. Most wines peak after a certain amount of
Grape vines are perennial plants. It takes abouttime and won't do any better with further aging.
three years for a plant to grow and mature toSo, you will have to hone your skills in wine
the point where it can produce enough grapes fortasting and choose the peak time for your wine!
the first wine harvest. While the right growingReally classic, expensive wines have probably
conditions are important, as is the skill of theaged for more than two years, but these come
vintner in producing the wine, it is the vine itselffrom special grapes grown under perfect
that will reflect the ultimate quality of the resultingconditions and by expert hands.
wine. Interestingly, grapes that are plump, sweetPerhaps the biggest reward for growing your own
and juicy and suitable for eating are not the bestgrapes comes with the pop of that first cork.
wine making grapes. Vintners of fine red andInvite friends to your wine tasting and connect
white wines prefer grapes that are small andwith a tradition that has united man throughout
have been grown in soil that is depleted ofthe centuries and across the continents in a
nutrients. Sunlight and water are important, butcommon bond.
the grapes must be small to concentrate the