Wine Instruction

Vineyard care is crucial to have a successful vineyard, and to grow grapes that produce award winning wines.  While the production of wine also plays a huge role in creating wines, the grapes that wineries start off with also have a large influence in the wine quality as well.  This article talks about how to take care of your vineyard and what you should make sure you do to get the most value out of your money making crop.

If you own a vineyard then do remember to plan out carefully what to harvest and when to harvest in your land. They are considered to be as a hub for wine industry. You can find their presence almost all over the world. Their popularity is due to the reason they are recognized as a place for growing grapes. Grapes are considered to be as a main source for making wines. From decades grapes are used in wine making, and also for eating. If you maintain your winery in a proper manner then it is sure you are going to have a good harvest of grapes.

To maintain vineyards it will ask for lots of resources for its effective maintenance. As it is already been pointed out that they are found almost all over the world then from this one point is sure that they are planted with different varieties of grapes. This is for the reason that each countries climatic condition and the variety of soil also vary. Thus a particular category of grapes will be produced only in that country or region. Some wineries will demand for lesser attention for growing grapes, while some will demand for a greater attention so that you have a good harvest of grapes.

One of the important activities that have to look into is to regularly trim the grape vines so that you get a better reap of grapes. To achieve the greater success in the harvest the location of the harvest also plays an important role as it influences the quality of fruit grown. You must ensure that the vines are receiving a sufficient amount of sunlight. Also take care to keep away animals like birds, rabbits, deer's, and other animals.

The variety of grapes you require for the production of wines and the required amount of space required to grow each variety needs to be carefully planned. As for the reason the vines which you are growing will usually spread all over the yard thus it will tend to destroy other variety of grapes harvested. To avoid this you must make sure to properly trim the vines so that there is no sign of damages occurring to the varieties of grapes harvested. Whether it is summer or winter season a proper care and maintenance of vineyards will fetch you better results.

Vineyard grapes will necessitate for a greatest care all over the year. With the help of fencing you can provide a great support to your vines grown. Always have a check of wires if you notice any rust in them then immediately replace with the new ones. On the whole you have to take care of your vineyard as they are the main source for wine making. If you are able to produce a good harvest then it is going to give you a lucrative income. The idea of growing grapes has been similar for decades. Some would have changed their process due to the advancement of technology.

Sabrina Jose has contributed several articles in varying fields, especially such as Kaleden Real Estate. If your interested in the area of real estate, visit vineyard. To collect further information,check this location South Okanagan Real Estate

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If you are interested in opening up a winery, it is important to know which rules are required for being compliant.  Everything from liscencing, to taxing to label compliance are very important in staying within regulations.  There are more wineries today in the US than ever before as the population in the US  becomes more interested in drinking wine.  This article talks about the different areas where wineries need to be compliant and how.  Read on for more!

If you have a new winery then you would probably need beneficial wine compliance training to make certain you're conscious of the numberless rules that regulate managing a wine business in the USA. Satisfying state and National licensing, reporting and labelling obligations can be a daunting hurdle to defeat. Complete compliance training goes a long way to guarantee your business fulfils the requisite regulatory and tax obligations.

Respecting tax regulations

Your new winery has to have the correct permits to function in your state. Each state has distinct licensing obligations. The submission and authorization process can be off-putting for new timers. That is when you will realize that wine compliance training facilitates you in grasping the necessary policies that underpin persistent maintenance of your Federal Basic Permit.

One of the vital rules of the USA Department of Treasury's Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade, normally called the TTB, is the need to file half-monthly excise tax returns where your yearly tax charge is bigger than $50,000 or your tax deferral cover is deficient. You will have to settle your excise tax two occasions a month on the 14th and the 29th of every calendar month. If you do not pay the tax on time, the TTB will penalize you for willful refusal to pay the mandatory tax. The fine is 5 for each month or portion of a month. This class of financial punishment can progressively add up if you're slapdash about complying with tax regulations.

Adhering to licensing conditions

If you are selling to clients who will re sell your wine, then you have to be informed that they have to be licensed to do so. Wine compliance training will notify you of the crucial licensing conditions of your consumers. You have to make sure that, if you are involved in some type of custom crush business, your clientele hold a Type 17 whole sale license. Otherwise, they should be a licensed winery with a Type two Winegrowers license. Also, your clientele should possess a Federal Basic Permit without which it would be against the law for them to do business. Thus, you should be exceptionally clear in your mind that you do not sell your wine to any buyer not licensed to resell wine.

Observing Federal Label Approvals

Wine compliance training makes it unproblematic for your new winery to respect Federal label approvals. You have to obtain a Certificate of Label Approval, or COLA, for each new vintage of wine your winery makes if you do not have a Certificate of Label Approval for it before now. If an alcohol test on your new vintage displays that the alcohol content is within 1% of the content displayed on the label of your earlier vintage, and the alcohol by volume of the wine is 14.1 percent or more, then you do not require a new Certificate of label approval for the new vintage. The tax owed on your wine is based on the alcohol content. Labelling your wine properly is vital because if the alcohol test indicates that the alcohol content is different from the declaration on your label or Certificate of label approval, your whole stock of wine can be frozen until you achieve a new COLA. This will together tie up your capital and possibly ruin your wine.

Respecting conditions regarding obliteration of wine

From your wine compliance training you'll learn that it is against the law to obliterate spoiled wine without permission from the Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade. An investigator must examine the wine you are going to destroy and the TTB have got to give permission for wine obliteration, failing which you will bear a tax penalty. You may think of getting around this accountability by destroying wine and then accounting for it as stock loss as a result of evaporation. This path of action wouldn't be wise as you would be deemed as having deceived the government. Should the amount of wine destroyed exceed the twelve-monthly shortfall acceptable of 6 percent of the total gallons of wine, then your winery will very possible face a TTB check.

Complete wine compliance training

Being new to the job in the winery trade can be extremely challenging for countless operators. You ought to provide yourself with comprehension concerning regulations and tax laws through full wine compliance training. This is where Compli Beverage is your model guidance associate and information centre for all you require to be familiar with concerning basic federal compliance, compliance reporting and data organisation, label registration and price posting. You will be completely educated of the complicated rules you need to abide by to ensure your winery fulfills all the compulsory legal obligations.

Compliance Training

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Wine comes in different types, reds, whites, and blushes.  Red wines seem to be more popular than white wines however.  There are many types of red wines, but the more popular red wines in the US seem to be Cabernet, Merlot and Shiraz, or Syrah.  Other reds include Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Malbec, and Chiant.  The world of red wines almost seems endless when you add the blends like Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cab-Merlot blends.  This article focuses on the 3 blends that are most popular in the US and how they distinguish themselves.

The consumption of red wine is an art in itself, the practice and knowledge of which can turn one into a wine connoisseur. Many people pride themselves in knowing the different types of wine, being able to tell between a Merlot or Shiraz and the correct technique tasting, assessing and drinking the wine. Red wine can be categorized into several types or categories, arguably, the most popular of which include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz.

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most well-known red wine varieties and is classified as a medium to full bodied dry red wine. This wine with its parents, bell pepper and oak aromas as a luxuriant deep purple and garnet color. The grapes used are renowned for their hardiness and resistance to harsh weather conditions and diseases. This wine is produced all across the world in the predominant wine producing areas like as Australia, France and California.

Merlot has been described as a good type of wine to introduce to first-time red wine drinkers. This wine is a medium bodied wine and is a pleasant wine to drink with its soft flavour's of blackberry, cherry, plum and herbs. This wine is commonly produced in California, Australia, Chile, Romania and Italy. It accompanies just about any dish.

Syrah or Shiraz is a medium bodied wine that is generally blended with other wines such as Cabernet. This wine is predominantly produced in France, Australia and California. Much like a Merlot, this wine is not very acidic and as a result is very popular with entry-level red wine drinkers or those who do not enjoy an overwhelming taste and aroma. This wine can be characterized with its spicy nuances with an undercurrent of oak, Toffee and black fruit. This wine companies red meats in particular such as game and beef.

These three types of wine are some of the more popular types of red wines that are consumed. However there are several more types of wines available on the market which also provide just as much taste and pleasure to the palette.

Anne has been writing articles online for nearly 4 years now. She specializes in writing on subjects like woman's issues, travel and product reviews. Have a look at her most resent website on the athletic bra and the best sports bra.

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Publish Date: 06/21/2010

I thought this was s fun article that talks about vineyard grapes. Wine grapes are not the kind of grapes you would expect to find in a store as table grapes. Wine grapes are tiny but full of flavor. They have specifically been bread to be optimum for producing wine Read on for more on how to pick these grapes and when is the best time for vineyard grape harvest.

Vineyard grapes are normally harvested or picked during the fall. Because unlike many other types of fruit, grapes do not ripen or get any sweeter after they have been picked, it is essential to make sure they are ripe for harvesting.

How to tell whether grapes are ripe

Grapes generally change color when they ripen. But sometimes they change color before they ripen completely. You can squeeze the berries to see how soft they are, but the best way really is to taste them. Usually if one grape in a bunch is ripe, the rest will be too.

Remember that the sugar content of ripe grapes is as high as it will ever be (usually around 20%) and the acid levels will be low. The aroma and flavor should be at its best when the grapes are ripe. This is why timing is so important.

If grapes are picked too early, the wine is very likely to lack body and substance. The alcohol content will also be lower unless extra sugar is added to the fermenting mix. If grapes are picked too late, the potential alcohol content of the grapes will be higher (so the resultant wines are more likely to have a high alcohol content) but they will have a very low acid content and so extra acid will often need to be added to the mix.

How to harvest ripe grapes

Wine farmers often use machine harvesters which are quick and take very little effort to pick the grapes quickly. But they can't judge whether all bunches of grapes on the vine are ripe and they also tend to pull off stalks and leaves. Apart from which, unless you have a substantial vineyard, the expense of this type of machinery isn't viable.

So there's no doubt that you will be harvesting your grapes by hand. To do this you will need sharp secateurs. You will also need a large basket to put the picked grapes into.

Then you can try your hand at making your own wine at home.

Al Barker is a grape growing expert. Al has spent the past 16 years mastering how to grow vineyard grapes.

In Al's many years he has not only grown world class grapes himself, but has also taught hundreds of people how to grow and harvest vineyard grapes in their own backyard.

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This is a great article because it demystifies the wine label.  The label on the bottle of wine can be quite confusing if you are new to the world of wine as well as there are all kinds of abbreviations and terms that are printed on the label.  This article discusses some of the most common terms that you may come across as you shop for wine.  Read on to see what thes terms are and what they mean.

For the average wine consumer, there is a plethora of intimidation associated with wine buying. This is a feeling that is most often associated with not understanding wine labels. New world wines tend to make it easier - wines bottled in Australia, South America and the United States are often more direct in their presentation of the type of wine and the name of the vineyard. On the other hand, old world wine labels like those from France, Italy, Spain and Germany carry with them loads of classifications, harvest-types, town names, vineyard titles and producer idiosyncrasies - all in a foreign language. While these labels embody the wonderfully classic aesthetic associated with a good looking wine label, they almost always cause a cocking of the head for the average wine buyer.

In an effort to make the process less of a mess and more fun for those unmoved with the prospect of memorizing a pocket dictionary worth of French, Italian, Spanish and German wine terms, here is a list of the top ten things to look for on a wine label. The first five are things you want to look for, and the last five are items that should raise a flag of caution or don't mean what you think they should.

1. Cru

If there's one term you should learn when looking for a good French wine, it's Cru. The infamous wine regions of Bordeaux, Burgundy and Alsace in France will carry the term Cru somewhere on the label to indicate that the wine is from a town or producer of high quality.

2. Poor Soil / Deprived of Water

This will be something you read on the back of the wine label if there is a description. Sure - it sounds counter-intuitive, but wine that is grown in poor soil and deprived of water irrigation is actually likely to be of higher quality. Why? Because when a vine is deprived of excess water and nutrients, it will channel more of its energy into ripening the fruit rather than producing bright and vibrant leaves. The result is a higher quality grape harvest.

3. Methode Traditionelle (Traditional Method)

This applies primarily to sparkling wine made in the United States and Australia. If you see Traditional Method on the label of a new world wine it means that it is made in the same way as traditional Champagne, and will often be less expensive!

4. Vieilles Vignes (Old Vines)

Similar to the concept of vines grown in poor soil with minimal irrigation, vines that are considered old vines have more concentrated juices. The result is a vine that produces wines with denser, richer flavors. And as the juice is more robust, so usually are the other aspects of the grape, including the tannin and the acidity. A reference to Old vines either on the front or the back label is a positive indication of the wine's quality. This will be called Vieilles Vignes on French Wines.

5. Estate Bottled

On a bottle of French wine, you will see this labeled as Mis en Bouteille au Chateau, Mis en Bouteille au Domaine, or Mis en Bouteille au Propriete. The concept of an estate bottled wine is that it was grown, produced and bottled at the same location. There is an inference that the wine maker takes a great deal of pride in all aspects of the wine making process and wants the world to know that he or she oversees every element of the wine's production. As such, it is typically a reference to higher quality wine.

6. Odd Sounding or Unfamiliar Wine Awards

This is something that should raise a red flag. Australia notoriously has problems with wine makers placing gold, silver or bronze stickers on their wine labels that boast winning an award at an esoteric wine festival. Until very recently, there was no regulation in place for what type of award was worthy of placing on a wine label. If you do see award-winning stickers, make sure that the event sounds familiar or at least sounds large. You don't want to end up with a wine that won an award at a bake sale.

7. Flowery Marketing Terms

Most consumers have no problem identifying marketing adjectives from legitimate inferences to why a product is high-quality. Be wary of terms that a marketer developed while staying up late at the local café in the midst of a brain-storming frenzy. Anything that is trying to sound impressive by using words like exceptional, from wine maker's personal bin, or limited release is most likely trying to sell the wine based on gimmicks rather than on its quality.

8. Vague Geological References

High quality wines are usually a reflection of the unique characteristics of the small plot of land on which the grapes were grown. Wine makers will want to highlight this fact by referencing their specific region or town and the vineyard name. Be cautious of wine labels that reference a vague geographical space without getting more specific. South-Eastern Australia is a notorious labeling term you will find on Australian wines, which is about as specific as saying This Wine Was Made on Planet Earth. South-Eastern Australia includes the majority of the country's wine growing regions. Similarly, a wine that only says California Wine, or French Wine without honing in on towns or more isolated regions should be avoided.

9. Grand Vin

A Grand Vin term on a French wine label simply refers to the fact that the wine is the primary one produced at that vineyard. It is often confused with Vieilles Vignes (Old Vine), which is a reflection of quality. Grand Vin is a neutral term that will give you little indication either way.

10. Superieur

This labeling term causes confusion similar to Grand Vine listed above. It sounds cool but all it really refers to is the fact that a French or an Italian wine has a higher alcohol content than what it is traditionally known for.

The art of understanding the wine label can be the journey of a lifetime, but there's no reason why the average consumer can't get a leg up by understanding some of the key items to recognize. The most important thing is to have a sense of adventure and continue to explore new wines. Taste them and see how the label reflects what you like (or don't like) about the wine. If it was flat and watery, were there gimmicky marketing terms that were used in the description? If it was full, balanced and complex, did it have a reference to Old Vines? The terms listed here will help equally with choosing wine off of a menu at a restaurant as buying a bottle in a store. Listen closely to the waiter or sommelier's description. You never know what gems you can find by simply being aware of the terms listed here!

Tynan Szvetecz is an editor for http://www.savoreachglass.com, an international wine directory that is helping explore the spirit of wine for a new generation. Wine hobbyists, sommeliers, merchants and growers have all come together to contribute content to this directory in an effort to make it as informative and easy to use as possible.

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Each industry has its own  specific software that efficiently handles the nuances in business of that specific industry.  The winery industry is no different.  For those who are looking for the different kinds of software tools that are available to the winery industry, you can do some simple searches online to find the software companies that specifically cater to the winery industry.  This article doesn't give specific software packages, but it does talk about what kinds of software packages do what for a particular part of the winery business.  Read on for more.

It is common knowledge that software essentially runs our lives. Most of us would literally grind to a halt if the data that is maintained by our various electronic devices suddenly was not available. The wine industry has come to rely on computer software to keep track of their inventories and activities as well. And just like many other industries a number of wine specific software offerings have also been developed over the past few decades.

Having worked at a number of wineries over the past 20 years I have seen first hand a variety of record keeping systems out there. These range from the classic old fashioned (and non-tech) hand written journal style, to the excel spreadsheet style and finally the full blown wine specific database software system. Each system certainly has its pluses and minuses. I won't go into all of those right now but suffice to say that regardless of which system is used there is always one essential element that holds the key to its success. The upkeeper. Any of these systems are only going to be as effective as the data they contain and how regularly that is kept up. As the classic software expression goes, "garbage in, garbage out".

The person or people in charge of maintaining a winery's records system really hold the reins in many ways in regards to guiding several decision areas. The data they are keeping track of can be used for labeling decisions, accounting projections, and marketing purposes just to name a few. This is part of the reason so many wineries have gone the database software route for their tracking purposes. There are several software platforms for tracking the wine's life from grape to bottle, and several more which are used to assist wineries navigate the maze of shipping regulations in getting their wines to customers across the country. Handling these two sections of winery compliance without the use of well developed, smart software can many times longer to complete by hand, and potentially not as effectively either. Effective use of industry specific software is one of the smarter business moves wineries can make to cover themselves as far as compliance, but also for business planning and beyond.

Interested in knowing about another area of specific detail related to the wine industry?
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A growing trend in the wine industry is organic wine.  As the organic industry takes on more of a market share, wine is no exception to this rule.  What is organic wine?  This article talks about some of the things that go into (or are not included) in the making of Organic Wine.  This is a high level article and to actually make the wine you will need more information, but this will point you in the right direction.

The fundamental idea and purpose of organic winemaking is to produce a wine that hasn't been polluted in any way by chemicals.

While there are many wine farmers who grow organic grapes, almost all of them use some form of sulfites to help preserve the wine and prevent unhealthy bacteria from forming in the wine while it matures long term. This has created quite a stir in the industry because the United States Government official organic program has ruled that if sulfur of any kind is added to wine it simply isn't 100% organic, even if the grapes used to make the wine are 100% organic.

If you make your own wine at home and add Campden tablets - which are frequently part of a wine making recipe - you will be adding sulfur to your wine. But if you make a so-called "quick wine" that will be ready for drinking within two months, you don't have to worry about the tablets. In fact they are not recommended for quick wines, largely because you will taste the sulfur, and also because the carbon dioxide in the wine will get rid of germs short term, so there's no point.

But to make an organic wine that really is organic in every possible way, you are going to have to use organically grown wine grapes. A foolproof way to achieve this objective is to grow your own grapes without any chemical fertilizers, insecticides or pesticides.

Growing grapes at home can be a lot of fun, and even if you have a relatively small backyard, it is doable. If you have a larger property, you might find that being a suburban wine farmer leads to a new business opportunity, or at very least, gives you a chance to produce home-grown gifts for your friends and family.

Al Barker is an organic wine making expert. Al has spent the past 16 years mastering the art of organic wine making.

In Al's many years he has not only made world class wine himself, but has also taught hundreds of people the art of organic wine making.

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Wine is growing in popularity, but when the economy slumps, sales soften.  It doesn't mean that wine still isn't enjoyed.  However, if you want to know what the grape growers know, then you need to grow your own grapes.  What do you need to know to grow your own grapes?  Read this article as a high level How to grow vineyard grapes.  Wine grapes are not like the usual grapes we see in the grocery store.  They especially need certain conditions to produce the award winning wines.  Read on for more on how to grow these wine grapes.

As the name suggests, vineyard grapes are grown in long, tall rows of vine-ready plots of land literally, a large yard filled with grape growing vines. Vineyard grapes are mostly dedicated to the care and harvest of wine grapes, but these plots of land can be accessible to a couple of sub types of table grapes as well. However, not all types of grapes benefit from this treatment. Some prefer a more expansive setup, requiring a horizontal growing area; and some prefer a smaller growing field with a lower vertical clearing. For this article though, we will be focusing on vineyard grapes for wine production.

As they say: the better the grapes, the better the wine will be. That means, establishing the roots of your vineyard grapes plays a critical role in ensuring that you have good quality wine in the long run. You first area of concern would then have to be the actual location of your vineyard. You need to match the exacting conditions of your plot of land with whatever wine grape plants that have the best potential to thrive in that area. Certain grape varieties prefer a certain climate and a certain kind of soil in order to produce quality wines. It would be best to ask horticulturists around your general area which grapes will be best suited for planting. Even if the general vicinity of your proposed plantation has its share of local vineyards around, the conditions on your plot of land may still affect the growth of your vineyard grapes differently.

Before you plant your seedlings, it is imperative that you have the soil fertilized and turned. This ensures that water drainage is possible, and that the plants get apt moisture without getting waterlogged. Vineyards are usually arranged in long rows, in order to maximize space. It is likewise essential that the proposed grape plants on these rows will get their share of sunlight all throughout the growing period. Full sunlight is the one catalyst needed to make the grapes flower and bloom. From these blooms, the flowering buds will emerge that will eventually turn into wine grapes. If parts of the vineyard are perpetually in the shadows, or get less sunlight than the rest, there is a possibility that the plants there will never flower and bloom.

The rest of the layout of the land should likewise be cleared from any shade throwing object. It does not matter if it is a building, or a wide spreading tree any wine grape plant that lives within its shadows will most likely remain dormant. If you cannot clear these shade throwing objects, it would be best not to plant any grape vines nearby. A fence with a fine net or mesh covering will keep larger animals (like deer or raccoons) from helping themselves with your grapes. But you need to be extra vigilant with birds, rabbits, rodents and marauding insects.

Try to plant your seedlings either during the height of the harvest season or one (to two weeks) afterward. This will give the plants the needed time to develop fully and acclimatize itself to its new growing environment.

Jordan Miller is a grape growing expert.

For more great tips on how to grow grapes and make wine visit http://www.grapegrowth.com

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For those that are new to wine and are starting out their journey into the world of wine tasting, taking notes can be something that can help the neophite get a better understanding of the wines they are tasting and to remember the quality of the wine.  A wine tasting sheet can make or break your early wine tasting experiences.  The better notes you take, the better you can rate the wines as you go along.  A good system will give you a great start from the beginning on taking quality wine notes.  In this article, the author shares what you should be making notes of and some ideas on how to take the notes, such as what terms to use.  Read on for some great ideas on how to make your own wine tasting sheet.

Some people are good at remembering tastes. But tastes are at times complex and our memories are fleeting. So it makes a lot of sense that making notes on your wine tasting experiences is an extremely useful exercise.

One main reason you would want to take notes is so that your tasting impressions will end up on a list of wines with different properties and a list from which you can choose wines in the future given your personal tastes and differing circumstances. These can include hosting a family dinner, throwing a wine tasting party or just going out on a dinner date.

Below is a brief and simple guide to compiling your wine taking notes.

- Identify the wine and if possible the source by name in your notes. While the name part is obvious, it also helps to know who makes the wine.

- Divide your note taking sheet under each of the following categories:

- C. For color and shading.

- N. For Aroma - what you pick up with your nose from sniffing the aroma.

- T. For taste.

- Make your notes under each heading using your own language. Remember that you are making these notes for your own benefit - not to submit to some evaluation panel. So use language that best reflect your impressions in a way that you would have them explained to you. This is extremely important as wine tasting can be such an involved experience and the taste of wines can be so complex that when it comes time to recall your experiences from your notes you want this recall to reflect exactly what you experienced at the time.

Using words such as fruity, yum-yum, old, hard, light, soft, sweet, pale, heavy, sharp, flat are all appropriate as long as these words can accurately reflect what you experienced.

- For a few days after having made your notes, go over them and try to relive the qualities or experiences they reflect. This is very useful in bonding these experiences to your sub-conscious so that over time, the memories will be extremely sharp in your mind.

Of course it goes without saying that you should organize your notes in the most appropriate way for you. Some people use dates, some use locations, or events. Whatever manner you choose, what is important is that you accurately record your wine tasting experiences in your wine tasting notes.

Use your notes to guide you in future wine selections, make the most appropriate food / wine pairings, or to just share with wine loving friends.

G. W. Smikle is an avid researcher and writer. He researches and writes about a myriad of topics with one of his favorites being wine tasting. Visit him at http://topicaldigest.com/winetasting to see more resources related to wines and wine tasting in particular.

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This article just covers the basics 1000 foot view of the topic of growing wine grapes.  While you do get some basic information of the purpose of different aspects of grape growing, you don't really receive a step by step on how to turn the grapes into wine.  You get more understanding on the actual grape growing process as well.  Read on for more, or click below to get more info on the entire wine making process.

Growing Grapes and Making Your Own Wine

The Article:

The processes involved in how to grow grapes and make wine are as old as the ancient human civilizations. And except for a few changes, wine making has essentially remained the same for thousands of years. At present, wine is still enjoyed by everyone on every occasion, special or otherwise. For that, wine continues to be a very satisfying and lucrative endeavor for many people. But before you can even talk about the steps that comprise the making of wines, you first have to know a thing or two about its primary ingredient - grapes.

Knowing how to grow grapes for wine making starts with knowing the two different varieties used by renowned winemakers. The first one is made up of the European grapes. Often, this variety is used in traditional vineyards found in Europe and California. These grapes grow under ideal weather conditions. The second type of grapes is made up of the hybrids. If the ideal conditions for grapes do not last long in your area, your next best choice will be to use this variety. These types of grapes have been known to withstand the harshness of winter. Knowing the types of grapes is important not just for determining the suitability of your local climate patterns, but also in figuring out what type of wine to produce, say, white or red.

The most remarkable thing to keep in mind on how to grow grapes is the fact that this plant is perennial by nature. That means a grapevine can live on and produce fruit for decades. But being perennial can also signify that it takes longer for a vine to grow and bear fruits. Actually, you would need three years, on the average, before you can have your very first harvest. Before you can plant your grapes, you should also know that they are not like any ordinary crop. They need to grow in a plot that is deficient in nutrients. You heard that right. For purposes of wine making, you will need small grape fruits instead of the larger ones you eat for dessert. You see, the best wine flavor is produced not by the grape juice, but by the fruits skin.

Always remember that learning the ropes on how to grow grapes is the most essential part of wine making. After making sure that your grapes attain the right ripeness and are free from any diseases, you can begin harvesting and processing them into wine. You may need to add some ingredients like yeasts and other chemicals to help your wine attain the right acidity. The longest phase will always be the fermentation, which can last from four months to several years, but it's all downhill afterwards.

Copyright© 2009 MJ James

About the Author: MJ James is a wine connesiuer. He enjoys tasting all types of wine, especially the ones he makes himself. Check out his videos at: Total Wine System. MJ is the author of the Total Wine System consisting of 3 eBooks: Grape Growing and Wine Making, The Frugal Wine Sippers Guide & Journal, & The Frugal Wine Sippers Dictionary of Wine Tasting Terms. For more information about Grape Growing & Wine Making and to get your FREE 10-part mini ecourse on how to create your own home made wine, please visit http://www.totalwinesystem.com

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Publish Date: 03/22/2010