Grape Grower's Handbook

The Complete Guide To Growing Wine Grapes

Features and Benefits

• Explains wine grape growing in plain English
• Full and detailed discussion on all aspects of wine grape growing
• Provides an overview of the U.S. wine industry
• Provides a useful step-by-step guide to vineyard site selection, establishment, and management
• Pruning and training
• Vine fertilization
• Grapevine water relations and vineyard irrigation
• Vineyard pest mangagement
• Soil managment in growing wine grapes
• Cover cropping in vineyards
• Wine grape harvest and post harvest operations

Description

The Grape Grower's Handbook is a comprehensive, easy-to-use guide covering an extensive range of topics in growing wine grapes from the wine industry, vineyard establishment and management to pest management and postharvest handling in commercial vineyards. It is extremely valuable both for current wine grape growers and for prospective growers.

Browse Within This Book

Table of Contents
Introduction
Ch. 1 The Growth of Grapevines
The annual growth cycle of the grapevine involves many processes and events. Ch. 2 Wine Grape Varieties
The choice of species and variety of vines is a major factor for successful production of winegrapes. Not only does the grower have to take into consideration market demand but also the viticultural characteristics of the variety. Ch. 3 Root Stocks
Rootstocks are one of the important ways winegrape growers can better manage for an array of vineyard problems and improve quality when growing Vitis vinifera vines. Ch. 4 Vineyard Site Selection
The importance of good site selection cannot be over emphasized. The decision to where to plant the vineyard will affect not only crop yields and quality but directly impacts the long-term sustainability of the vineyard and ultimately grower’s business. Ch. 5 Vineyard Establishment
After a suitable site has been selected the next step is vineyard establishment, which involves site preparation, vineyard design, vine planting, and trellis construction. Grapes are a very capital-intensive crop, and vineyard establishment if not done correctly can lead to long-standing consequences. Ch. 6 Grapevine Planting Stock
Choosing the best grapevine planting stock is a key factor in the success of a vineyard. Using high-quality planting stock from a reputable nursery free of serious viruses or other harmful diseases and pests contributes to quick establishment of the vineyard. Ch. 7 Planting and Training Young Grapevines
Proper planting, training, and pruning of young grapevines is essential for the establishment of a productive vineyard. The objective of is to achieve a uniform planting of strong, healthy, well-shaped vines. Ch. 8 Training and Trellising
Vines are trained onto a trellis in a specific predefined shape and size is known as a training system. Training consists principally in attaching the vine as it grows to a trellis system consisting of posts and wires. A trellis is the structure that largely supports the framework. Ch. 9 Pruning Grapevines
Pruning grapevines consists in the removal of canes, shoots, leaves, and other vegetative parts of the vine to encourage the annual development of new fruiting wood. Pruning is one of the most cultural operations carried out in the vineyard and, following harvesting, is the most expensive and labor consuming. Ch. 10 Canopy Management
Canopy management is a broad term used to describe both proactive and remedial measures that can be taken to improve grapevine canopy characteristics. Ch. 11 Grapevine Water Management
Winegrape yield and quality are determined by climate, soil and cultural management practices including water management. Poor water management of vineyards can result in a water stressed or over vigorous conditions resulting unbalanced vine growth, reduced yields and inferior fruit quality as well as the sustainability of your operation. Ch. 12 Irrigation Scheduling
Irrigation scheduling is an important is an important aspect of vineyard management and attempts to answer two management questions?when to irrigate and how much water is required. Deciding when to begin irrigating can be determined several ways. Ch. 13 Drip Irrigation
Drip irrigation, also known as trickle irrigation or micro-irrigation, has been the standard water delivery method for vineyards. Drip irrigation is the most efficient way to supply supplemental moisture to grapevines. Ch. 14 Deficit Irrigation Methods
The term deficit irrigation refers to the application of water deficit strategies imposed on the grapevines during a prescribed stage in vine growth and development to limit vegetative growth with the goal of optimizing fruit yield and quality. Ch. 15 Managing Irrigaiton Water Quality
The first step in planning for irrigation is to identify a water source and the quality of the water. Besides affecting grapevine yield and soil physical conditions, irrigation water quality can affect fertility needs, irrigation system performance and longevity, and how the water can be applied. Ch. 16 Fertigation
In drip-irrigation, fertilizers can be applied through the system with the irrigation water directly to the region where most of the plants roots develop. This process is called fertigation and it is done with the aid of special fertilizer apparatus (injectors) installed at the head control unit of the irrigation system. Ch. 17 Grapevine Nutrition
Grapevines are less demanding nutritionally than most horticultural crops but still require adequate supplies of all essential mineral elements for optimum growth and yield. Although the mineral elements are needed in different quantities, each one plays an essential role in completing the vine’s life cycle. Ch. 18 Types of Fertilizers
There are various types of fertilizers suitable for use in vineyards, each of which are suited to different situations and serve different purposes. It is important to understand the properties and behaviors of different fertilizer before use as fertilizer used at the wrong time and in the wrong conditions can lead to environmental impacts (such as volatilization, nutrient leaching, and harm to aquatic organisms as a result of eutrophication). Ch. 19 Vineyard Soil Management
Management of vineyards for maximum sustained yields of high quality product is the goal of every grape grower. Reaching this goal not only requires an understanding management practices such as pruning and pest control but also good soil management. Ch. 20 Winegrape Diseases
Disease management is an important and integral part of wine grape production. An infectious plant disease is caused by an agent that attacks and feeds on the host plant. The disease-causing agent is called a pathogen, such as fungi, bacteria, nematodes, and viruses. Many factors affect the prevalence of diseases in a vineyard. Ch. 21 Winegrape Insect and Mite Pests
Insects and mite pests attack vine in several ways either by direct damage to the berry clusters or indirect to vines, shoots, roots, or leaves. Correct identification, knowledge of their life histories, and understanding of insect behavior allow for timely detection of potentially damaging populations. Ch. 22 Nematodes
Nematodes are are microscopic, unsegmented roundworms that feed on plant roots by puncturing and sucking the cell contents. Symptoms caused by pathogenic nematodes can be subtle, and may include reduced vigor, stunting, and reduced yield. Ch. 23 Vineyard Weed Management
Weed control in vineyards is a year-round process that starts before the vineyard is established and continues throughout the life cycle of the vines. It would be ideal if one method of management could be used in all vineyards, but unfortunately this is not the case. Ch. 24 Pesticides
There are many pesticides available for use in vineyards, all of which control specific pest and disease problems. Pesticides may be derived from inorganic sources (copper, sulphur), natural organic sources (plants) or be organic compounds synthesised in a laboratory. Many of these synthesised products mimic the activity of natural organic compounds. Ch. 25 Biorational Pesticides
Biorational pesticides have come to mean any substance of natural origin (or man-made substances resembling those of natural origin), that has a detrimental or lethal effect on specific target pest(s), possess a unique mode of action, are non-toxic to man and have little or no adverse effects on wildlife and the environment. Ch. 26 Pesticide Application Equipment
Nearly all pesticides are formulated for spraying. There are many types of equipment available for applying pesticides in vineyards, all of which have advantages and disadvantages and are suited to different situations. Ch. 27 Managing Wildlife Pests
In addition to grape diseases, insects, and nematodes as discussed there are other vineyards pests. Some of these are birds, deer, and pocket gophers that can damge the vines and/or fruit. Ch. 28 Frost Protection
Frost damage occurs in many growing regions throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and South America, to mention a few. Generally cool and cold climate growing regions are at greatest risk, but even warmer regions like California and Bordeaux can be affected in some years. Frost has the potential to kill young vines, reduce or destroy the crop for that season and reduce the potential yield for the following season. Ch. 29 Protecting Grapevine from Winter Injury
Preventing cold injury to grapevines is a key viticulture concern in many cool climate regions. The effects of winter injury can significantly impact grapevine productivity can be devastating to a vineyard business and are even more significant when value-added in wine. Ch. 30 Cover Crops
Cover crops are grown on the vineyard floor between the vine rows to control weeds and to improve the soil in the vineyard and can assist in reducing the need for chemicals and fertilizers. There are a number of different types of cover crops and mixtures available to suit different situations in the vineyard. Ch. 31 Estimating Winegrape Yields
Estimating winegrape yields is a process of projecting as accurately as possible the quantity of crop that will be harvested. Ch. 32 Evaluation of Winegrape Maturity
There are many aspects in evaluating winegrape maturity that determine the best time to harvest wine grapes. Some of these are quantitative and can be determined to a high degree of numerical accuracy, and others are qualitative and are more subjective. Ch. 33 Harvesting Winegrapes
Traditionally, premium wine grapes were harvested using manual labor in the vineyards. Subsequently, increased labor costs as well as labor shortages have combined to make mechanical harvesting progressively more cost-effective, especially for larger vineyards. Appendixes
Glossary
Index (PDF)