pruning

February 11 – “Shoots”

by Grape Stomper Todd on February 11, 2011

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Grape Stomper “shoots” the breeze while raising cane.

On this day in:

1964 The Greeks and the Turks start shooting at each other.
1968 Israel and Jordan start shooting at each other.
1984 Wayne Gretzky sets NHL record by shooting 11 short-handed goals in a season.
1986 Iran starts shooting at Iraq.
1990 At the 40th NBA All-Star Game, the East out shoots the West 130 -113 in Miami.
1997 The space shuttle Discovery shoots into orbit for the 22nd time.
2006 Dick Cheney accidentally shoots his friend in the head.

All this brings us to our Wine Word of the Day: Shoots

Shoots are the part of the grapevine that extend off the big arms or cordons of the vine. It is these shoots that ultimately produce the grape clusters.

As the season progresses and the fruit ripens, the shoots turn from green to brown and get hard. At this point they become known as “canes.”

After the fruit is harvested, the canes have to be pruned off before bud-break in Spring. I see that going on in the vineyards around us now. What? No. I don’t do that! Are you kidding me? It’s hard work and you have to know what you are doing.

The best vineyards will actually weigh the canes that were pruned off a vine to estimate how many buds to leave for the next growing season. These buds will produce new shoots and determine how much fruit the vine will bare.

The trick for the grower is to hang the perfect amount of fruit on each vine. If there is too much fruit, there won’t be enough sugar in the grapes to make quality wine. If there is too little fruit, the grapes may be great, but the vineyard owner may lose money with the lower yield.

It’s all a balancing act and quite an art. You don’t want to be too fruity and bare it all, but on the other hand, if you are too conservative and don’t hang enough fruit off your hard shoot, then you might be financially shooting yourself in the foot.

Yup, you probably don’t need this stuff but Grape Stomper Todd thinks it’s kinda funny:

NOVA Cane with Offset Handle and Strap, Black

Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency

Lego Creator Shuttle Adventure (10213)

Successful Shotgunning: How to Build Skill in the Field and Take More Birds in Competition

Tagged as: buds, canes, cordons, pruning, shoots, spring

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December 18 – “Dormant”

by Grape Stomper Todd on December 18, 2010

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The vines are taking a break…and so am I!

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On this day…today…I, your worn-out winemaker leaves on vacation. I will be enjoying the holidays with sunshine, palm trees, and friends. Just hanging out and relaxing after a long harvest. Think of this time as a “holiday hiatus” where I’ll be doing nothing.

That brings us to our Wine Word of the Day: Dormant

Between now and Spring, a few people will ask me, “What’s wrong with all the vines? Did they die off from some disease?”

Indeed the vineyards look bare right now; brown and ugly. Most haven’t been pruned yet and some look downright scraggly and sad. This is known as the dormant phase. Grapevines are deciduous plants and lose their leaves in the autumn. When Spring returns, buds will begin to break, develop shoots, leaves, and of course more delicious grapes.

But just because the grapes are dormant, doesn’t mean the vineyard workers are. It’s during this time they must prune the vines. Pruning is an art to keep the vine trained as the grower intended or the vines will sprawl like crazy. But pruning is more than just tidying up a bunch of vines to make them look pretty for tourists.

It is very important to trim the vine back to allow for a certain number of buds to grow into shoots where the grapes will later develop. If too many shoots are allowed to grow, the plant will try to set too many grape clusters, resulting in fruit that never ripens for quality wine production.

So it’s sneaky really. The grapevine at its core is a very wild beast. But like a bear it must hibernate. That’s when the vineyard workers strike! While the poor vine is asleep they cut off nearly all of the vine’s growth that occurred over the previous year. The vine wakes up emasculated and says “What the Hell? I guess I just have to start all over again.”

But for now they are dormant or on vacation, if you will. Yup, just resting and relaxing and ready to get a nice haircut. Just like I got my haircut on Wednesday and am now ready for a little resting and relaxing before I just have to start all over again.

I’ll catch you folks on January 1st when Grape Stomper Todd begins the New Year with a new season of Wine Word of the Day, because this year is history!

Books Recommended by Grape Stomper Todd:
	From Vines to Wines: The Complete Guide to Growing Grapes and Making Your Own Wine		Successful Grape Growing for Eating and Wine-making: A Practical Gardeners’ Guide to Varieties, Husbandry, Harvesting and Processing