Do you adore good food ? Do you prefer wine with your food ? Do you drink more than only boring old Chardonnay ? Are you maybe from California, Chili, Cape Town, Burgundy, Odessa, Melbourne or any other wine region in the world ? Are you really passionate about wine ? Then this is for you.
Do you need advice on vine growing, making wine or marketing wine ? Then you’re absolutely at the right address.
Unfortunately, in order to make a small fortune from wine, you need a fortune first. As a rule of thumb, the cost to establish and bring into production one hectare of vineyard over a three-year development period can range from $40,000 to $60,000. Do you think now you won’t manage ? You will. With a computer and Internet access you will succeed if you only want to and are properly guided. You’re asking : “What is this ?” Well, this is called Internet marketing or online marketing and it is definitely suited for a passionate person like you. You can work from the comfort of your home, at flexible hours and on your own terms. Online marketing business has been proven the fastest legal cash generator. If you need to raise money for starting your own vineyard, visit
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So, the decision to establish your own vineyard should not be taken lightly. With establishment costs high, planning needs to be very thorough and systematic to ensure success and to minimize errors. Here is the information you need.
1. The vineyard and viticulture
-Establishing your vineyard
Thanks to new grape varieties, good wine can also be made outside the traditional wine regions. Did you ever hear about e.g. Regent, Rondo, Johanniter or Solaris ? In this step-by-step instruction you will read how to establish your own vineyard and how best to maintain it. Bear in mind that this is an agricultural project which may involve issues like soil adjustment, drainage, mounding under the vine rows, irrigation, fertilizing, spraying, the problems of mechanization and heavy machinery, the choice for biological (ecological) cultivation, frost control etc. There will always be a certain degree of trial and error.
Choice of grape variety
Soil characteristics and fertilizing
Planting along a trellis system
From small stick to grapevine
Continuous rejuvenating
-Choice of grape variety
No other aspect is more important for the taste and character of the wine than the choice of grape variety. The range of varieties to choose from is growing every year. You can start reading broadly on the following grape varieties :
Red wine grape varieties :
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Barbera, Dolcetto, Cabernet Franc, Gamay, Carignan, Garnacha Tinta, Malbec, Sangiovese, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Nebbiolo, Tempranillo
White wine grape varieties :
Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Albariño, Malvasia, Chenin Blanc, Müller-Thurgau, Gewürztraminer, Muscat, Pinot Blanc, Silvaner, Pinot Gris, Trebbiano, Sémillon, Palomino
Please note that this list is far from exhaustive and that new frost and disease resistant varieties are developed every year. When establishing a vineyard in a humid climate, it is advisable to select a grape variety that is quite resistant to mildew. (As rose-trees get effected by mildew before the grapevines do, they are often planted in the vineyard to warn for the presence of mildew. This allows for spraying against mildew in time.)
-Soil characteristics and fertilizing
Like many other plants, the grapevine needs a loose soil surface layer of 50-60 cm in order to start off properly. A second crucial element is calcium. The soil’s pH should be around 6.5 – 7. So often calcium is given every single year. As organic material you can choose between well digested or dried manure, compost, potting or wood soil, or a pure organic commercial fertilizer with low salt concentration and free of chlorine.
Rootstock
The variety Solaris ripens even in Denmark and in the south of Sweden. Most of the time, the type of soil is no handicap eather. Wine grapevines are not really demanding where soil is concerned (so you don’t need necessarily pefect soil like the one along the Mosel River in Germany or the one in the Banyuls region in Southern France in order to produce healthy grapes), if only the right rootstock is selected. For loam soil, the rootstock SO4 is suited, for good sand soil the 5C, for poor sand soil the 5BB and for calcium rich soil the 125AA. And then there is the virus resistant rootstock Börner. This rootstock can be used in nearly every soil type.
Wet feet
If your land plot consists of turf soil with a high ground water level, then you’re unlucky. Then unfortunately it is very hard to cultivate wine grapevines. They really don’t like wet feet and acid soil. To a certain degree, a mushroom fertilizer may help here.
Soil activity
Most importantly, the soil must live. The active micro and macro organisms enable the grapevine to take minerals from the soil. It is useful to plant grapevines in a covering of low grasses, clover and flowers. This covering increases the soil activity and fertility. Moreover the clover brings nitrogen into the soil and the growing plants attract natural enemies of harm causing insects, so they function as pesticides.
-Grapevines along a trellis system
An optimal climate in the vineyard is important. This can be obtained by planting the grapevines in the right way.
Location
In order to maximize exposure to sunshine, vineyards are often established on slopes directed to the south. Wine grapevines definitely need a sunny location. Plant them preferably in rows in north-south direction so they can profit best from sunlight. If necessary, you can also choose for another plant direction. In a row, the grapevines are planted every 1,20 or 1,40 (1,50) m. The distance between the rows must be 1,8 m minimally and 2,25 m maximally. With a smaller distance between rows the grapes do not get enough sunlight and the humidity in the vineyard reaches higher levels than desired. With a bigger distance between rows the air is cooling too quickly by the influence of the wind.
Trellis system
Because grapevines can’t stand on their own feet, they are guided along a trellis system. This system is placed before the grapevines are planted. Such trellis system can be made by beating into the ground solid posts about every 5 meter. The posts must reach a height of ca. 1,80 m above the surface level.
Iron wire is guided along the posts. The way of guiding the wire along the posts depends on the cultivation method. For the Guyot-method two single and three double wires are needed. The single wires come at a height of 0,75 and 0,90 m above the surface level, the double ones at 1,20, 1,50 and 1,80 m.
-From small stick to grapevine
A good way to raise your grapevines is the Guyot-method. Here you will read how to proceed.
After planting the grapevine, you allow one shoot to grow up. The other shoots you cut off when they are about 5 cm long. In the first summer the shoot grows up to a length of 1,50 to 2 m. In the winter following this summer, the shoot is cut back to a length of 0,9 to 1 m. The grapevine’s stick has then been formed.
During the next spring, the stick gets shoots. You keep the upper three, the other shoots you cut off when they are 5 cm long. The three shoots are seized between the double wires so they grow upwards. When in July or August they are about 1,5 m long, they are topped. But that’s not all. The little flower racemes that appear on the three shoots in spring should largely be removed. At this stage, only one raceme per vine plant may remain. In autumn this raceme gives the first grapes.
In the second winter after planting, the vine is further developed. From the three shoots you keep the two most vital ones. The third one is cut off near the stick. You bend the two shoots, left and right of the stick, over the upper single wire towards the lower single wire. This way the two so-called “Guyot-curves” are formed on the stick.
In the third spring after planting, young shoots grow on the two Guyot-curves. When they are 5 cm long you remove shoots so the space between the remaining shoots is 10 cm. So, per vine plant twelve to fourteen shoots remain. These are guided upwards between the double wires and topped when they are about 1,2 m long.
On the vertically guided shoots originate various flower racemes. Only the lowest raceme on each shoot may develop into a grape raceme. The other racemes are removed at the end of July or the beginning of August. This is very important! The average vine can get only about fourteen grape racemes well-ripened. If more racemes are kept, the grapes will give a meagre and watery wine. A widely grown grapevine against a wall having sometimes a hundred racemes doesn’t produce good wine.
-Continuous rejuvenating
By cutting back the grapevines in the right way every year, they will remain young and vital.
From the third winter, the grapevines are cut back in the same way every year. With the winter cutting the Guyot-curves are cut off near the stick. Then the stick and two young branches remain. These two branches are bended left and right of the stick over the upper single wire and attached to the lower single wire. So two new Guyot-curves are formed. By proceeding this way, the grapevine stays young and vital.
With the summer cutting of a developed grapevine, you proceed in the same way as in the third year of the development period. You keep twelve to fourteen shoots on the Guyot-curves, each shoot is topped on a length of 1 to 1,20 m and only the lowest flower raceme on each shoot may grow into a grape raceme. For two reasons it is important to top the fruit-bearing shoots on a length of 1 to 1,20 m and not on e.g. 0,5 to 0,6 m : maintaining the correct leave-fruit proportion (crucial for the grapes’ sugar percentage and thus the quality of the wine) and preventing the shoots from developing a lot of side shoots (short shoots tend to give a lot of side shoots).
-Note also you can propagate the vines by yourself. The easiest way to do so is by digging in a branch or by winter cutting.
-Last but not least, bear in mind that older grapevines (older than 40 or 60 years) have the highest potential to deliver top quality grapes.
2. Winemaking
The making of wine is not easy to explain. In France they say there are as many wines as vineyards.
Each winemaker gives his personal touch before, during and after the vinification process.
Each of the below aspects has its influence on the taste and quality of the wine :
- The selection of the land plot
- The climate (and the date of harvest)
- The selection of the grape variety
- The type of fermentation tanks or casks
- The temperature during fermentation
- The duration of fermentation
- The type of casks in which the wine ripens
Nobody can pretend there is only one single way of making wine. This fact contributes to the charm of wine and is also the cause of the enormous diversity in wines. Winemaking demands “savoir-faire” and experience.
A winemaker is not only a craftsman, but also an artist.
The following aspects give an idea of what winemaking involves :
- Planting (or grafting) the grapevine
- Developing the racemes
- Harvesting the grapes
- Destemming* and crushing the grapes in a stainless steel container
- Alcoholic fermentation of the must
- “Macération” : building of taste and colour*
- Raking
- “Malolactic” fermentation
- Riping
- Bottling
- Tasting
* : mainly for red wine
Must : this is the juice obtained by crushing the grapes
Alcoholic fermentation : the juice becomes wine by the natural influence of yeasts which transforms sugar into alcohol
Macération : the solids, the “pomace”, like skin, stems and seeds, give their taste and colour to the must
Raking : the “pomace” and the must are separated. The must becomes “vin de goutte”, the “pomace” becomes “vin de presse”
“Malolactic” fermentation : by the working of natural bacteria, the sharp “malic” acids are transformed in flexible and stable lactic acids
Ripening : the wine is filtered and transfered to casks in order to stabilize and come to perfection.
RED WINE
Crushing and destemming
The grapes arriving in the cellar are crushed and destemmed. The fruits free their juice and pulp.
The must obtained that way is put in a tank to go through the process of fermentation.
Alcoholic fermentation
The fermentation tanks are generally oak barrels or stainless steel tanks, sometimes concrete or enamelled steel.
Fermentation is a natural process. Yeasts present in grapes (however the addition of selected yeasts is generalizing) change the sugar contained in the must in alcohol and carbonic gas.
The winemaker assists the action of the yeasts by maintaining the temperature around 25 to 30°C and ventilating the must regularly. Under 25°C the wine will not have enough body, above 30°C, the wine will be to tannic.
The fermentation process goes on for 4 to 10 days.
Maceration
This is the period during which the tannic elements and the colour of the skin diffuse in the fermented juice. The contact between the liquid (must) and the solid elements (skin, pips and sometimes stems) will give body and colour to the wine.
At this stage, complex operations will prove the talent of the winemaker (dissolution, extraction, excretion, diffusion, decoction, infusion).
For “vins primeurs” or “vins nouveaux” (new wines) the maceration is very short, the wines are supple and contain little tannin. Wines destined to be kept long need a lot of tannin, so the maceration can be long. It goes on for several days, maybe several weeks.
Raking
The wine is separated from the solids, the pomace. The wine obtained by raking is called “free run wine” (vin de goutte).
The pomace is pressed in order to extract the juice it still contains. This wine is called “press wine” (vin de presse). It is richer in tannin.
Depending on the winemaker target or the local habit, free run wine and press wine are blended or treated separately.
Malolactic fermentation
It is the process during which the malic acid of wine changes into lactic acid and carbonic gas under the action of bacteria naturally present in the wine. Malic acid is harsh, it is changed into supple and stable lactic acid.
This fermentation is obtained in a tank during a few weeks at a temperature between 18° and 20°C.
Stabilisation
The vinification is finished but the wine is not. To be able to age and to improve the wine must be clarified again. After that the beverage will be put in oak casks where it will stabilize.
The diversity of red wine is such that it can go with any type of food. But you must absolutely not conclude from this that all red wines are identical.
WHITE WINE
White wine is not really white but in fact yellow. But the expression being universal one says of a yellow wine that it is white.
Vinification of white wine is more delicate than vinification of red wine.
Two methods exist to make white wine :
1. The first one is to use white grape (which is in fact green, greenish yellow, golden yellow or pinkish yellow!). That way the white wine is the result of the fermentation of the juice of white grapes juice only.
2. The second method is more complex. One uses the juice of a red grape variety cleared of its skin and pips, with which it may absolutely not get in contact as they contain the colouring substances. It is possible to get white wine this way but it is seldom done.
Time is counted :
Immediately after their arrival in the cellar, the grapes are crushed but not destemed. The juice (free run must) is sent to settle in containers. The rest of the grapes is pressed as quickly as possible. Air is the enemy of white wine. At its contact the wine oxidizes or becomes coloured. The must from pressing is added to the free run must.
Preparation of the must :
After six to twelve hours the particles and impurity of the grape separate from the must and float on the surface. They are removed by raking the must. The must is ready to be clarified. The clarified juice is poured in a tank, ready to ferment.
Alcoholic fermentation :
White wine results of the fermentation of must only.
No solids (stems, skin, pips…) intervene.
The control of the temperature is essential. It has to be maintained around 18° C. The winemaker regularly cools the must to allow the yeast to work correctly.
The fermentation goes on for two to three weeks. The winemaker daily checks the evolution of the process.
When fermentation is over, the wine is put in casks and raked, just like a red wine then it is bottled.
Winemakers often choose oak casks which give the wine the tannin it needs, but it will not be sufficient. Tannin is the essential element for aging. It is why white wine does not keep as long as red wine.
On the other hand white wines present a larger variety of tastes: very dry, dry, semi-dry, mellow, syrupy, petillant, sparkling, madeirized, …
White wine can be drunk on any occasion: before, with or after a meal, and even between meals.
White wines are often considered as aperitif wines, sometimes as dessert wines. Many people like to drink white wine in hot weather. Its refreshing qualities are indeed very well known. White wine is served fresh but not chilled.
Why wine does not turn into vinegar ?
Sulfur dioxide, in spite of its barbaric name, is an element indispensable for the quality of the wine.
It is composed of sulfur and oxygen. Fermentation naturally produces a small amount of it.
Winemakers add more to the wine. Sulfur dioxide is to wine what aspirin is to human beings: the miraculous remedy which cures all sort of diseases and avoids others.
Sulfur dioxide is a bactericide which prevents wine from changing into vinegar. It inhibits the action of yeasts: it is why sweet wines do not go on fermenting after bottling.
On top of that it is an anti-oxidizer. It allows wine to keep all its freshness and avoids its alteration by its enemy: the oxygen.
3. Storing and serving of wine and wine-food guidelines
The most important thing is to store wine in a lying position so the cork is always wet. This prevents the cork from drying up and the bottle from getting air which would mean the oxidation of the wine. This however is only crucial if we store wines for longer periods of time.
Another important aspect is the temperature at which we store wine. This temperature should be around 12-14°C. The access of light into the cellar should be limited and best avoided completely.
The ripening of wine in home cellars is a hobby for real wine lovers. Just imagine the magic of the moment we serve of bottle of fully mature, carefully stored wine awaited for years.
The best way to find the optimal moment for drinking the wine is buying wine in cases (of 6 or 12 bottles) and opening one bottle from time to time. Young wine is simply much cheaper than aged and completely mature wine. It can also be a very good business to buy a few cases of a certain promising wine and later, when the wine is fully mature, sell part of the stock. The selling price will cover for the remaining bottles.
Having your own wine cellar gives another fantastic advantage… We will always know what to do when we have unexpected guests and having a certain range of wines we will always find something appropriate to go with the food.
The most important issue when serving wine is its temperature. We here need to consider the fact that the definition “room temperature” originates from times when this temperature did not exceed 18° C.
So let us first draw attention to the temperature at which wine is served :
Champaign should be served at a temperature of 6-8°C,
White wine – at a temperature of 8-12°C,
Young red wine – at a temperature of 13-14°C,
Light red wine – at a temperature of 14-16°C,
Precious and aged wine – at a temperature of 18°C.
The next essential matter is the sequence in which wines are served. There are a few principles here :
Wines should be served from whites through rosé to reds,
Dry wine is always served before sweet and liqueur wine,
Young wine before aged wine,
Light wine before strong wine.
Now the food and wine issue. The combination of wine and dishes is in reality a certain feeling for senses. If we are convinced that there is good food on the table and the wine is also good, then nothing bad should happen. The most important thing is to follow your instinct, choose good wine and good food.
Times when the principle reigned that white wine is served with fish and red with meat seem also to be over. It is worth observing that today’s Californian or Australian Chardonnay is stronger and fuller than delicate Pinot Noir and sometimes even Cabernet, which refutes somehow the theory of wine selection by its colour alone.
One of the simpler principles of the selection of wine with food is looking at its heaviness and strength. This means that the wine and dish should have similar strength – to delicate meals light wine, to heavy ones strong wine.
As far as a spectrum of dishes is rather difficult to straighten up, we can be tempted to present wines in the conventional sequence from the lightest to the heaviest.
Although for sure wines can be found which do not follow the given sequence, this is theoretically how wines are ordered from the lightest ones to the heaviest.
White wines listed from the lightest to the heaviest :
Soave
Riesling
Muscadet
Champagne and sparkling wines
Chenin Blanc
Chablis or unoaked Chardonnay
Sauvignon Blanc
White Bordeaux
White Burgundy
Pinot Gris
Gewürztraminer
Mature or cask-fermented Chardonnay (especially Californian and Australian)
Red wines listed from the lightest to the heaviest :
Valpolicella
Beaujolais
Pinot Noir
Rioja
Bourgogne
Barbera
Chianti
Barolo
Merlot
Bordeaux
Zinfandel
Cabernet Sauvignon
Rhône, Syrah (Shiraz)
4. Wine business advice : for information, please contact Stefan at stefan.lagae@gmail.com
Would it not be wonderful to discover the secrets of the reds and whites through your own production ? Would it not be fantastic to have your own little “château” ?
Stefan Lagae
Stefan Lagae
Husband, father, employee, work-at-home jobber and wine lover
Contact : stefan.lagae@gmail.com
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