Jump to content

Grape harvest this year not too good


Wade

Recommended Posts

We usually get a good crop of grapes each year - enough for about 5 gallons of wine. This year though has been a disappointment. Although we had what looked like being a bumper crop of grapes before the really hot weather set in, once the temperatures in the roof of the conservatory started reaching 50+ C (the maximum being 54 C !!!) a good proportion of the crop turned to raisins on the vine. We did manage to salvage a few though but probably not enough to even make a couple of bottles ?. We have just harvested about half of what we have left growing

Grapes.thumb.jpg.e24dad4821f1145d2c9cdcabbbf7f664.jpg

Still a few left on the vine to pick in a few weeks

657802525_Vine1.thumb.jpg.b8157d49e06c542beb2d646e5cd2e354.jpg1601474546_Grapes2.thumb.jpg.140a70ad2c867d35ba2ac802086fd28c.jpg

Vines love the heat but this year has just been too much OTT. Roll on 2019 - which will of course be a vintage year :yahoo:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have a reasonably sized vine across the back of our garden fence...

Never sure what do do with it, with regards to trimming back, harvesting etc....
I know it needs to be supported better next year, as it fell down in the wind yesterday and I have had to strap it back up as a temp measure.

Any suggestions @Wade

 

868263500_vine_-1.thumb.jpg.f50ea7134a2f9cc9c70db35761b9c45e.jpg

 

922096497_vine_-2.thumb.jpg.e5b46e13159170e6e02e38f0f10a6bd8.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When they are ripe harvest them and extract the juice. If you have enough to make a gallon (5 litres) then go for it. If you have less than a gallon then you can top up your own juice with some supermarket "freshly pressed" grape juice. Before you add the yeast check the specific gravity of the juice and if necessary top it up to 1.070-1.100 with a little sugar. 

Using only all of your own juice would obviously be ideal but there is nothing wrong with supplementing it in lean cropping years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...