Notes From the Vintner
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Welcome
to our column. We hope that you will return to learn interesting
notes on wine, and related subjects. Wine is a great gift from God
to be used for the enjoyment of man. It is a food, and should be
treated as such. It is meant to lift up the body and lighten the
soul. 8/01/08
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At last RAIN…Well
at last rain is falling on the vineyard. We have had problems with the
irrigation system at the vineyard, but things are looking better. Then
the rains came and made things a lot better. It is important to keep water
on the plants while they are growing and developing. As we had an 80%
loss in the number of plants last year, most of our current plants are
very small and just getting started.
Be sure you do not slip and
forget about your crushing equipment--make sure you have it ready to go.
It is easy to plan on cleaning and doing any repairs the day of crushing
or a day before. But you are far better off doing all this work two weeks
before you are ready to crush. Then all you have to do the day of the
crush is just rinse with a little SO2 water and you are ready to roll.
Remember to plan on crushing your fruit while it is still cool. The grapes
should not be cut in the very hot sun; instead they should be taken in
and crushed. Early in the morning is by far the best time to crush.
For those of you who use glass
jugs for making wine, here is a tip for you. The only glass jug factory
in the western hemisphere closed, therefore there are no glass jugs being
manufactured in this part of the word. So the price of these items has
doubled. So any time that you are at a yard sale, and you see a 5 gallon
jug…buy it fast! When they sent me information on the new prices,
they were effective immediately.
If you think these notes were
late, you are very correct. Time is just running by me every day. We are
also working on building a warehouse. The building is to be 100 by 40
feet, with a 16 by 75 lean-to on the side. This should give us much needed
space. It should be finished within the next couple of months.
Boy, look at the time…shall
we share a glass or two????
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The Vintner *
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Robert G Cowie
Wine Maker |
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