The Eagle winery is having a big wine tasting weekend the 28th. I am told
there will be wine from every winery in Idaho.
http://www.idahowine.org/winefestival.htm
This site has a list of local wineries:
http://www.idahowine.org/
This part of Idaho is great for growing grapes (climate very similar to the
Columbia Basin), has about 600,000 population in an area about 30 miles x
100 miles, and still only a few wineries. For someone looking for a ground
floor opportunity, this is it!! (OK, I sell farms and ranches . . .vineyard
anyone?)
"Paul E. Lehmann" > wrote in message
...
> Darwin Vander Stelt wrote:
>
> > We had an unusually damp summer and only a few hundred degree days this
> > year. My grapes are all starting to sweeten, but I am seeing a little
> > powdery mildew. On 99% of the bunches, the color is good and no damage
but
> > the little undeveloped bunches that sometimes develop when a fruiting
cane
> > branches are really ugly. Shrivelled and moldy.
>
> A suggestion would be to remove any bunches on laterals. They usually
will
> not ripen fully and they are just using energy that the main fruiting zone
> needs. These clusters are common when you have to hedge vines because
> hedging encourages laterals which often bear clusters.
>
> >A few (out of 300 vines)
> > have shed leaves on the bottom half of the canes, but the fruit looks
> > fine. I use a close spacing (4 x5) and have to hedge to keep the vinyard
> > open. The obvious powder on the leaves is only in the heaviest, dampest
> > areas, and there you definitely smell the mildew, and I smell it in the
> > bunches too, although that could be imaginary. They look fine, nice
color,
> > plump full berries etc. My question: Is this wine going to get a musty
> > /moldy taste?
>
> Suggest you sulphite after crush and cold soak overnight before starting
> fermentation.
>
> Here is a good reference for you:
>
> http://members.tripod.com/~BRotter/SO2.htm
>
> BTW - I will be in Idaho for two weeks starting next Saturday. Any
> suggestions on good vineyards and wineries to visit?