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 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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?