case study growing grapes to make fine wines

A Beginner’s Guide to Growing Your Own Wine Grapes

Starting a backyard vineyard is an involved—but not impossible—process.

Maybe you’ve dabbled in making homemade wine and now are thinking about growing your own grapes. While wine grapes are by no means a plant-it-and-forget-it crop, a small backyard vineyard is possible to cultivate if you live in Zones 4-10. A variety of factors—such as geographic location, soil type and personal taste preference—will dictate the grape varieties you plant and the issues you’re likely to encounter during the growing season. 

Before embarking on your grape-growing journey, it’s important to know that it can take three or four years for vines to produce fruit. Just because you have a successful grape harvest doesn’t mean the wine you make with them will be, too. But that’s another story.

Here’s what you need to know about growing your own wine grapes.

Select a suitable planting site

Grapevines thrive best when planted in deep, well-drained sandy loam soils, and east-to-south exposures are desirable. Planting a vineyard on hillside land that has a slight to moderate slope is preferred, as it helps accelerate the drainage of water and cold, dense air to protect against frosts. Cultivate the soil (a neutral pH of around 7 is optimal), incorporating organic matter (manure, compost, peat moss, etc.) and removing any weeds. The vines should be planted a minimum of eight feet apart—both within and between rows—so make sure you have a plot large enough to accommodate the number you want to plant.

Choose wine grape varieties for your climate

There are many different kinds of grapes. While they technically can be eaten fresh, wine grapes generally have higher acid, higher sugar, higher skin-to-pulp ratio and more seeds than table and juice grapes. Some wine grapes are more finicky than others. Do your research on each grape before planting, considering what varieties will make the type of wine you want and what training and pruning they will need. 

Although they’re capable of producing excellent wines, European grape varieties such as Chardonnay, Merlot and Pinot Noir are susceptible to a host of diseases and are less cold-tolerant. If you’ve never grown grapes before, and especially if you live in a place with harsh winters or humid summers, consider planting cold-hardy hybrid varieties such as Chambourcin, Marquette, Baco Noir, Vidal Blanc or Chardonel. For more region-specific advice, contact your local agricultural extension to find out what they recommend. 

Prepare for planting

Early spring is the recommended time to plant grapevines, giving them time to establish their root systems before their first winter. Whether you order your vines—which will be grafted onto established rootstocks—through an online catalog or through a local nursery, you’ll want to plant them immediately. Remove any broken or damaged roots, and soak the vines in water before planting. Dig a hole a few inches deeper than the longest roots, then plant the vines with the roots pointed down and evenly spread out. Space them at least eight feet apart. Do not use any fertilizer at this time. To protect the young vines from deer and other nibbling animals, you may want to use grow tubes. To support the vine as it grows, install a trellis system .

Tending to your vines

It’s widely said that vines that struggle generally produce better-quality grapes. When you restrict a matured vine’s water supply, make nutrients scarce and prune it hard, it will fruit. But it will take several years of tending to your vines before they bear grapes. 

When you first plant the vine, reduce its numerous shoots to one, cutting it back to three buds. As the plant grows, it will produce new green shoots. When the shoots are eight to 12 inches long, choose the best one and support it with a stake. Trim away the others. As the shoot grows through its first and second summers, continue tying it up the stake to ensure it doesn’t break in the wind. This shoot will become your permanent trunk. Once a strong trunk is established, you can train its shoots to grow up and along the trellis by tying them to the wire. Remove any new shoots that sprout from the root area or lower trunk.

When your grapevines are mature, pruning grows even more essential, and the it should be done twice a year: once when the plant is dormant in late winter to remove old or dead growth, and another in spring or early summer to tidy up the vines. When it comes to wine grape vines, heavy pruning provides the best fruit. For the best grapes, it’s recommended they have only 20 to 30 buds per vine after pruning.

(For detailed information about pruning and fertilizing your vines, follow the steps in the Kniffin System , recommended for home vineyards, or check with your local agricultural extension office.)

Harvest the grapes

Grapes should be harvested only after they are fully ripe. Unlike some other fruits, their sugar content will not improve after picking. Depending on the variety, you want to harvest your grapes when they reach between 19 and 25 brix (the measurement for sugar content in a liquid). The older your vines get, the more grapes they’ll produce. For example, a three-year-old vine may produce anywhere from five to 10 pounds of grapes, whereas mature vines can produce up to 30 pounds of grapes in a good year. From there, it takes about 40 pounds of grapes to make 12 bottles of wine. So your level of commitment will determine whether your grape-growing hobby manifests itself into something more.

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Great info. Thanks

I want to start making up wine using simple plants

Looking into starting a small vineyard in central Florida. Would like to know what varieties are best suited?

how do i make the wine tho

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The Quest to Grow the First Great American Wine Grape

Genetics might be the key to creating vineyards that both resist disease and don’t taste like skunk

Kevin Begos

There’s no nice way to put it: American grapes make bad wine. At least, that’s their reputation. For decades oenophiles have turned up their noses at the idea of native American grapes, with the industry bible Oxford Companion to Wine describing their flavors as being akin to “animal fur and candied fruits.” And so the Napa Valley grew famous with its plantings of Chardonnay, Merlot, Sauvignon, Cabernet or Pinot—the so-called “noble” French grapes—while Concord grapes were deemed only fit for jelly and juice.

But American wine grapes are poised for an epic rebrand. Using DNA analysis and other high-tech tools, a group of scientists in Minnesota, California, New York and other states have taken a harder look at indigenous American grapes and found long-hidden qualities that could redeem them even to the most snobbish of wine-sippers. Their goal: to produce a drink whose taste and quality can compete with the most coveted French and Italian vintages.

“We have grapes that taste like pineapple, strawberry, black pepper. I think the resources are only limited by the amount of time we spend exploring them,” says Matthew Clark , an assistant professor of grape breeding and enology at the University of Minnesota. “We’re really trying to develop wine products that are more in the European style, but utilize the resources of the North American germ plasm.”

Clark is part of VitisGen , a project that aims to do for wine what the Human Genome Project did for humans. That is: use the vast power and rapidly declining cost of DNA research to pinpoint the precise chromosomal locations in American grapes that drive flavors, aromas, grape size and other important attributes. The U.S. Department of Agriculture began funding VitisGen in 2011, and then VitisGen2 in 2017. The project now includes scientists from Cornell University, the University of California at Davis, the University of Minnesota and other universities, as well as industry giant E&J Gallo.

The new research has uncovered another valuable trait as well: a reservoir of natural pest and disease resistance. Like strawberries, grapes are particularly vulnerable to pests and disease, which explains why more than 260 million pounds of pesticides were applied to vineyards between 2007 and 2016 in California alone, according to official state records.

Downy mildew is one of the leading global problems. So is Pierce’s disease, which causes entire vineyards to wither and die and is transmitted by small winged insects called sharpshooters. Much of the vineyard treatments involve sulfur and copper—relatively low-risk chemicals—but even those traditional sprays can cause problems. Breeding grapes with their own resistance to these threats could be a life saver for vineyards across the country.

Clark says the new CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology could speed up the creation of new varieties by precisely deleting the DNA that drives unwanted attributes. "It’s a tool that plant breeders are certainly using in a number of crops. Some of the questions that come to mind, and I don't know if these are warranted or not, but what do you put on a bottle? What would the label say when you have [a] wine that has now been, for lack of a better word, modified with CRISPR?” Clark wonders.

It may even be possible to breed those nasty “animal fur” flavors out of native American grapes. “We’re doing work right now to identify some of the off aromas and flavors, and we’re making great strides,” says Clark. “Ultimately our goal is to have a DNA test that we can use to screen a seedling years before it produces its first fruit as part of the breeding program, to determine if it has that negative trait or not.”

Yet another challenge awaits this theoretical improved American wine. Compelling science and environmental benefits are all well and good, but will picky wine lovers accept these unfamiliar grapes? One answer came in 2015, when The New York Times listed the top 10 wines of the year. “A few years ago, I never imagined I would fall in love with a Vermont wine,” critic Eric Asimov wrote of Deidre Heekin and Caleb Barber’s La Garagista vineyard. “[But the] wines are so soulful that they demanded my attention. I was especially taken with the floral, spicy, lively 2013 Damejeanne.”

It was as if a Kansas restaurant had won Times praise for best sushi.

The wines he loved used Marquette red and La Crescent white grapes, both created at the University of Minnesota (UM). UM varieties are now grown in numerous states, and in Canada. “The wines we produce, that niche itself, they offer some unique flavor profiles. It’s an opportunity for someone who’s interested in locally produced products,” Clark said, adding that large producers such as Gallo may be able to use such grapes for blended wines that don’t specify a particular variety.

The Minnesota program began in the mid-1980s, but moved very slowly at first. “It really took nearly 20 years to get Frontenac, our first variety, out [into vineyards],” Clark said. Frontenac was a hybrid: 50 percent from a wild Vitis riparia American vine, and 50 percent from Vitis vinifera , the European grapevine. Other new cultivars come from the American native grapes V. labrusca or V. rupestris .

In the past only one out of 10,000 Minnesota grape seedlings made it to the stage of being grown in vineyards. Many have one desirable trait but lack others, such as berry size or productivity. “So it really is a numbers game,” Clark said in a phone call. Now VitisGen is speeding up the process.

The American grapes clearly have potential, but one expert pointed to an obstacle. For U.S. consumers, grape variety and wine preference are strongly linked, notes Geoff Kruth , a Master Sommelier and the president of GuildSomm, an international nonprofit based in California. “It takes quite a bit of time and exposure for new grapes to catch on with the drinking public,” Kruth wrote in an email. “If the quality is there, unknown varieties with good yields can always find a home in blends or niche bottlings. But you wouldn't want to be in a position to have to sell large quantities of any wine without a familiar grape variety or brand name blend.”

Clark is optimistic, given the strong interest in regional foods, craft brewing and small distilleries in recent years. “Maybe we'll swing back to where we were before the '70s, where people bought red wine and white wine, or bought by region. And they weren't looking for Chardonnay, or Merlot or Pinot on the label.” Maybe next time, they’ll be looking for Vermont.

Viticultural Apartheid?

To understand the challenge of creating a truly American wine grape, you have to understand that viticulture has become a monoculture. French grapes dominate the marketplace, especially in America.

I asked geneticist Sean Myles if there was any justification for planting only the famous varieties. He’s at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, and was the lead author on a widely cited 2011 grape genome paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . DNA analysis showed that humans have been breeding and mixing grape varieties for at least 8,000 years—when organized winemaking began in the Caucasus Mountain region. That’s thousands of years before the French started making wine.

Myles reeled off a botanical sermon about rampant viticultural apartheid. “If applied to any other category you’d say this is just plain old racism. A little bit of wild ancestry? Ah, you’re still a hybrid. You’re inferior to the noble European grapes,” Myles said of the prejudice against American grape DNA.

One grape scientist who isn’t involved with the VitisGen research said the shift towards global grape monoculture began in the late 1800s. Before that time many countries and regions grew hundreds and hundreds of local varieties. Then in the 1860s a tiny, aphid-like pest called Phylloxera began destroying vineyards throughout Europe. Two things happened during replanting.

“First, they had to choose which variety to use, and in many cases—not only in France, but also in Switzerland, Italy, and Germany, and everywhere—they had a tendency to forget the old (native) grandfather varieties,” says Jose Vouillamoz , a Swiss wine scientist and co-author of the acclaimed reference book Wine Grapes . “And they chose to plant varieties that were easier to cultivate, and especially that would produce more. So that’s why in many regions some of the ancient, traditional varieties have been almost abandoned, or sometimes have disappeared.”

The solution to Phylloxera was grafting European vines onto American rootstock, which had natural resistance.

In recent decades the global shift towards monoculture has accelerated, even as some vineyards try to preserve old local varieties. A study in the Journal of Wine Economics found that between 1990 and 2010, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot more than doubled their share in the world’s vineyards. By 2010 French grape varieties comprised 67 percent of vineyard acreage in New World countries, up from 53 percent just 10 years before.

Inbred Nobility

A final irony is that oenophiles are in some ways loving their famous French grapes to death—or more precisely, preventing them from loving at all. In an obsessive quest to keep classic wine flavors consistent, vineyards stopped natural crossbreeding. Instead, new vines are created not from seeds but by cutting pieces of existing vines and grafting them to rootstock. (The grapes self-pollinate, too, so aside from mutations the DNA doesn’t change.) In other words, the famous grapes stopped evolving—but insects and diseases didn’t. For example, Pinot Noir may date to the Roman era.

A VitisGen summary notes that modern grape production is expensive and requires large quantities of chemicals, “largely due to the widespread planting of unimproved cultivars, developed 150—2000 years ago, that are highly susceptible to biotic and abiotic stresses.”

Myles elaborated, with a grim prediction. “That is going to be the potential demise of the entire international wine industry as we know it today. The industry is losing the arms race to the pathogens that continually evolve and attack the grapevines. It’s really only a matter of time. If we just keep using the same genetic material, we’re doomed,” he said.

That might seem unlikely, except that botanists can cite examples where excessive crop monoculture led to disaster. By the early 1800s most people in Ireland were planting just one potato variety, propagating it from shoots. That wasn’t a problem until the rot disease Phytophthora infestans showed up in the 1840s, destroying entire harvests and leading to massive starvation. The Gros Michel banana dominated markets until the 1950s, when a fungus destroyed many plantations. It was replaced by the supposedly immune Cavendish, which now occupies about 90 percent of the world market. But the old Gros Michel fungus kept on evolving—and now it can attack Cavendish, too.

It’s a Catch-22 for the industry: keep using the same grapes wine-lovers expect, even as they grow weaker genetically, or risk introducing unfamiliar new varieties.

Tasting the Past: The Science of Flavor and the Search for the Origins of Wine

In this viticultural detective story wine geeks and history lovers alike will discover new tastes and flavors to savor.

Psychology, Wine and Climate

For centuries winemakers had no precise way to separate the good characteristics in native grapes from the obviously bad ones. Now they do. Andy Walker , a viticulture expert at the University of California at Davis who is also part of the VitisGen project, says the continued aversion to American varieties is purely psychological.

“And in fact”—given the social pressures to reduce chemical use and the way climate change is already impacting wine growing regions—"we’ll have to get over it,” he says.

Vouillamoz agrees that climate change will ultimately force vineyards to make tough decisions. To make the point, at one wine conference he faked a bottle of Domaine Romanée-Conti—one of the most renowned and expensive wines in the world. “And I put on the label, the vintage 2214. And I was asking the audience what do you think will be in this bottle, in 200 years from now. Will there still be Pinot Noir, as it is today, or something else?” he says.

Vouillamoz says Pinot Noir grapes in Burgundy are already out of the optimal window of cultivation because of increasing heat, yet Romanée-Conti’s legendary owners would turn in their graves if future generations plant some other variety. It would be like planting date palms to replace the Washington, D.C. cherry trees.

“So if you want to keep Pinot you can do adjustments, but at some point you will need some more help,” Vouillamoz says. That could mean tweaking Pinot with heat-resistant genes from some obscure vine.

Scores of smaller vineyards are now using native grape hybrids in cool climate areas across North America. In 2014 Ducort vineyards in Bordeaux planted new vines that contain disease-resistant genes, and German vineyards have done similar plantings.

But the general public might be confused by such grapes. Scientists overwhelmingly agree that GMO crops are safe to eat, but consumer resistance is a reality. One newspaper mistakenly used the term “Frankengrapes” to describe Walker’s research. That word was originally used to describe an early GMO tomato variety that contained a flounder gene. The headline was eventually changed, and Walker said the wine writer didn’t aim to denigrate his work. Yet the risk of exaggeration was there.

Technically, the VitisGen scientists are using genomics and other tools just to identify various genes – not to insert other animal or plant species DNA beyond grapes. Clark says it’s essentially a greatly speeded up version of old-fashioned breeding. Walker agrees. “There’s no reason to use genetic modification unless you don’t have the genes at hand. And within Vitis we have everything we need,” he says of the native grape varieties.

Using just a handful of grapes doesn’t even make sense from a purely sensory point of view, Walker adds. “We’re still caught in that trap of saying, ‘well, there are only 10 good varieties in the whole world, and that’s it.’ Anyone who’s drunk wine around the world realizes this is a complete fallacy,” he says. “There are wonderful wines to be made everywhere from a huge number of varieties. But it’s a marketing scam that we ended up with 10 varieties that are [supposedly] destined to be the best in the world.”

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Everything You Need to Know About Growing Grapes for Wine

For more great recommendations about things to see and do in wine country, be sure to request access to our complimentary Napa Valley Vacation Guide ! It’s full of great information about local wineries, tastings, tours, and more.

Growing Grapes for Wine: An Overview

The act of growing grapes for wine is called viticulture. As a general rule of thumb, higher quality fruits produce higher quality wines. Although many factors determine the success of a grapevine, the most important are climate, topography, and soil. It’s no surprise, then, that Napa Valley has the perfect combination of all three! The entire winemaking process is a long one here, beginning with winter pruning to ensure optimal vine growth. After a few months, buds begin to appear and then flower from the vines. Each of these flowers may turn into a single grape, so it is important that each plant is nurtured. Once the grapes grow to a certain size, they are tested for sweetness and maturity. Finally, the grapes are crushed, fermented, and converted into wine.

How Fast Do Grape Vines Grow?

Although the growing time can vary, it typically takes three years for a newly-planted grapevine to start producing fruit. A vine should grow relatively quickly within the first year. During this time, it requires a strong grape trellis. Usually made of wire, a trellis carries the weight of the entire plant to ensure a healthy crop. By the second year, a few grapes may start to appear. However, they are not fully mature until the third year. With proper care, grapevines can live to be 100 years or older. Some of California’s oldest vineyards even have grapevines dating back to the 1880’s!

From Grape to Glass: Wine Tastings and Tours in Napa Valley

Are you are looking to sample some of the best California wines for yourself? You can enjoy tours and tastings year-round in Napa Valley. However, grape harvest season is one of the best times to visit if you would like to see how to grow vines firsthand. Sample some of the world’s finest wines, enjoy a romantic stroll through the vineyards, or learn how to grow grapes in your own backyard! Here are just a few of the amazing wineries and vineyards in our area. Make sure to visit a few of them during your stay!

• La Jota Vineyard
• Hess Winery
• Jarvis Estate
• Judd’s Hill Winery
• Shadybrook Winery
• Del Dotto Caves and Vineyard
• Ancien Winery
• Barnett Vineyards
• Frog’s Leap Winery
• Burgess Cellars
• William Hill Winery
• Domaine Carneros Winery
• Peju Province Winery
• Bell Wine Cellars
• Reynolds Family Winery
• Truchard Vineyards
• Nichelini Winery
• Chimney Rock Winery
• The Artesa Winery

Experience the Best Wine Country Getaways at Churchill Manor!

One of the best places to learn about growing grapes for wine is at Churchill Manor.  Just one block from historic downtown Napa, our enchanting bed and breakfast is a short distance from all of these world-class wineries and vineyards . During your stay at the inn, you can expect to start off each morning with a delicious gourmet breakfast. After a fun day exploring all of the best area attractions , come back to the inn and join us for specialty wines and appetizers!

Related Posts You May Enjoy:

• California Wine Country Tours to Add to your Bucket List
• The Napa Valley Climate is Perfect for Grape Production
• Visit Napa Valley During the Grape Harvest

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Winemaking 101 – Part I: The Science Behind Growing Grapes

Taking the Dive: Winemaking & Wine Growing

Part one: you gotta grow it first.

So, you like your bottles and glasses, and they like you back. But you want more. From pet vines (tastier than succulents, easier than orchids) to getting your hands wet in the cellar, the world of wine growing and making is vast and astoundingly easy to explore.

For ease of exploration and the sheer joy of a field trip, let’s start with where wine is grown. You’ll find vineyards in every state of the continental US. And if it’s dirt you want, don’t limit yourself to only wine grapes. Grapes destined for non-alcoholic juice, jams, raisins, and picnic tables share quite a bit with those destined for glass bottles and stems. If you want to know what a vineyard looks like, all vineyards are fair game.

The grapevine is part of a larger family of vines which fall into the genus Vitis. Left to their own devices, these woody climbers would run their tendrils up nearby trees, produce their tell-tale leafy canopy, and ripen fruit sweet enough to attract their reproductive transport of choice: birds. But, we’ve asked much more of them than a languishing life in the woods. Mankind harnessed the growing power and delectable grapes of the Vitis vinifera species by training the vine to framework that allows us easy control and access to its growth patterns and bountiful fruit.

In the vineyard, neat rows of vines line the hillsides and valleys. Above ground, the trunk, the canes, the leaves, and the fruit (in season) of each vine is readily visible. But, like an iceberg, below ground hides a deep and brooding root system. The above ground portion of the grapevine can be trained in a multitude of ways, from cane pruning to bush pruning, dramatically altering what we see of the vine, as well as how the surrounding environment (sunlight, warmth, moisture, and air circulation) interact with the vine. Below the ground, the roots of the grapevine tunnel down and down, seeking nutrients and water. Together, these two hemispheres of the vine give the plants and the vineyard everything we need to grow and harvest wine grapes.

Grapevines reach harvest only after a vigorous cycle of growth and dormancy. Through budbreak, flowering, fruit set, veraison, and harvest; the vine is a marvel of growth and productivity. The vine sets off its growth cycle later in the spring than most other plants of its kind. So, in April or May of each year, the vine rouses itself and starts moving sap from its roots to the above ground (thus visible) plant. Bud break, that precious moment when new growth springs from last year’s wood, pushes through very shortly after. This new growth rears its green head and pushes delicate canes out to start their life. From these canes, burst forth the lush green leaves and delicate, perfect flowers. Around June and July, the precious green clusters that will become grapes develop. Later, in mid to late summer, a botanical magic show called verasion shines through the vineyard (the ripening process where the skins become translucent and develop gold, rosy, or red color). When these grapes hit their aria, around September, winemakers and wine growers start preparing for harvest.

Harvest is what kicks the cellar and winemaking engines in to high gear. And that’s what we’ll explore next.

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How Climate Change Impacts Wine

By Eric Asimov Oct. 14, 2019

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Climate change will inevitably transform the way the world produces goods.

Farmers who produce wine grapes, an especially sensitive crop, are already feeling those effects.

Wine, which is among the most sensitive and nuanced of agricultural products, demonstrates how climate change is transforming traditions and practices that may be centuries old.

Around the wine-growing world, smart producers have contemplated and experimented with adaptations, not only to hotter summers, but also to warmer winters, droughts and the sort of unexpected, sometimes violent events that stem from climate change: freak hailstorms, spring frosts, flooding and forest fires, just to name a few.

Farmers have been on the front line, and grape growers especially have been noting profound changes in weather patterns since the 1990s. In the short term, some of these changes have actually benefited certain regions.

Places, like England, that were historically unsuited for producing fine wine have been given the opportunity to join the global wine world, transforming local economies in the process.

In areas like Burgundy, Barolo, Champagne and the Mosel and Rhine Valleys of Germany, where great vintages were once rare, warmer growing seasons have made it far easier to produce consistently exceptional wines. This run of prosperity has sent land values (and wine prices) soaring, and it has turned farmers and winemakers into global superstars.

Even with such success, the character of these wines has evolved in part because of the changing climate — in some cases subtly, in others deeply.

And more disruptions are coming, much faster than anybody expected. The accelerating effects of climate change are forcing the wine industry, especially those who see wine as an agricultural product rather than an industrial beverage, to take decisive steps to counter or adapt to the shifts.

So far, these efforts are focused on five factors that are inherently crucial to growing and producing wine.

1. The Wine Map Is Expanding

Winemakers are growing grapes in places once considered too cold for fine wines.

Historically, many great wines have been made along the ragged edge of the possible. Grapevines seem to thrive where they are most challenged, whether in poor soils that force roots to plunge deeply to find moisture or in marginal climates where they must struggle to ripen.

For some of the world’s best-known grapes, including pinot noir, chardonnay, nebbiolo and riesling, these borderline environments permit a combination of low yields and phenolic ripeness, in which sugar, acid and tannins are in balance for producing thrilling wine.

Conversely, if these grapes are planted in overly fertile soils in warm climates, the wines they make will seem dull and flabby, with little of the character and nuance that has made them so prized.

As the climate has warmed, regions that were once considered too cold are now demonstrating that they, too, can produce fine wine, as long as the other elements are in order. In pursuit of the best sites, wine producers are moving north in the Northern Hemisphere, and south in the Southern.

England is a perfect example. Thirty years ago, nobody had ever heard of English sparkling wine. But as the climate has warmed, a world-class sparkling wine industry has developed, with new vineyards being planted at a dizzying pace, primarily along the southern coast.

From Kent in the east through East and West Sussex, Hampshire, Dorset and as far west as Cornwall, fine sparkling wines are being made, produced by the same method as Champagne, but with their own character.

Many of the best vineyards are planted in chalky white soils that are geologically identical to the most prized soils of the Champagne region of France. Those soils have been in England for eons. But until recently, the climate was too cold. Now, Champagne companies like Taittinger and Vranken-Pommery Monopole have invested in English vineyards, hedging their bets as the once-marginal climate in Champagne has warmed.

It’s not only England. Vineyards have been planted in Belgium, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, some with hybrid grape varieties bred specifically for colder weather, but others, like a riesling vineyard in Norway, with vinifera grapes, the species that accounts for all the classic European varieties. Grapes for fine wines are now being grown in northern Germany, and in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and British Columbia.

In the Southern Hemisphere, growers are pushing south, deep into Patagonia in Argentina and Chile. Some of the plantings are now experimental, but in coming years, expect to see these areas more deeply explored.

2. Winemakers Are Seeking Higher Ground

Producers are now planting vineyards at altitudes once considered inhospitable to growing wine grapes.

No hard-and-fast rules limit the altitude at which grapes can be planted. It depends on a region’s climate, the quality of the light, access to water and the nature of the grapes. But clearly, as the earth has warmed, vineyards are moving higher.

In response to climate change, Familia Torres , a global wine producer based in the Catalonia region of Spain, has planted vineyards at altitudes of 3,000 to 4,000 feet in the foothills of the Pyrenees.

“Twenty-five years ago, it would have been impossible,” Miguel Torres Maczassek, the general manager, told me in May.

At higher elevations, peak temperatures are not necessarily much cooler, but intense heat lasts for shorter periods, and nighttime temperatures are colder than at lower altitudes. This increased diurnal shift — the temperature swing over the course of a day — helps grapes to ripen at a more even pace, over a longer period of time, than where temperatures remain relatively stable.

But pushing altitudes also creates challenges. Soils, particularly on slopes, are generally poorer, water is scarcer and unexpected weather events like frosts and hailstorms are always a threat.

How high is high? It depends on the region. In the 1990s, Nicolás Catena Zapata of Catena Zapata in Argentina pioneered high-altitude vineyards in the area, planting at nearly 5,000 feet the Adrianna Vineyard, in the foothills of the Andes.

His move was not a direct reaction to climate change, but an effort to find better terroirs for making more complex wines. The vineyard’s success encouraged other high-altitude plantings, which in turn suggested one possible response to the warming climate.

Today, vineyards in the regions of Salta and Jujuy in northern Argentina are at altitudes of 5,000 to 11,000 feet, among the highest vineyards in the world. In the Walla Walla Valley of Washington State, growers are experimenting at 3,000 feet, higher than ever in the region.

Some long-established vineyard areas, once not well regarded because of their relatively high altitudes, are also looking better because of climate change.

The Hautes-Côtes regions of Burgundy, for example, divided between the Côte de Beaune and the Côte de Nuits in the heart of Burgundy, were not thought to have great potential because they are situated at the top of Burgundy’s slope, about 1,200 to 1,300 feet up.

At that height, the grapes ripened a week or two behind those planted in the choicer areas. Sometimes it was too late, and the grapes would not ripen fully. Even in the best years, the wines were lighter and thinner.

Now, the grapes are ripening more consistently, and the wines have gotten better and better.

3. Growers Are Curtailing Sunlight

For centuries, a formula governed the placement of some of the world’s greatest vineyards in the Northern Hemisphere. They would be planted on hillsides, with suitable soils, facing south or southeast, where they would receive the most sun and warmth, allowing grapes to fully ripen.

This was true whether in the Douro Valley of Portugal, the Mosel or Rhine Valleys of Germany, the northern Rhône Valley of France, in Burgundy or in Barolo. As areas in the Southern Hemisphere were planted with grapes, the reverse was true: North-facing slopes were most in demand.

As the climate has changed, however, the problem for wine producers is no longer how to ripen grapes fully but how to prevent overripening. This has caused many growers to reorient their thinking.

In the Yarra Valley of Australia, growers are rethinking the conventional wisdom of seeking north-facing vineyards. Mac Forbes, an exceptional grower and winemaker, signed a lease in 2017 for about 10 acres facing south. There, in Don Valley , he planted chenin blanc, pinot noir and nebbiolo, all of which benefit from a relatively cool climate.

In the Douro Valley, south-facing vineyards, particularly at lower altitudes, are still prized for port, which requires very ripe grapes. But to make the sort of fresh, unfortified reds and whites for which demand is growing worldwide, winemakers are looking for vineyards that face north , as well as those at higher elevations.

All around the wine-producing world, particularly in places like California, where the status of vineyard areas has not been rigidly defined by history, growers are operating according to this new logic borne of climate change.

On a more granular level, that logic also affects how rows of vines are oriented. In new plantings, growers take great pains where possible to protect grapes from the afternoon sun, when the heat and light are at their most intense.

4. Regions Are Considering Different Grapes

For many producers, particularly small family estates or those in historic appellations, new vineyards in cooler environments are not an option. Instead, they must consider whether to change the essence of what they have been doing, in some cases for centuries.

That might mean leaving behind the grapes that have long been associated with their region, and selecting ones more appropriate for the changing climate.

It may seem impossible to imagine Bordeaux without cabernet sauvignon and merlot, or Champagne without pinot noir and chardonnay, but the prospect of a much warmer future may require even the most famous wine regions to rethink their methods.

This is already happening experimentally in Bordeaux and Napa Valley, two prestigious regions closely associated with cabernet sauvignon. In Bordeaux, where producers may use only grapes that are permitted by the appellation authorities, seven additional grapes have been selected for experiments to determine whether they can be used to mitigate the effects of climate change.

They include four red grapes, touriga nacional, a leading grape of port; marselan, a cross between cabernet sauvignon and grenache; castets, an almost forgotten variety that is resistant to certain diseases; and arinarnoa, a cross between cabernet and tannat that is late- ripening, which may protect against spring frosts.

The three whites include albariño, the main white grape of northwestern Spain, which may be a good alternative to sauvignon blanc; petit manseng, from southwestern France, which, like sémillon, can make both dry and sweet wines; and liliorila, a little-known cross between chardonnay and the obscure baroque that is highly aromatic.

The authorities will carefully monitor these grapes; for now, small percentages of them will be permitted in the Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur appellations, but not in highly esteemed appellations like St.-Julien or Margaux.

No such restrictions exist in Napa Valley, where it is largely up to individual producers to decide what they grow and how they make their wines. But some producers, like Larkmead and Spottswoode, are already imagining a future in which cabernet sauvignon may not be the centerpiece of their wines.

At Larkmead, Dan Petroski, the winemaker, has started an experiment to test some possible alternatives over the next 21 years, including familiar California varieties like zinfandel, petite sirah and charbono, as well as grapes from warm European regions, like touriga nacional, tempranillo from Spain and aglianico from southern Italy.

Expect to hear of more experiments in many other regions.

5. Weather Is No Longer As Predictable

For farmers, and especially grape growers, experience counts for an awful lot. No two years are identical, but over time they will have seen many different weather events and learned how to respond in most cases. Meticulous records over decades, even centuries, can be a big help.

While weather always surprises, experienced farmers generally knew what to expect. With climate change, that is no longer true.

“It hails when it never used to hail, rains in the summer when it used to be dry, is dry in the winter when it used to rain,” Gaia Gaja of the Gaja Winery, which has made wine in Barbaresco and Barolo for generations, told me in April. She said the increased moisture in summer has caused vine pests to reproduce faster, with four cycles a year rather than two.

Forest fires, floods, droughts — wine regions will have to learn how to deal regularly with these once-rare devastations.

In California and Australia, where access to enough water can no longer be taken for granted, growers must consider either grafting their familiar grapevines onto drought-resistant rootstocks , or selecting other grape varieties.

Drought goes hand in hand with forest fires, or bush fires, as they are called in Australia. Institutions there have led the way in researching how smoke from fires can taint grapes and wine, and in finding technological solutions that will at least render such wines drinkable.

In Burgundy, the Côte de Beaune region, which has had several disastrous recent vintages because of hail, has installed a system that tries to prevent the formation of hailstones by shooting particles of heated silver iodide at storm clouds. If that method fails, farmers may also put up bird netting in an effort to protect their vines.

Viticulture by its nature is complicated. As the world’s climates are transformed, it is only becoming more so.

This is the first of a four-part series on winemaking and climate change.

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Viticulture

Learn how to grow grapes and work in the viticulture industry.

• 100 hour, self paced correspondence course
• For the enthusiast or commercial grower
• Grow grapes, make wine, start a vineyard, find a job in this industry

Find out know how to choose the right place, the right varieties, the right growing techniques, the right harvesting techniques and the right marketing techniques: learn to produce better grapes, on a small or large scale.

A course for vineyard workers, vineyard managers and wine growers, hobby farmer growers, enthusiastic amateur wine makers, or anyone working or aspiring to work in this industry.

•     Self paced 100 hour course
•     Written and supported by an international team of horticultural professionals

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

• nature and scope of the Viticulture industry both locally and world wide.
• global viticulture; major wine growing areas around the world; the grape; genera and species; rootstocks; classification of grape varieties; table grapes; wine grapes; dried fruit; juice grapes; canned grapes.
• climate and soil conditions for vineyard site establishment
• temperature; temperature calculations; latitude-temperature index and degree days; sunlight; rainfall; soil; soil types and wine regions; understanding soils; texture; characteristics; soil structure; chemical characteristics of soils including pH and nutrient levels; understanding plant nutrition; soil water content; simple soil tests; naming the soil; problems with soil; erosion; salinity; structural decline; soil acidification; chemical residues.
• appropriate grape varieties for different situations.
• grape types; selection considerations; what to plant; matching the variety with the site; varietal characteristics; selecting wine grapes; yeild; varieties; chenin blanc; chardonnay; semillion; muscat ottonel; muscadelle; gewurztraminer; cabernet sauvignon; carignan; vitis rotundifolia; wine grapes; raisin grapes; juice grapes, the importance of rootstocks; purchasing plants; phylloxera.
• procedure to establish a vineyard.
• establishing a new vineyard, vineyard planning; site planning; vineyard layout; site preparation; planting the vines, vine spacing; shelter belts; crop infrastructure; equipment.
• techniques used in the culture of grape vines (Training & Pruning Grapevines).
• pruning and training vines, shoot spacing; bud numbers; vine spacing; how much to prune; machine pruning; summer pruning; combination pruning; pruning sultana vines; trellising; construction; guyot system; geneva double curtain system; head training, cordoning; kniffen systems; umbrella kniffen system; pergola training system.
• techniques used in the culture of grape vines (Weed, Pest & Disease Control).
• weeds, pest and disease control, weeds in vineyeards; controlling weeds; safety proceedures when using agricultural chemicals; laws and guidelines; types of chemicals; weed management in vineyards; weed management before planting; weed management in new vineyards; weed management in established vineyards; integrated pest management; pest control in vineyards; grape berry moth; grape mealy bug; grape leaffolder; grapevine rust mite; grape blossom midge; flea beetles; birds; large animals; disease control in vineyards; fungal diseases; rots; mildew; eutypa dieback; bacterial diseases; viruses; organic culture of grapes; organic pest and disease control; companion plants; environmental problems including air, water, damage, frost, hail, wind and shade; water mangement; runoff; water saving; grape clones and varieties.
• techniques used in the culture of grape vines (Irrigation & Feeding).
• irrigating and feeding grapes; excessive irrigation; seasonal effects of irrigation; drip irrigation; monitoring and timing; feasibility of irrigation; design considerations; soil and water; measuring water available to plants, calculating permanent wilting point, calculating field capacity of a vineyard; available moisture range; measuring air filled porosity; tensiometer; estimating water; rate of growth; climate; soil conditions; drainage in vineyards; improving subsoil and surface drainage; subsurface drainage; soil fertility; choice of fertilizer; timing of application; fertigation.
• different ways to ensure or improve grape quality.
• plant stock, crop management; post harvest impact on quality; improving flower and fruit set; second set; girdling; berry thinning.
• procedure for harvest and post-harvest treatment and formulate market strategy for vineyard products.
• harvesting; testing for ripeness; influence of weather; harvesting techniques; selling grapes; vineyard resume; selling grapes; contracts; selling online; marketing; developing a marketing plan; advertising; market research; legalities.
• basic principles of wine making.
• Choose an appropriate site for a vineyard.
• Simple Soil tests.
• Measuring ph.
• Water content of soil.
• Choose appropriate grape varieties for different situations.
• Develop criteria to be considered when selecting which grape varieties to grow.
• Devise a procedure to establish a vineyard.
• Specify the techniques used in the culture of grape vines.
• Specify a procedure for harvest and post-harvest treatment of grapes.
• Formulate marketing strategies for vineyard products.
• Explain the basic principles of wine making.

Tips for Grape Growing and Wine Making

There are good varieties of grape that will grow in most parts of the world, from cool temperate to sub tropical regions.

Grape Growing Tips (introductory)

• Grapes are best suited to inland areas with a warm, fairly dry summer climate with a cold dry winter. Most varieties don’t tolerate hot humid, coastal conditions.
• They are fairly adaptable to soils, but prefer good drainage.
• Vines usually need to be supported by wires attached to a fence, wall or pergola. If you’re growing several vines, they can be trained to grow on a wire trellis consisting of two wires – the first wire, 1 m above ground, supports the fruiting canes; the second wire, 40 cm above it, supports the new shoots.
• Fertilise the vines each year with blood and bone or a slow release fertiliser.
• The grapes are produced on the new season’s growth, which arises from the previous year’s canes. Prune the vines hard each winter to remove excess vegetative growth and encourage new fruiting shoots (cut back up to 90% of the season’s growth). Leave several stubs (spurs) on the main arms of the vines – these will produce new canes and fruit the following summer.
• Good wine-making varieties include:  Red wine: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot, Shiraz  Rose: Pinot Noir

Tips for Home Wine-making

Pick the grapes, remove any leaves and stems and crush them as soon as possible to prevent contamination and excessive oxidation. For white wines, remove the skin before fermentation; for red wines, leave the skin on; for rose, the skins from red grapes are removed a short time after fermentation starts.

Ferment the juice. Wild yeasts start the fermentation process, but only produce about 4% alcohol and a not-so-good taste in the wine. Wine yeasts then take over, changing the remaining sugar into alcohol (bringing alcohol content to about 10%). If left unchecked, vinegar bacteria then take over turning the wine into vinegar. It is necessary to remove unwanted wild yeasts and vinegar bacteria to control the fermentation process and produce quality wine. By altering temperature the speed of fermentation can be controlled. Yeasts only live in temperatures between 4 and 32 degrees C. The closer to 4 degrees C, the slower they work; the closer to 32, the faster they work. A short fermentation period produces a light, inexpensive wine. A longer fermentation time produces a finer quality wine.

Where can Grapes be Grown?

Suitable regions for good quality grape production are determined more by climatic similarities than geographic location. Regions that have mean annual temperatures between 10 and 20 degrees Celsius are the most conducive for quality wine production. World distribution of viticulture is bounded by the 50° line of latitude, both north and south of the equator. However, even within these general parameters, grape vines are not suited to places where leaves do not fall from the vines over winter (due to warmth) or where winters are severe and summers are short.

Assessing regional suitability to grape production is not absolute. Variations in local climate caused by topographical characteristics can greatly affect the feasibility of production. For example, elevated areas in warm climate regions may yield the cooler temperatures required to produce good quality winemaking grapes.

Several parameters are commonly used for assessing growing conditions. Degree Days and Latitude-Temperature Index (LTI) are two such measures. A region with a higher latitude may have cooler mid-summer temperatures but may not be inhibited from good production when offset by a long growing season. The Bordeaux region of France and areas of Washington state in the USA may fall into this category

What to Use Grapes for?

Grapes can be classified based according to their use:

Table grapes

These are grapes which are sold and used fresh. These varieties must look and taste good, and resist bruising or other damage when handled.

Preferred qualities are:

• ·   large berries                                         
• ·   even-sized berries
• ·   strong skin                                    
• ·   strong stems
• ·  good shelf life                                
• ·  seedless (in some markets)
• ·   bunches which are neither loose nor dense (berries should not be too sparse, nor too tightly together)

Some varieties used as table grapes include Cardinal, Black Muscat, White Muscat, Waltham Cross, Purple Cornichon, Flame Seedless and Marroo Seedless.

Wine grapes

These grapes are crushed and fermented to produce wine. Red or rosé wines are produced by fermenting after crushing while the grape skins are still present. For white wines, the skins are removed before fermentation. Some varieties have skins which add more colour to the wine, others less.

Grapes with high acid content and low sugar will produce dry wines. Grapes with high sugar and lower acid produce sweeter wines. The amount of acid and sugar in a grape depends upon the variety of grape, plant culture, and the stage at which it is picked.

Mechanically harvested wine grapes should have berries which detach easily from the stems and have thick skins which don't damage readily. Thin-skinned grapes must be harvested more carefully.

Varieties commonly used for high quality red wine include Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot, Shiraz and Pinot Noir.

Pinot Noir is often used for rosé.

Varieties often used for quality white wine include Chardonnay, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Gewurztraminer.

Dried fruit

Virtually any grapes can be dried, but the varieties used commercially are generally seedless types which ripen fast and at a dry time of year. They must not get moist and split near to harvest. The texture should be soft, and the fruit shouldn't stick together too much in storage. Sultanas (a white seedless variety) are particularly valuable, producing large dried fruits. Raisins may be produced from a range of different varieties, often smaller fruits, including Thomson Seedless, Muscat of Alexandria and Black Corinth.

Juice grapes

Unfermented grape juice has gained increased popularity in recent times. Processes (eg. pasteurisation) used to preserve the juice can have a detrimental effect on the flavour with some varieties of grape, while others are not dramatically altered. Several varieties may be blended to produce juice.

Canned grapes

Seedless grapes are sometimes canned, either alone or with other fruit as fruit salad. Thompson Seedless is commonly used for this purpose in the USA.

WHY THIS COURSE?

This course will give you a sound grounding in all the basic aspects of viticulture. It will enable you to make sure you are choosing the right site, the right place and the right grapes for your region or property. If you are already working in the viticulture industry it will give you the opportunity to back up and extend your knowledge. If you want to move into this industry it will give you the credibility to apply for jobs on vineyards. it is a great starting point for your future in this industry.

OTHER COURSES

We also offer a Certificate in Viticulture that may be of interest to you – Find out more –

VITICULTURE CERTIFICATE COURSE DISTANCE LEARNING

Maggi Brown

Yvonne Sharpe

Business Operations

Farm Management

Commercial Hydroponics

Fruit, Vegetables and Herbs

It's Easy to Enrol

Select a Learning Method

$461.00 Payment plans available.

Take advantage of our personalised, expert course counselling service to ensure you're making the best course choices for your situation.

Growing grapes and making wine

• X (formerly Twitter)

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Hi. My name is Georgia and I love cooking. I had an amazing time cooking on a big TV show and I won the competition. Now, I want to find out more about where our food comes from. Let's go on a journey together to visit some farms, meet some young farmers, and learn about how our food is produced. But what about drinks? I obviously don't drink wine but lots of adults around the world do. And wine production is a very important agricultural industry in Australia.

But how are grapes turned into wine? How much wine is produced in Australia? And what's it like being a winemaker? Let's find out. The Australian wine industry is big, and people all around the world drink our wines. There are over 2000 wineries in Australia. And the Australian wine industry contributes about $45 billion to the Australian economy annually.

Australian winemakers produce over a billion litres of wine every year. In 2020 to 2021, Australia exported 693 million litres of wine, valued at $2.6 billion. China was the biggest customer with 24% of the exports by value going there. Here in Australia, Australian wine makes up about 80% of the total volume of wine sold.

Australia is currently the fifth largest wine producer in the world. Wine is produced in every state, but most of it is produced in the southern cooler parts of Australia. There are about 65 wine regions in Australia. Some of the best known regions are found here. Now, let's visit the Yarra Valley in Victoria to meet a winemaking teacher and some of his students.

Hello, I'm Tim Thompson. I'm the farm manager, and one of the agriculture teachers here at Mount Lilydale Mercy College. And I'm very proud of the programmes that we run, one of which, of course, is viticulture and winemaking. So people might ask, why teach about wine in a school? We don't actually give the students any wine to drink ever. They never get to taste the product. They enjoy the process of making the wine because it gives relevance to all of the other work that they're doing in their other studies.

We have chemistry skills in the titrations and the pH scale and understanding about fermentation. You've got biology in the molecular biology of fermentation. You've also got biology in how the grape vines themselves grow. You've got agriculture in terms of pest disease management. The students learn monitoring skills, they use statistics, and not only that, but students are actively involved with local industry. And I think that should be part of the curriculum for any school that wants to add value to the community and add value to its students.

We're agriculture students at Mount Lilydale Mercy College.

And we're learning about winemaking.

Come and check out our vineyard.

Firstly, what is wine?

Wine is an alcoholic drink that people over the age of 18 can drink.

Wine is made by fermenting fruit juice.

Fermentation occurs when tiny living things like yeast, bacteria, and mould create a chemical change.

Don't worry, it's not that gross.

For thousands of years, people have used fermentation to make wine and beer, as well as bread, cheese and other foods.

Most wine is made from grapes, but it can be made from other fruits.

Wine grapes are different to the grapes you might have in your lunchbox at school, but they're still delicious.

Oy, stop eating the grapes.

Grapes are great to make wine from, because they contain acid, which preserves the juice, and allows it to be aged for a long time.

Sometimes wine can be drunk decades after it was made.

Grapes also have a high sugar content, which allows them to ferment.

There are lots of different types of wine like red, white, rose, sparkling, and sweet wine.

And there are many, many different wine grape varieties in the world.

The most common varieties we grow in Australia are Shiraz, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

And different varieties of grapes prefer different climates and soil types.

At our school we grow Cabernet grapes. Come and check out how we turn them into wine.

So I guess it starts with the grapevines. Let's find out how they're grown.

Grapevines prefer a nice, sunny spot on a slope. Planting and growing grape vines can be complicated. Luckily, we have a vineyard at our school that's over 20 years old.

And a teacher who's 120.

That's not true.

The vines are pruned in winter when they are dormant and lose their leaves. We cut them back to encourage new growth.

As we enter spring, we then train up the young shoots between foliage wires. This keeps the canopy upright, and manages the amount of pest and disease that we have to deal with by other means. Students then count the flower clusters and the number of shoots to determine if any thinning is required.

We also encourage natural predators for our pests by planting particular native plants nearby. These act as a biological control.

We only use chemical controls to restore the balance when we really need to.

And we use nets to protect the vines from birds.

Once the grapes have started growing, we start tasting and testing the grapes in the lead up to harvesting.

We use refractometers to monitor the sugar levels, and a pH metre to see how our acid levels are going. We need the levels to be just right before we pick the grapes.

Wow, making wine is really scientific. What happens next?

Harvest time is lots of fun and a bit messy. We pick all the grapes and take them back to our classroom winery.

The stems are moved by a destemmer. And then we crush the grapes, that also gets a bit messy.

But we don't wine about it.

We inoculate this crushed fruit, with yeast, and with nutrient.

Australian soils are low in phosphorus. Yeast needs phosphorus for energy. So we add phosphorus in the form of DAP.

We use yeast to turn the sugar from the grapes into wine. And now we add a touch of sugar for luck.

It is left in the tank to ferment.

The ferment is then plunged twice a day, every day to push the red skins back down into the juice as the yeast starts to create heat and carbon dioxide bubbles, which push them back up again.

We check the temperature and the sugars every day. Once the sugar is gone, we press the wine off the skins.

This is when the crushed grapes get totally squashed. By applying pressure to the top of the press, we can extract the wine from the skins. We have to be careful about how much we press them because overpricing can harm the flavour. The skins are then removed and the wine is put into a tank to settle for about two weeks.

During this time, the dead yeast cells fall to the bottom.

We then syphon or rack the clear wine.

Racking is really just moving the wine from the tank to the barrel.

Then the wine is stored for 12 months.

Every month the wine in the barrel is checked for evaporation, and topped up with the leftover wine that's still in the tank.

Once the wine's been in barrel for about 12 months at this school, we then bottle the wine ready for parents, friends, and supporters of the programme.

We don't drink any of it, but we love making it. And sometimes we even win awards for it.

Now, that was a truly grape vintage.

Now let's visit a big winery nearby that the school has a partnership with.

My name is Brendan Hawker. I'm the senior winemaker here at Yering Station Winery. We are situated in the Yarra Valley, just an hour's drive northeast of Melbourne. We're making close to a million bottles of wine a year, all from premium Yarra Valley vineyards. Every year during harvest, we have a group that come out from Mount Lilydale College, and we show them turning grapes into wine.

So they might be only working with a few hundred kilos at a time, whereas we're working with a few thousand kilos at a time of grapes for a ferment. So really the processes that they're doing there, and what Tim has them learning about, is very much applicable to what we do here. We just have bigger equipment to move the grapes around and handle it with.

And now for a fun fact.

Between 600 and 800 grapes go into making just one bottle of our school's wine.

Wow, that's a lot of grapes. I reckon I only used about 200 in my jam. I love this recipe. All you need is grapes, sugar, and lemon juice. This is how you make it. You need about a kilo of red grapes. Pick the grapes and put them into the bowl. Pour them into a big saucepan and cook them with the lid on, over low heat for five minutes. Make sure you have an adult with you when using the stove.

Mash the grapes with a potato masher, then leave them to keep cooking with the lid on for another 15 minutes. You might like to mash them a bit more during this time. Place a fine sieve over a bowl, and pour the grape mixture in so only the juice runs through. Leave it to drain for an hour or two.

You might also want to use a spoon to press down on the pulp to get more of the juice out. Then put the grape juice back into the saucepan and add 2 cups of sugar. You might want to try using jam sugar. Then add half a cup of lemon juice. Stir the mixture over a low heat to dissolve the sugar. Then turn up the heat so the mixture starts to boil, and cook it for about 10 minutes.

Test with a spoon to see if the jam has become syrupy. If you can see that it's become a little bit thicker, take it off the heat. When it's ready, pour the hot jam into a sterilised jar and seal. You also need toast with butter. I'm going to go make some. I'm full of grape ideas. Bye.

SUBJECTS:   Geography , Science , Technologies

YEARS:  F–2, 3–4, 5–6, 7–8, 9–10

Wine is an important agricultural industry in Australia, with over 1 billion litres of wine made here each year.

There are over 2,000 wineries in Australia and around 65 wine regions, found mostly in cooler southern parts of the country. But how are grapes turned into wine?

Tim Thompson and his students make wine as part of an agriculture subject at their school. Join them as they show us all the steps that go into winemaking, from growing healthy grapevines to testing, harvesting, crushing and fermenting the grapes. We learn how wine is pressed, stored and bottled, and we visit a large Yarra Valley winery nearby, which has a partnership with the school.

Things to think about

• 1. How are pests and diseases managed at the school vineyard?
• 2. Why do the students do experiments with the grape juice?
• 3. What are some of the other ways science is used to make wine?
• 4. What are some of the processes the grapes go through after they're harvested?

Production Date: 2022

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Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2020 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

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• Published: 26 March 2024

Climate change impacts and adaptations of wine production

• Cornelis van Leeuwen   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9428-0167 1 ,
• Giovanni Sgubin 2 , 3 ,
• Benjamin Bois   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7114-2071 4 ,
• Nathalie Ollat 1 ,
• Didier Swingedouw   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0583-0850 2 ,
• Sébastien Zito 1 &
• Gregory A. Gambetta   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8838-5050 1  

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment volume  5 ,  pages 258–275 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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• Climate change
• Environmental impact

Climate change is affecting grape yield, composition and wine quality. As a result, the geography of wine production is changing. In this Review, we discuss the consequences of changing temperature, precipitation, humidity, radiation and CO 2 on global wine production and explore adaptation strategies. Current winegrowing regions are primarily located at mid-latitudes (California, USA; southern France; northern Spain and Italy; Barossa, Australia; Stellenbosch, South Africa; and Mendoza, Argentina, among others), where the climate is warm enough to allow grape ripening, but without excessive heat, and relatively dry to avoid strong disease pressure. About 90% of traditional wine regions in coastal and lowland regions of Spain, Italy, Greece and southern California could be at risk of disappearing by the end of the century because of excessive drought and more frequent heatwaves with climate change. Warmer temperatures might increase suitability for other regions (Washington State, Oregon, Tasmania, northern France) and are driving the emergence of new wine regions, like the southern United Kingdom. The degree of these changes in suitability strongly depends on the level of temperature rise. Existing producers can adapt to a certain level of warming by changing plant material (varieties and rootstocks), training systems and vineyard management. However, these adaptations might not be enough to maintain economically viable wine production in all areas. Future research should aim to assess the economic impact of climate change adaptation strategies applied at large scale.

Climate change modifies wine production conditions and requires adaptation from growers.

The suitability of current winegrowing areas is changing, and there will be winners and losers. New winegrowing regions will appear in previously unsuitable areas, including expanding into upslope regions and natural areas, raising issues for environmental preservation.

Higher temperatures advance phenology (major stages in the growing cycle), shifting grape ripening to a warmer part of the summer. In most winegrowing regions around the globe, grape harvests have advanced by 2–3 weeks over the past 40 years. The resulting modifications in grape composition at harvest change wine quality and style.

Changing plant material and cultivation techniques that retard maturity are effective adaptation strategies to higher temperatures until a certain level of warming.

Increased drought reduces yield and can result in sustainability losses. The use of drought-resistant plant material and the adoption of different training systems are effective adaptation strategies to deal with declining water availability. Supplementary irrigation is also an option when sustainable freshwater resources are available.

The emergence of new pests and diseases and the increasing occurrence of extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, heavy rainfall and possibly hail, also challenge wine production in some regions. In contrast, other areas might benefit from reduced pest and disease pressure.

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Data availability.

The suitability assessment compiled in Fig.  1 can be obtained by applying, for each region identified in Supplementary Table  1 , the methodology explained in the Supplementary note and in Supplementary Tables  3 , 4 and 5 , for each specific reference selected in Supplementary Table  2 .

The data underlying Fig.  3 are freely available, for the observed precipitations at http://gpcp.umd.edu/ and for drought projections at https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/1b91153925dd474387bb696d59adbd15 .

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Acknowledgements

B.B. and S.Z. thank P. Louâpre and M. Adrian for help with Fig.  6 . D.S., C.v.L., G.G. and G.S. acknowledge the financial support of the RRI ‘Tackling Global Change’ funded by the University of Bordeaux and Jas Hennessy.

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van Leeuwen, C., Sgubin, G., Bois, B. et al. Climate change impacts and adaptations of wine production. Nat Rev Earth Environ 5 , 258–275 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-024-00521-5

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Regional Prerequisites: What It Really Takes To Grow Wine Grapes

words: Laura Burgess

My favorite grape-growing motto is, “If the Etruscans can do it, so can you.” In nearly every case, it’s true that grapes are extremely robust, versatile, and need hardly any attention once they’re in the ground. This writer knows first hand that you can drive over a grapevine, let deer feast on its remains, ignore it for nine months, and still find it thriving the following July.

However, there’s a monumental difference between being able to keep vines alive and being able to make fine wine from their sweet, delicate berries. In fact, there’s so much science involved in getting grapes to produce ideal berries, viticulture is a common bachelor’s degree program at universities worldwide.

Whether taking the Etruscan–try, try, try again–method or a more scientific approach to grape cultivation, certain characteristics are critical in any fine wine region. While grapes are grown and wine is made in all 50 states, not every zone has them. Before diving into specifics, let’s clarify: any ripe fruit left alone will ferment into an alcoholic beverage. Here, the focus is on fine wine production. These are wines that, while not necessarily expensive, express both varietal character (Pinot Noir-ness) and a sense of place, or terroir.

Sunshine is the first, and most important, requirement for viticulture. Sunlight powers photosynthesis, which allows the vines to grow, producing leaves and grape berries as a result. Without adequate rays and the heat that comes with them, vines will die. In general, grapes thrive between the 30th and 50th latitudes, where temperatures are warm enough for plant processes to occur. Outside of this belt, which encompasses every famous wine region in the world, winters can be too severe for vines to survive, or summers can be too hot or aren’t hot enough to support adequate ripening. A vineyard or region’s exact spot within the grape belt reflects the length of its ripening season. For example, vineyards in the northern reaches of Washington state benefit from long sunny days with cool temperatures, allowing grapes to ripen very slowly. Vineyards stretched across sun-baked swaths of Southern Spain and Portugal have shorter, hotter days where ripening happens rapidly.

In cooler areas at the edge of the grape belt, such as New York’s Finger Lakes or Germany’s chilly Mosel Valley, south-facing hillsides that maximize sun exposure are critical to grape ripening. Locales with similar temperatures, but without good exposure–like Connecticut, Poland or North Dakota–can’t make fine wines for this reason.

Adequate rainfall is another prerequisite for thriving grape vines. In many arid regions, like central California and Australia, irrigation systems compensate for water that Mother Nature doesn’t supply, and grape growing is extremely successful. However, across most of Europe–the holy grail of prosperous wine growing–irrigation is illegal. Banning irrigation is the result of stylistic winemaking laws in Europe, but also discourages grape growing in areas where wines would likely be of poor quality. On the other hand, areas that see lots of rainfall–like England and South Carolina–are prone to rot and humidity-loving fungal diseases, again making wine production extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The balance of sunshine and rainfall, which together form climates, is critical to fine wines. The unique mixes of these two elements are what make Chianti, Bordeaux, and Sonoma wines exceptional and distinctive.

Even with a seemingly ideal climate for grapes, soil composition is crucial to high quality viticulture. Unlike many crops, grapes thrive in a variety of soils, many of which are not fertile enough to support other plants. Viticulturalists look at a combination of drainage, heat retention, fertility, and minerality when examining a potential vineyard site. The round white stones that cover the ground in the Rhone village of Châteauneuf du Pape, for instance, absorb heat, protecting the vines in cool, windy nights. In addition, the rocky soil allows water to drain deep into the earth, encouraging the vines to develop a strong, downreaching root system, which prevents common diseases and death in the face of drought.

Rich, fertile soils that are heavy and compacted don’t drain well, and produce overly vigorous vines with shallow, weak root systems. Sure, these vines will deliver a massive harvest, but they’ll also be less complex and flavorful than grapes from less fertile soils.

If the goal is simply to see fermentation in action, then by all means, buy wine grape kits on Etsy for $14.95. Or make kimchi in the bathtub. But if delicious, distinctive wines are the objective, look for the Holy Trinity of sunshine, water, and soil, and enjoy every last drop.

Published: July 21, 2015

• Regional Prerequisites: What It Really Takes To Grow Wine Grapes | VinePair
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How To Grow Wine Grapes: A Step-By-Step Guide

Wondering how to grow wine grapes? Check out our latest blog post to learn more about the process and what it takes to be successful.

Growing your own wine grapes can be a rewarding and enjoyable experience. Whether you are a novice or an experienced grower, there are many factors to consider when it comes to growing wine grapes. In this article, we will discuss what climate is best for growing wine grapes, how to select the right variety of wine grapes, what soil type is needed for growing wine grapes, how much sunlight is needed for growing wine grapes, what pruning techniques should be used for growing wine grapes, how to fertilize and water wine grape vines, what pests and diseases can affect wine grape vines, how to harvest and store wine grapes, and what equipment is needed for growing wine grapes. With the proper knowledge and preparation, you can successfully grow your own delicious wines from home.

Table of Contents

What Climate is Best for Growing Wine Grapes?

Wine grapes are one of the most popular types of grapes grown around the world, and they require a specific climate in order to thrive. The ideal climate for growing wine grapes is one that has warm days and cool nights. This allows the grapes to ripen fully while retaining their acidity and flavor. The optimal temperature range for growing wine grapes is between 68-77°F (20-25°C).

Sunlight Requirements

In addition to the temperature requirements, wine grapes need plenty of sunlight in order to ripen properly. The ideal amount of sunlight for wine grape vines is 8-10 hours per day. If there is not enough sunlight, the vines will not produce enough sugar and will produce poor quality fruit.

Soil Requirements

The soil in which wine grapes are grown also needs to be well drained and have a pH level between 6.0-7.0. Poorly drained soils can lead to root rot and other issues that can affect the health of the vines. Additionally, if the soil is too acidic or alkaline, it can cause nutrient deficiencies in the vines which can lead to poor fruit production.

Overall, it is important to make sure that you have an ideal climate when growing wine grapes in order to ensure that they thrive and produce high quality fruit. By providing ample sunlight, warm days and cool nights, as well as well-drained soil with a neutral pH level, you can ensure that your vineyard produces excellent quality wine grapes each year.

How to Select the Right Variety of Wine Grapes

When it comes to selecting the right variety of wine grapes, there are several factors to consider. The climate and soil type of your vineyard will determine what type of grapes you can grow. You should also consider the flavor profile you want from your wine, as different varieties of grapes produce different styles of wine. Additionally, you should think about the level of maintenance required for each variety, as some require more attention than others.

In order to select the right variety, it’s important to research your local climate and soil conditions. Different varieties grow better in certain climates and soils, so it’s important to find one that will thrive in your area. You should also consider the flavor profile you want from your wine. Different grape varieties produce different styles of wines, so it’s important to find one that will produce a style that suits your taste.

Yields and Maintenance Requirements

When selecting a variety of wine grapes, you should also consider yields and maintenance requirements. Some varieties are more productive than others, so if you’re looking for higher yields it’s important to choose a variety that produces larger crops. Additionally, some varieties require more maintenance than others, so if you don’t have much time for tending to your vines it’s best to select a variety that is low-maintenance.

Seek Professional Advice

If you’re unsure which variety is best for your vineyard, it’s best to seek professional advice from an experienced vintner or viticulturist. They can provide valuable insight into which variety is best suited for your climate and soil conditions as well as help you decide which flavor profile will work best with your chosen grape variety. With their help, you can make an informed decision when selecting the right variety of wine grapes for your vineyard.

What Soil Type is Needed for Growing Wine Grapes?

Growing wine grapes requires careful consideration of the soil type. The ideal soil for growing wine grapes should be well-draining and have a pH between 6.0 and 7.5, depending on the variety. The soil should also have plenty of organic matter to provide the vines with essential nutrients throughout the growing season. Additionally, it is important that the soil is not overly compacted, as this can lead to poor root growth and reduced yields.

Well-Draining Soil

Grapevines prefer soils that are well-draining, as they do not like to sit in waterlogged conditions. If your soil has poor drainage, you can improve it by adding organic matter such as compost or aged manure. This will help to increase the amount of air pockets in the soil, allowing excess water to drain away more easily.

The ideal pH level for growing wine grapes varies depending on the variety of grape you are growing. Generally speaking, most varieties prefer a slightly acidic soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.5. If your soil has a higher or lower pH than this range, you can adjust it by adding sulfur or lime to raise or lower the pH level respectively.

Organic Matter

Adding organic matter such as compost or aged manure to your soil will provide essential nutrients for your grapevines throughout the growing season. Organic matter helps to improve the structure of your soil by increasing air pockets and improving drainage, which will help promote healthy root growth and increased yields of fruit.

How Much Sunlight is Needed for Growing Wine Grapes

Grapes are one of the most popular fruits used to make wine. In order for grapes to grow and produce a quality crop, they need plenty of sunlight. The amount of sunlight needed varies depending on the type of grape being grown and the climate in which it is being grown. Generally speaking, wine grapes need between 8-12 hours of direct sunlight per day in order for them to thrive.

In addition to direct sunlight, wine grapes also need plenty of indirect light. This helps to ensure that the grapes are able to photosynthesize properly and produce enough sugar for fermentation. The amount of indirect light needed will depend on the variety of grape being grown and the climate in which it is being grown.

The Importance of Sunlight

Sunlight is essential for wine grapes to grow properly and produce a quality crop. Without adequate sunlight, the grapes will not be able to photosynthesize properly, resulting in poor yields and lower quality wines. In addition, too much or too little sunlight can cause problems with ripening and flavor development in the grapes.

Choosing Varieties That Thrive in Your Climate

When selecting varieties of wine grapes to grow, it is important to choose ones that are well suited to your climate and will receive enough sunlight throughout the growing season. Different varieties have different requirements when it comes to sunlight, so it is important to do your research before planting any vines. Additionally, you may want to consider planting multiple varieties that do well in your area so that you can maximize your yields and get the best possible flavor from your wines.

What Pruning Techniques Should be Used for Growing Wine Grapes?

Growing wine grapes is a rewarding and enjoyable experience, but it requires careful pruning techniques to ensure the best possible harvest. Pruning helps to keep the vines healthy and productive, and can also help to improve the quality of the grapes. The most common pruning techniques used for growing wine grapes are cane pruning, spur pruning, and head pruning.

Cane Pruning

Cane pruning is a technique that involves cutting back the shoots of the vine to just two or three buds. This encourages the growth of larger, more robust canes which will produce more fruit . Cane pruning should be done in late winter or early spring before bud break.

Spur Pruning

Spur pruning is a technique that involves cutting back shoots to just two or three buds, as with cane pruning, but then leaving them on the vine as spurs. This encourages the growth of smaller clusters of grapes which can improve the quality of the fruit. Spur pruning should be done in late winter or early spring before bud break.

Head Pruning

Head pruning is a technique that involves cutting back all of the shoots on the vine to one bud each. This encourages more compact growth and reduces competition between shoots for resources such as light and water. Head pruning should be done in late winter or early spring before bud break.

Pruning techniques should be tailored to suit each individual vineyard and its particular needs, but these three techniques are commonly used for growing wine grapes. By carefully selecting and implementing appropriate pruning techniques, growers can ensure a successful harvest of high-quality grapes.

How to Fertilize and Water Wine Grape Vines

Grape vines are a great addition to any garden or backyard. They can produce delicious fruit that can be used to make wine, jams, jellies, and more. To ensure your grape vines stay healthy and productive, it is important to fertilize and water them properly.

Fertilizing

Fertilizing your grape vines is essential for their growth and development. Before you begin fertilizing, it is important to have the soil tested to determine what nutrients are lacking in the soil. Once you know what nutrients need to be added, you can choose the right fertilizer for your grape vines. Organic fertilizers such as compost or manure are best for grape vines, as they provide a slow release of nutrients over time.

Watering your grape vines is also an important part of their care. Grape vines need about one inch of water per week during the growing season. If there is not enough rain during the week, you should supplement with irrigation or hand-watering. It is important to water deeply so that the roots of the vine can access the water. During periods of extreme heat or drought, you may need to increase watering frequency to ensure your grape vines stay healthy and productive.

By following these tips on how to fertilize and water wine grape vines, you can ensure that your grapes will be healthy and productive for years to come!

What Pests and Diseases Can Affect Wine Grape Vines?

Grape vines are susceptible to a number of pests and diseases, which can affect the quality of the grapes. Common pests include mites, aphids, mealybugs, and thrips. These pests feed on the leaves, stems, and fruit of the grape vine. Diseases such as powdery mildew, downy mildew, black rot, and phomopsis cane can also affect grape vines.

Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that causes white spots on the leaves and fruit of the vine. Downy mildew is another fungal disease that causes yellowish-green spots on the leaves. Black rot is caused by a fungus that affects both the leaves and fruit of the vine. Phomopsis cane is a fungal disease that affects mainly young shoots and causes them to become discolored or die back.

Preventing Pests and Diseases

The best way to prevent pests and diseases from affecting your grape vines is to practice good cultural practices such as proper pruning, irrigation, fertilization, weed control, and pest management. Pruning helps to remove diseased or damaged parts of the vine which can help reduce the spread of disease.

Irrigation should be done in moderation so as not to encourage fungal growth or pest infestations. Fertilization should be done according to soil tests in order to ensure proper nutrition for healthy vines. Weed control should be done regularly in order to reduce competition for nutrients between weeds and grapevines. Finally, pest management should be done using organic methods such as beneficial insects or traps in order to reduce chemical use in your vineyard.

Treating Pests and Diseases

If you do find pests or diseases affecting your grape vines it’s important to take action quickly in order to minimize damage. Treatments for pests such as mites or aphids may involve spraying with an insecticidal soap or horticultural oil. For fungal diseases such as powdery mildew or downy mildew you may need to spray with a fungicide containing sulfur or copper compounds. If you have black rot you may need to prune away affected parts of the vine in order to stop it from spreading further. Finally, if you have phomopsis cane you may need to apply a systemic fungicide in order to control it effectively.

How to Harvest and Store Wine Grapes

Harvesting and storing wine grapes is an important part of the winemaking process. The best time to harvest your grapes is when they reach optimal ripeness, which varies depending on the variety. To determine when your grapes are ready for harvesting, you should taste a few and look for signs of maturity such as color, sweetness, and acidity. Once you have determined that your grapes are ripe, it’s time to harvest them.

Harvesting Wine Grapes

Harvesting wine grapes requires careful attention to detail. You should use a sharp knife or pruners to cut off the stems at the base of each cluster, taking care not to damage the berries. It is also important to discard any rotten or damaged berries as they can affect the flavor of the wine. Once you have harvested all of your grapes, you should move quickly to prevent oxidation.

Storing Wine Grapes

Once you have harvested your wine grapes, it is important to store them properly in order to preserve their quality and flavor. The best way to store wine grapes is in a cool, dark place with good air circulation.

If possible, you should also keep them in an airtight container or bag so that they do not dry out or spoil. Additionally, it is important to use your harvested grapes within one week of harvesting in order for them to remain fresh and flavorful.

Harvesting and storing wine grapes correctly is essential for making high-quality wines. By following these tips, you can ensure that your harvested grapes are fresh and flavorful when it comes time for winemaking!

What Equipment is Needed for Growing Wine Grapes?

Growing wine grapes requires a few pieces of equipment. The most important item is a trellis system, which is used to support the vines and keep them off the ground. Trellises come in many shapes and sizes and can be made from wood, metal, or plastic. Additionally, you will need pruning shears to trim the vines and promote growth, as well as a sprayer to apply fungicides and pesticides.

It’s also important to have a soil testing kit to monitor the nutrient levels in the soil. This will help you determine what supplements your vineyard needs throughout the year. Finally, you’ll need some type of irrigation system to ensure your vines get enough water during dry spells.

Closing Thoughts

Growing wine grapes is a rewarding experience for any gardener. It’s important to understand the climate, soil type, sunlight needs, pruning techniques, fertilizing and watering requirements, pests and diseases, harvesting and storage methods, and equipment needed to ensure success.

With the right knowledge and dedication, you can produce a delicious crop of wine grapes that will make your home-made wine even more special.

Thank you for following along with this article on how to grow wine grapes. We hope it has been helpful in giving you an understanding of what is required for a successful harvest. If you have any thoughts or information on the topic that you would like to share, please leave them in the comments below.

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A Case Study in Growing an Emerging Wine State

From investing in education and grape-growing subsidies to galvanizing the winemaking community, New Mexico offers an example of rightsized growth

written by Tyler Wetherall

published February 21, 2023

In 2029, New Mexico will celebrate 400 years since Mission grapes were first planted along the banks of the Rio Grande by Franciscan monks to make sacramental wine. It’s the oldest wine growing region in the U.S. and, before Prohibition, the fifth-largest wine producing state. But widespread flooding in the early 1900s devastated the industry, and its significance ended there. Today, the well-versed wine drinker would be hard pressed to name a New Mexico producer aside from Gruet .

But the state has been quietly growing its wine industry in the past decade. In 2022, it generated approximately $1.12 billion in total economic activity according to a National Economic Impact Study by The National Association of American Wineries , up from $876 million in 2020 . (Comparatively, Oregon’s industry generates close to $7.19 billion.) According to Maryel Lopez, the viticulture program coordinator at New Mexico State University (NMSU), growth is accelerating. “From what I’ve seen in the last year, the industry is growing way more than 10 percent a year; it’s exponentially growing,” she says. But beyond the numbers, there is burgeoning excitement amongst a new generation of producers ready to reimagine the state’s approach to viticulture.

“This next generation is retelling the story with a modern twist,” says Chris Goblet, the executive director of New Mexico Wine . “What we’ve seen happen in Oregon, Washington, and now New York and Idaho—it’s something that we have the capability of doing here if we can build enough momentum and energy around this industry.” That ongoing effort is what makes New Mexico an instructive case study in how a small wine-producing state might boost their wine production and statewide economy through investing in grape growing, galvanizing the winemaking community, and educating up-and-coming vintners. 

Building on a Winemaking Legacy

New Mexico had its first wine growing renaissance in the 1980s, when winemakers such as Gilbert Gruet arrived largely from Italy, Germany, and France in search of commercial grape-growing land at more affordable prices than offered in California. Many planted French hybrids, such as Vidal Blanc and Baco Noir, that would thrive  despite the cool nights, high elevation, and dry, rocky calcium-rich soil. 

In 1986, Paolo D’Andrea was one such new arrival from the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region of Italy. He brought four generations of grape-growing expertise, and is now widely referred to as the godfather of New Mexico wine. He is the largest supplier of grapes in the state, as well as, since 2001, the cofounder of Luna Rossa Winery along with his wife, Sylvia. 

But it is the D’Andreas’ son, Marco, who is amongst the new generation of winemakers taking the helm. These include Chris and Jesse Padburg at Vivác , which launched in 1998, but in recent years has seen rapid expansion; Sean Sheehan, who founded Sheehan Winery in 2015; and Jasper Riddle, the winemaker and owner of Noisy Water Winery . “I came into the industry in 2010, and it was in disarray,” says Riddle, describing a then stagnating scene. “Around 2015, all these new winemakers are popping in, and you see some energy getting put back into the chests and the hearts of the older wineries.” While there wasn’t a single catalyst, Riddle theorizes that New Mexico’s affordability and the ascension of the craft beverage industry more generally helped attract these start-up winemakers to the region.

Then in 2016, two separate wine associations covering different parts of the state merged to become New Mexico Wine, and soon after launched the “Vivo Vino” marketing campaign. They stamped the revamped logo on T-shirts, glassware, and hats, positioning themselves not just as a trade association, which serves its members, but as a brand, which consumers can identify with. “It’s given a real unity to the wineries in New Mexico that all see themselves as part of this brand,” says Goblet. 

For many, this sense of community was vital to the changes in the industry. “You got this really collaborative group of wineries working together to try to better the state, and subsequently, that made the wine a lot better … [through] talking about winegrowing and cross-utilizing resources,” says Riddle. “We understand it’s going to take all of us together to make a stand and to bring awareness and outside eyes onto our industry.” 

Rewriting the Winemaking Script 

Some winemakers put the recent growth down to reimagining the previous well-worn formula. “What ticked me off is everyone said you can’t make good wines in New Mexico,” says Robert Jaramillo, the cofounder and winemaker at Jaramillo Vineyards . “The problem was everyone was trying to make these European style wines out of hybrids.” 

Sheehan agrees. “The biggest change in mindset is rather than doing an imitation of an established wine style—rather than doing our best version of Napa Valley or Bordeaux—we’re making New Mexico wines. We’re leaning into the distinct character of the grapes and the wines, which are going to be lighter, brighter, fruit forward, higher in acid, and really food friendly.”

Sheehan came up in the industry using “the Craigslist model,” buying all secondhand equipment, paid for from tips working in the service industry. He went from a couple of acres and 400 cases in 2015 to 12 acres and 8,000 cases in 2022, winning at state wine fairs. In October 2021, he opened a second tasting room in Albuquerque Old Town, next door to Noisy Water’s sixth tasting room, which sells local produce and cheese plates alongside the wine. 

Neither would have been possible without an ordinance approved by the council in 2019 allowing taprooms and wine-tasting venues in the Old Town—a ban on alcohol sales outside of restaurants had been in place since the 1970s—which has helped revitalize the area for both tourists and locals. A reciprocity law , which passed in 2015, also allowed these tasting rooms to sell other New Mexico-made beers, wines, and ciders. “It’s a self fulfilling prophecy: if you want craft producers to succeed, give them more outlets, give them more shelf space,” says Goblet, who chaired the economic development committee responsible for developing the legislation. “A lot of what we’re doing is just a common sense approach to how you build capacity in an industry.”  

Investing In the Next Generation 

One of the biggest challenges is expanding grape acreage. That was the impetus behind the $1 million Vineyard Restoration Fund , which launched in 2022. It stimulates growth by reimbursing wineries for rootstock to either expand their existing vineyards or replace vines lost as a result of unavoidable events. The state legislature recognized the value of investing in the wine industry to generate taxes, create jobs, and boost the economy as a whole. “I sold this to our policy leaders, as ‘$1 million today will get you $10 million in taxes paid out over the next 10 years,’” says Goblet. “We need to convince our agriculture, tourism, and economic development partners that we are an industry that’s as exciting and fruitful as wind energy and the green economy.” Goblet also sees this as a recruitment strategy for winemakers from outside the state. “We’re giving away free money,” he says. “It’s too expensive to buy land in Napa or Sonoma; you can start a small winery here for a reasonable sum.”  

Education is the other vital piece of the puzzle when it comes to building lasting growth. NMSU’s viticulture program collaborates with New Mexico Wine to undertake applied research to inform the winegrowing efforts in the state, working with many winemakers, as well as offering winemaking workshops. Central New Mexico Community College just completed work on a state-of-the-art production facility for its new program in Wine Technology , which hopes to receive its first students in Spring 2023. The program was created as an employee pipeline to help staff the now 57 state wineries. 

“ We want to attract the young, curious minds of the wine world to be a part of this,” says Riddle. He’s excited about the amount of applicants Noisy Water receives for its internship program each round. “It’s not like I work with 17,000 tons of Pinot Noir; I have 50 different varieties, there’s a bunch of different programs, there’s all this crazy stuff happening—talk about having a test kitchen for young winemakers! It’s a heck of a place to do it.”  

Rightsizing Growth 

Despite the palpable enthusiasm on the ground, the majority of winemakers in the state are not yet exporting beyond state lines, with profits coming from direct-to-consumer sales, tasting rooms, and wine fairs. Noisy Water is amongst a handful of wineries exporting, but they’re taking a segmented approach, starting with Texas and Arizona. “We realize we’re never going to be California, no one has that opportunity,” says Riddle. “But how do we get put in this premium, boutique wine conversation instead?” Goblet  agrees. “It’s going to take a long time to develop an export market, if I’m honest,” he says. “ We need a lot bigger purse strings.” For Sheehan, who has a well-subscribed wine club, it’s not a priority. “The math just doesn’t work for us.”

Instead, the strategy largely relies on the state’s 2.2 million population and liquid tourism. “Tourists are the main driver for local wine here,” says Ella Raymont, the wine director and wine shop manager at La Casa Sena Wine Shop in Santa Fe. “I think with emerging regions like in Texas and the Valle de Guadalupe in Mexico, it gives New Mexico some clout in terms of regional viability to grow healthy grapes for winemaking.” Tourist expenditure on the wine industry reached $29.33 million in 2022 and domestic tourism grew by record numbers in 2021, with events like the Sante Fe Wine & Chile Festival or Alburqurque’s Harvest Wine Festival attracting thousands of attendees. 

But the prevailing attitude is there’s room for a lot more growth. And Lopez is willing to go the extra mile to support new winemakers. “Getting the word out, I think, is a key factor for the industry to grow and continue to be empowered,” she says. “If someone is interested in getting a vineyard set up or if they have vines that they want to recover, we’re here to help.”

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Tyler Wetherall is the senior editor for  SevenFifty Daily  and the Beverage Media Group publications. Her drinks journalism has appeared in publications including  Punch ,  The Guardian ,  Condé Nast Traveler ,  Thrillist , and  The Spirits Business , which awarded her the Alan Lodge Young International Drinks Writer of the Year. Tyler is also the author of  No Way Home: A Memoir of Life on the Run,  and her first novel,  Amphibian , is forthcoming. Follow her on Instagram at  @tylerwrites .

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A Guide to Growing Grapes and Crafting Homemade Wine

• Select a well-drained garden for grape growing, ensuring proper soil, sunlight, and temperature conditions.
• Provide care for grape vines such as watering, pruning, and fertilizing for healthy fruits.
• Grape vines need about three years of growth to start producing fruit, which can be used to make wine.

Are you interested in making homemade wine from tasty grapes gathered from your backyard? Growing grapes ( Vitis ) in the backyard is a good starting point. You need to know how to grow grapes from planting, tendering young grape plants until maturity before you can showcase your wine-making skills with fresh grapes from your backyard garden.

The good thing is that growing wine-making fruits such as grapes is a seamless gardening activity that you can undertake without professional assistance.

Start By Selecting a Suitable Backyard Garden

Learn how to grow grapes by selecting a well-drained garden plot.

Growing grapes in the backyard starts with identifying a garden where your vines will thrive. You want to make wine from healthy grapes grown in a garden with deep, well-drained, sandy loam amended with organic matter . Cultivate your soil while incorporating peat moss, compost, and well-rotted manure for fertile growing ground .

• In addition to soil fertility and drainage, you need to pay attention to spacing.
• Plant grapes for homemade wine at least 4 feet between plants and 8 feet between rows to provide enough room for expansion .
• Therefore, you will ensure your grape garden is not overcrowded, as this will lead to poor harvests and unhealthy plants .

There are other essential tips to consider when selecting your vineyard .

The ideal plot for planting a vineyard is on hillside land with a moderate slope to accelerate drainage and the undesirable cold, dense air .

How to Take Care of Your Vines After Planting

Water, prune, fertilize, and support vines for a tasty homemade wine.

Growing grapes in the backyard can take up to three years to bear fruit . In the meantime, you need to tend to your vines by providing the much-needed care for healthy plants. If you don't know how to grow grapes , there are several care tips you should incorporate into your gardening routine for healthy and flavorful fruits.

Control pests (Japanese beetles and mealybugs) and diseases (black rot, leaf rot, and powdery mildew) using homemade solutions such as pepper solution, garlic spray, vinegar, and neem oil .

Harvesting and Storing Grapes

Your vines will produce fruit at least three years after planting.

After three years of growing grapes in the backyard , you can now prepare to make wine because your grapefruits are ready. Most grape varieties will produce fruit at least three years after planting .

• Grapes are ready for harvesting when they turn green, yellow, and finally red .
• According to Montana State University , you should harvest your grapes for homemade wine on a cool, dry day, as dry grapes will store longer than wet grapes .
• You should expect at least 10 pounds of grapes from a three-year-old vine and at least 30 pounds from a mature vine (at least eight years old) .

There are a few steps to follow when harvesting grapes.

Steps to Making Homemade Wine

Learn how to make grape wine with easy-to-follow steps.

Do you know how to grow grapes ? Growing grapes is a rewarding experience. You get the chance to enjoy fresh and flavorful grapefruits from your backyard. Besides, growing grapes in the backyard allows you to make wine at home . Making wine at home is a straightforward activity. However, there are a few steps to follow to create a mouth-watering wine.

Grow Grapes for Mouthwatering Homemade Wine

Do you know how to grow grapes ? As a gardener, growing grapes in the backyard should be one of your objectives. You will have a fresh supply of mouthwatering, organically-produced grapes to serve your friends and loved ones.

You can also learn how to make wine to quench your thirst in summer or share it with your friends and loved ones . Besides, growing grapes is a seamless gardening activity you can undertake without assistance !