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Tu Seras Mon Fils is not my favorite movie, but it is a film about a winemaking family in France and this topic reminded me of a clip from the film I posted in another thread a couple years ago: Tragic Story -- Adequate Ventilation Fermenting Large Batches

My white (Itasca) and red (Marquette) hybrids are ready to harvest around the same time each year and I add the pressed white skins to the red must. I currently get about twice as many pounds of red grapes as white and I’m very happy with the results. I don’t have control batches to compare it...

You can see some examples from this recent post and let me know if you have any questions: Disease Identification Advice Please Also, if you’re not going to use your grapes this year, I’d suggest harvesting them now so the vines can put their energy into preparing for the winter and next year...

I spray with sulfur and haven’t had an issue with my Marquette. You should definitely spray after harvest as you want healthy leaves to store up energy for next year. I’ve made the mistake of not spraying after harvest a couple of times and had downy mildew set me back.

I would guess powdery mildew based on the photos and your location. Be aware that if it is, mancozeb is not effective against powdery mildew. You will need to spray with either sulfur or neem oil (not both).

Like VinesnBines, I use Double A and have been very happy with them. They sell both vines and rootstock for grafting, if that’s what you’re looking for. I’m around 25 miles west of DC.

I don’t think there’s anything to get, it’s just my experience. I think a lot of manuals, books, etc. will describe a process that minimize risk for newcomers. There’s nothing wrong with that as it helps increase the chances of good results at all experience levels, but then there’s always room...

I guess it depends on what you mean by EM or the duration. I ferment in a Brute and typically leave my reds on the skins for 1-2 weeks after they hit SG .995. I don’t wrap them in plastic or have a CO2 tank and haven’t had an issue. I just do a very gentle punch down once a day to wet the cap...

I have and just use the white grape juice from Lidl. It comes out a lighter color but still red. It tends to be low sugar and pH so you may check that. I currently use about half white grape juice and half water/sugar/tartaric acid (1 gal : 2 lbs : 2 tsp) for my second runs and am happy with the...

Careful, you don’t want to get crosswise with Customs as you can’t bring plant material into the country from overseas. Also, the actual rootstock is likely a native American one with Riesling scions grafted on unless their vineyards predate the phylloxera outbreak in Europe. I understand the...

It looks kind of like sour rot, but the cluster doesn’t look ripe enough for that to be an issue yet. Maybe black rot. Where are you located and what have you been spraying with? Have you had birds or bugs going after the grapes?

You’ll get the best advice from local vineyards, especially if they’re growing Riesling, but I imagine you probably could do it. If you look at the map on the second page of this document, it suggests you should be good to grow vinifera...

You need a pH meter to help you decide when to harvest, what your must’s initial pH is in case you want to make adjustments, and inform your sulfite additions. Once fermentation has started you use the hydrometer to monitor progress but the pH meter won’t really be used until after alcoholic and...

Sorry, I maybe should have mentioned those were hybrids I harvested last week, which tend to ripen earlier. My vinifera is probably another 3-4 weeks from being ready. Good luck!

Here are a couple of example schedules. I more or less follow the one titled Fungicide Schedule 1, though modified a little as I’ve added Immunox after I’ve completed my 6 applications of mancozeb for the season, and also use BT for caterpillars and phosphorus acid sometimes for downy if there...

I made the same mistake my first year. I didn’t spray because I follow a lot of natural winemakers in France and everything looked great for a while, but realized by mid summer I couldn’t do that in Virginia. I lost the first round of foliage to black rot, then the secondary leaves were eaten by...

Congratulations! The only thing I wish I’d had my first real harvest was a little more patience to pick a week or two later when I think they would have been at a better level of ripeness. I was a little too excited with my white grapes, though my reds were being devoured by wasps and bees so...

It’s a little hard to tell from your photos as they’re pretty low resolution. It looks like there could be downy mildew if there’s fuzzy growth on the underside of the leaves. What is your spray protocol? Mancozeb and myclobutanil are preventative rather than curative. It will help prevent...

I bought RaccoonNet electric fencing and a solar energizer from Premier1. Seems to be working.

I’m targeting a pH of at least 3.3, but would also like to hit the recommended 2500 GDD this year as I fell short the last two years (once due to impatience and once to raccoons). I think we’ll be close to that here next weekend.