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Thanks for the excellent advice, I think I understand what I need to do now.

The fella in your video was spur pruning to two buds, I think! He didnt say much. Do stubs produce fruiting vines in the same year, or are they for next years grapes????? Ive been watching a few videos, and note some practice vine pruning, selecting a couple of last years vines with approx 8 to...

I had a little look on the internet, and found a new term "VINEZILLA", I have at least 6 of these and many mutating into ZILLAS. The woodland below my vineyards is full of Vinezillas. Is that "THE" White House, I was there a few years back, when the lady of the house grew her own vegetables...

We dont get frosts here, the minimum temperature is 8C typically 15C this time of year rising to 25C in the summer. What is a cordon? A quick google reveals that vines have trunks, which split into cordons, which "can" have arms coming from them. The shoots (spurs) come from the cordons and...

The Alverino and American Tinte look like the youngest vines. The Verdelo looks like its been around a bit longer and is the vineyard that was heavily affected by downy mildew. I didnt pay much attention to the Trellis's this year but took 30 litres of wine from them

I had to reduce the resolution of the pics to get them to upload.

When it stops raining today, I will wander down the vineyards and take some picks, of the vines. Ate logo!

I purchased 3 established vine yards on wires, and another growing over rocks and trellises. They were not pruned at the beginning of last season, due to me not being able to get here, due to Covid Lockdowns. Most of the leaves are now gone, and I am thinking it is about time to start and prune...

This year my wines are unlikely to last more to the next grape harvest. However next year I hope not to lose so many grapes and optimistically expecting a big surplus that might just get the chance to age :) The air space in bottles increases with time, increasing the potential for a wine to...

Ive just received a floor bottle corking machine as an early christmas present. With my new machine, I can get big corks into little bottles. What size corks are recommended for different sized bottle necks? There is inevitably going to be some air in the top of the bottles. Is their an...

I think you all are forgetting for a beginner to make good wine, we need good luck, as well as good advice. Ive had both this year and my wine is aging well. Thanks to this forum. Merry Christmas to all :) I have friends here in the azores, who thought they might follow a traditional...

We dont get frost in the Azores, but we do get winds. The sun might not be as warm for a few years. But due to global warming effects the oceans are getting hotter giving much stronger weather extending into spring time. I understand it was some late storms this year that reduced the grape...

What are the differences between apple wine and a cider (scrumpy) making?

Is this the way all wines mature, assuming nothing bad happens? (ie a following wind and sea all the time :) Develop more mouth feel and fruit flavors. Reduced sharpness. I have two red wines one which is quite fruity which I oaked during the fermentation stage, and another which is very dry...

I just racked a barrel of 30 litres of wine into 5 litre bottles, which had been cleaned and disinfected about a month earlier. I put corks in the empty bottles to keep the bugs out. When I removed the corks, to fill the bottles, the corks were moldy. Also the new corks I had on the shelf were...

I am assuming you meant Bentonite not wine, to aid clarification :) Could it affect the flavour to add bentonite before fermentation?

Is it normal to add Bentonite before fermentation??? I waited until well after the fermentation was over when it became clear my wine was not going to clear.

Hi I made some fig wine, a few weeks ago, it is drinkable already. I am wondering what the difference is, between yours and mine? I used Figs, Turbo Yeast, Sugar, and water. The figs came out of my freezer. The fermentation was over in 10 days, I punched the figs down every day. I also made...

I read also that freezing the figs helps them to ferment, once they are thawed. I dont know if this is correct, but I will no doubt find out in the next few days. Do you also add k-meta after fermentation is complete? I suspect what my friends have been doing wrong, is that they leave the...

It finished fermenting, and my friends advised me to distill it, as it would develop a fungus and go off in their experience. So I distilled it, it tasted OK before distillation and tastes OK now, it is aging in the container until new year. I have another fig wine on the go, and am a more...