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Wine education – diseases in the vineyard
I always talk about the decimation of vineyards that followed after Phylloxera came to Europe’s vineyards in the late 19th century.
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What’s been going on in the Loire valley vineyards in December 2019?
December is a busy time for growers as they turn to pruning their vines. A most important task as this sets the vines up for the coming year.
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Close to budburst here in Vouvray
Vines in the region are weeping as they come out of dormancy. Baby vines are already at the wooly bud stage but more established and older vines are not.
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Wine education – mildew in grape vines, what’s all the fuss this year?
Downy mildew is indigenous to north-eastern North America where it spread from wild vines into cultivated vineyards. It probably came over to Europe during the phylloxera crises when native American rootstock were being tested for their resistance to the disease that wiped out around two thirds of Europe’s vineyards.
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Technical wine & vineyard vocabulary de-mystified – décavaillonnage
There are a number of vineyard practices that are routinely done in the Springtime and in recent years we have seen more and more growers working their soil mechanically instead of using chemicals. So what exactly is décavaillonnage?
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What’s going on in the vineyard in March?
Pruning is a vital task during the vineyard year that controls yield and keeps vines manageable during the growing season.