2008 Elio Sandri Nebbiolo

We had this 2008 Nebbiolo recently and it was still a little young, but definitely quaffable. The color was a dark magenta in the glass. The balance of fruit and tannins which tasted a little, not a lot spicy, was delicious. Moreover, my husband says that it is in the $20.00+ price range so a very good value.
We still have a few more bottles so we will cellar them and taste it again some time in the future.

Periderm Formation

Last year, I worried about the hardiness of grapevines when a freakish winter storm dumped snow on October 29th. I wrote a blog about it called Cold Tolerance and Grapevine Phenology. This year, when we got a chance to see our friend's vineyard, I noted that as the grapes were transitioning into veraison, this year's shoot were also turning brown, the signs of a developing periderm. When the periderm formation has completed, the green shoots will turn brown and then these shoots will be called "canes".

Assessing a Vineyard's Optimum Ripeness

Fessing up, we don't have a vineyard yet and we'll have to wait another two to three years after planting next spring in order to have grapes, but when we do, we'll be checking for the ripeness of our grapes by berry sampling of the vineyard in order to get statistically meaningful results. We will follow this protocol:

• Avoid collecting berries from the edge rows
• Collect samples from both sides of the vine
• Estimate the proportion of shaded clusters and sample accordingly
• Collect berries from the top, middle and bottom of a cluster
• Collect berries at the same time of the day for consistency

Single berries can be monitored for the sugar content by using a refractometer, but estimating the fruit maturity of the entire vineyard or vineyard block does involve collection of a representative sample. I want to be doing this approximately three weeks before harvest to understand the progression of the berry flavor. A really good diagram was provided in Practical Winery and Vineyard Journal called Understanding Grape Berry Development published in the July/August 2002 issue.

One of the many things that I learned is that the xylem flow to the berry ceases at veraison and the berry enlargement relies on the phloem sap.
After gathering my representative sample of berries, I would check for the sugar content using a hydrometer to measure the Brix, I would use a pH meter to check for the pH and I would titrate my sample for the amount of tartaric acid. I would also taste my sample of berry juice to see if I like the balance of fruit and acid and then make my harvest decision based on those parameters.

Assessing Grapevine Nutritional Status

The grapevines are entering veraison in our neck of the woods and the carbohydrates that were produced in the leaves are being translocated into the fruit which is an effective sink, i.e. the grapes are getting ripe.
Petiole analysis for monitoring the nutritional status of the vineyard is usually done during the spring when the vine is at full flowering or 80% cap-fall. This spring sampling is a great guide to knowing if your grapevine will be getting the proper nutrition throughout the growing season. The petiole analysis can also be done any time a nutrient deficiency is suspected.¹
When we visited Steve Mudd on Long Island, he gave us a list of people we should contact to ensure that we have the proper soil conditions for the vineyard. The pH of the soil is very important in getting the appropriate macro- and micronutrient uptake by the vine. If there is a deficiency in a nutrient, then Steve recommended that we contact Fieldworks to get a custom blend to amend the soil. After that, we will be monitoring the growing vine in the spring in order to see if the vines are getting the required nutrients. It is important to get the petiole analysis done from the same company. Here is the list of contacts that Steve gave us:

• get soil analysis done with Kinsey Agricultural Services, Inc. in Charleston, MO
• get custom blends for soil amendments from Fieldworks in Rochester, MA
• get petiole and leaf analyses from A & L Eastern Laboratories in Richmond, VA

1. Grapevine Nutrition 3: Petiole Analysis