05/30/05 Monday question - Weather and grapes

Welcome to Vine to Wine, this is your host Linda Moran and today we are answering email questions. A listener asks "You describe the vintage in terms of the growing season during a specific year. What aspects of the weather effect the grapes most?" BREAK Weather can enhance or inhibit the quality of a wine grape harvest quite a bit. For example during the Spring when the grapes are emerging from dormancy we always hope that there will not be any hailstorms or sudden frost. This could damage the vines, stop the flowering and sometimes reduce the number of clusters that the vine produces. There are crucial times when even winds will adversely affect the grapes. Too much rain or not enough rain at different times during the growing season may show up in the harvest. Lack of rain and or the inability to water the vineyards during a drought may cause the wine to be way out of balance. If it rains too much just before harvest the grapes will suck up the water and become bloated. The juice will be very diluted  not good for wine making.. If the winter is just way too cold for too long or the freeze is early in the fall it may result in heavy or permanent damage to the vines. To save the harvest there are some countermeasures that can be taken, some while the grapes are still on the vine and some during the wine making process. But that is another topic for another day. In short, the weather has much to do with the quality of the harvest and the resulting quality of the wine produced. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.