I feel you. Growing grapes in Sweden (Alaska latitude) is a challange too 😃

Thank you for this. I'm growing cabernet and merlot grapes at our house here in Napa. Our vines are only 2 years old and we wanted to try making some wine from them this year, although we have been told that our vines may not be mature enough at this time to make good wine. We figured we would just start trying it out anyway so we can learn. Your videos have been very helpful to us!

Thank you for the video. I just put in a small vineyard this season so looking forward to picking in a Year's to come. Just Pinot noir and chardonnay. In the Willamette valley, Oregon. I'm sure will contend with the birds as we actually start getting grapes on the vines but right now it's a battle with the deer to keep the leaves on the vines.

great video as always Rick!

Wow what a sweet grapes. I wish I could set up my own grape vineyard soon

Thanks to share your feelings and experience. (sorry for my bad english, not my langage day of birth). I appreciate you've explained, that we need so many and different things to consider, to choose, as the best it is possible, the date to harvest. With humility (because our job must be managed with knowledge and modesty - we have to discover new things at each vintage, which is one of the pleasure but complexity of the job), i can add a complementary point of view to your perfect reporting. In each area in the world, with the vines and kind of wine we expect to have, always with the influence of the weather of the year, we can have different settings or situations which could involve some decisions or practice. You talked about varieties (cabernet, merlot...), problems you can have with birds, diseases, rain, rot or others... and you are fully right. So, i allow myself to add other feelings (to increase the fact that the date of the harvest is not so evident to choose) : 1. Even if you work with only one variety (ex Pinot Noir for red wines in Burgundy), you have to consider that inside the same family, each vine can be (is) different (number of bunches and size, vigor, age, behavior, clone, massale...), and inside a bunche, different berries. So it gives you more difficulties to have an average idea, but with relatively young vines (i think it is the case in your video), it is a little bit easier an regular. 2. Regardless of climat or exposure, the influence of the soil, and kind of soil, relation between the plant and this one, will be every time very important (impact of dryness or wetness, rot or not, behavior of the vines, life in soil or not, richness or not, basic or acid, kind of rootstock, way to manage it, kind of environment...). And more and more, with the change of climat and with more frequent extreme phenomena, this influence is more and more notable (even for the maturation). It is a pleasure to share my little feeling about your video, with 40 years in Burgundy, always with certainty "i will learn something new each day", and i share fully the fact, that to decide the date of the harvest, is not only based on scientist analyses or recipe, but with your feeling and knowledge too, observation, tasting (if you have a cherry tree in your garden, with great color but no fruit sensation, is it time to pick them ???). Always a question of balance ! Christophe Chauvel.

I use the glass Hornet traps ,that are shaped like a bee hive. But instead of the additive they sell with it. I put 1 table spoon of Honey into 6 ounces of hot water and stir it up and pour it into the glass trap. Hornets and flies can not resist .

In Southwest Suburbs of Chicago. Have Frontenac Hybrid red grapes. I ended up picking mine in second week of September because I was dealing with bees feasting on grapes that had split on their own. I know, traditionally, vines would be planted in a way to have “morning sun,(facing East), and afternoon sun (facing west)” - or maybe in a northeast towards southwest fashion. But, I also learned that this type of vine might need to ripen, and get as much sun as possible. So, I purposely planted my vine to run East to west, so that it just gets bombarded by the sun all day. I think it all worked out okay, though, I am just about ready to bottle now so that it can age. This is my very first harvest, and very first time trying this so I am learning as I go. I will let the wine age in their bottle probably until Easter. I should get about 3 bottles since this was the first year I had fruit after planting a year-old vine last year. Thanks again for your tutorials and to all who read this far!! Lol

If only I had seen this last month, first time I pick my pinot noir to make my first batch of wine, they where at 7 brix, ugh...added a lot of sugar, o'well, learning from you videos, practicing with wine kits through the winter and planning for next years harvest...:)

Helpful, lost a whole bunch waiting too long last 2 months - I have a refractometer so will use it. Have a few vines with good looking clusters that should finish up soon so I can do a test for 3rd Yr next Yr

You mentioned the grapes drying out and raisining a bit, and that spurred a thought in my head. Have you ever made or investigated straw wine? Sort of the Greek cousin of icewine

What do you use to spray your vines? I'm in northern California and I have Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Thx for all of this information.

Thanks for the info! We're in south east MI and we picked our grapes based on pH this year (about 3 weeks ago). We've typically tried to focus on getting the brix up as high as possible, but when doing this... we notice a lot of fruit loss. So this year... we targeted getting the pH within the acceptable range of 3.2-3.4 We targeted this range because we've consistently found that our pH raises about 0.2 after fermentation. I will say that several of our varietals (mostly the whites) all fell in the 2.7-2.8 range, but those (for some reason) never seem to get higher than this. Friends of ours own a commercial winery and they picked their Marquette @ 3.59. However... they didn't raise post fermentation, and they locked in at 3.59 overall. Those were picked about 2 weeks ago as well. Bottom line... I'm very curious how you're able to wait as long as you do, when you're in a warmer climate than us? Very interesting.

I just picked 2-3 lbs of st. Croix and marechal Foch after their harvest at a local vineyard. I crushed and added this to a cab sauv kit I have still fermenting going on day 11. Have you ever added fresh grapes to a wine kit with success?

Have you considered putting some rocks under the vines, to help with light reflection?

In northwestern PA growing French-American hybrids and the struggle is getting brix over 20. The hornets and yellow jackets are ferrocious and will burst open clusters. Has anyone used insect netting/traps or recommend any type of way to increase time on the vine?

I'm growing Itasca cold hardy grapes. Are these considered hybrids? Thanks!

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Do wine grapes grow good in upstate South Carolina?

Hello friend can you explain more about seeds I’m using slow juicer to crush the grape and It crush the seed to 😬

I wonder how our grandparents managed without any measuring gadgets? Nor preservative, yeast strains and good equipment !