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Vineyards & CellarHomepage of our Vine George! George is, of course, a Scheurebe, planted in 1982. Join us in watching George develop during his annual vegetation cycle. We will start with the most recent development. However if you would like to start at the beginning of George’s vegetation cycle then click here and we will take you back to the start of vegetation.The course of ripening of George’s grapes during the 1998 season is shown in this graph.
click
on the picture to enhance the image
| Year 2002 |
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Year 2001 | Year 2000 |
Year 1999 |
Year 1998 |
Comments on the 1998 vegetative cycle. |
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17. Oct. 01
(Harvest date) |
3. Oct. 00 (Harvest date) |
2. Oct. 99 (Harvest date) |
19. Oct. 98 (Harvest date) |
George’s
grapes are nearly reading for picking. The course of ripening has been recorded
in a graph.
The trends shown on the graph are easier to read than the numbers alone.
One berry in the bunch shown on the left is infected with Botrytis cinerea. The red circle in the lower picture highlights the infection. With the right climatic conditions (warm and dry autumn weather) the fungus will destroy the skins of the grapes so that the water evaporates and concentrates the residual sugars. |
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| 26. Aug. 02 |
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05. Sept. 01 | 30. Aug.00 | 30. Aug.99 | 09. Sept. 98 | George’s
grapes are now in the early stage of ripeness and are completely yellow.
We now begin to determine the stage of ripeness by measuring the sugar content
(°Brix), titratable acidity (expressed as g/L tartaric acid) and the pH.
In addition, our Spätburgunder has now changed colour completely from green to red. |
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16. Aug. 01 | 12. Aug.00 | 15. Aug.99 | 19. Aug.98 | The
ripening process is continuing. George’s grapes are turning from green to
yellow. The berries are beginning to soften and the sugar content is increasing
rapidly. The bottom picture shows the ripening of our Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) grapes. These clusters were taken from the same vine at the same time. Due to many factors such as differing nutrient availability and sun exposure the maturation is not uniform. During cluster thinning we subsequently remove those bunches with the palest colour. |
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07. Aug. 01 | 01. Aug.00 | 06. Aug.99 | 04. Aug.98 | At
present the grape metabolism is changing. The seeds have almost reached
their final size and the berries will grow rapidly in the next few weeks.
This growth is due to the elongation of the cells. The total cell number
will not increase, only the size of each cell. The changes in metabolism are most obviously shown by the colour change in the grape skins. This change, amongst others, marks the beginning of Veraison , the start of the grape ripening phase. White grapes turn from green to yellow and Red grapes from green to red in colour. The picture on the left shows a Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) cluster at the very start of veraison. |
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21. July 01 | 11. July 00 | 21. July 99 | 23. July 98 | George’s grapes are growing rapidly and increasing their carbohydrate content. | |
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10. July 01 | 1. July 00 | 10. July 99 | 14. July 98 | At
this moment the development of the canopy is slowing down. The metabolism
of George is now changing its focus from a vegetative to reproductive (fruit)
phase. The results are clearly visible by looking at the berries. Like other plants the vine produces fruit as a way of reproducing and dispersing its genetic information. Sweet and coloured fruit are favoured by the pattern of evolution. In addition, these natural effects have been further extended by breeding and clonal selection. |
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05. July 01 | 24. June 00 | 01. July 99 | 06. July 98 | Lateral
shoots will now grow from the end of the trimmed shoots. For bio-chemical
reasons the buds nearest the tip of the shoot enjoy the strongest growth.
This essential behaviour has evolved from the vines development in its natural
forest habitat where the buds must strive to reach the sunlight.
The grape clusters develop in two ways. Firstly, the berries begin to grow in length and diameter and, secondly, they start to hang downwards because of their own weight. In one or two weeks the berries will have grown so large that the stems will cease to be visible. |
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30. June 01 | 18. June 00 | 26. June 99 | 24. June 98 | The
shoots now extend beyond the upper wire and will need to be cut within two
days. It is essential to avoid having un-trimmed shoots hanging over the
row as they begin to shade the grapes and other leaves. This negatively
affects the ripening process and disturbs the vines natural balance.
After bloom the small berries are now visible. We can now determine how successful the blooming period has been. Normally, the percentage of pre-bloom flowers that successfully flower to become berries is around 50-60%. With bad climatic conditions it may be as low as 5-10%. |
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26. June 01 | 10. June 00 | 18. June 99 | 16. June 98 | George
is getting bigger and bigger. His shoots are almost at the level of the
top wire. In two or three weeks we will have to trim them or the vegetative
part of the vine will be too dominant in relation to the fruit (the reproductive
part). By trimming the shoots to leave 12-14 leaves on each we are ensuring
the vine will be well balanced. Each pollinated flower will form a grape berry. At the moment the berries appear quite insignificant. |
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| 12. June 02 |
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12. June 01 | 04. June 00 | 10. June 99 | 08. June 98 | George
is a young adult now. He is in the middle of the flowering season. His shoots
have 12-14 leaves and the growth of these shoots will decrease slightly
in the near future. The canopy is getting more dense every week which is undesirable. Each leaf is using energy from the sun to fix CO2 by the process of assimilation. Leaves which are in the shade assimilate at a poor rate in relation to directly exposed ones. An optimal canopy has 2-3 leaf layers. On the cluster seen here, about 50% of the flowers are in bloom. |
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28. May 01 | 15. May 00 | 03. June 99 | 28. May 98 | During
the last two weeks the development of the shoots has been great, largely
due to the very warm weather conditions The first picture shows George’s arched cane with all the new shoots growing well. The second picture is a good indication of the growth habit of the vine. The shoots grow straight up towards the sun to get the maximum light possible (as they do in their natural habitat, light forests). The flower clusters have also further developed. The flower clusters are now bigger and more differentiated. They are easy to recognise and are getting ready to flower. We usually expect flowering around mid-June. |
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16. May 01 | 05. May 00 | 05. May 99 | 13. May 98 | After
the last couple of warm sunny days George is growing rapidly. The flower
clusters are already visible. The Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) vine develops earlier than Scheurebe due to its genetic disposition. |
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09. May 01 | 02. May 00 | 02.May 99 | 04. May 98 | Due to the cold and windy weather George’s development started later than usual. The Spätburgunder is already a little bit further ahead. | |
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06. May 01 | 30. April 00 | 01. May 99 | 28. April 98 | The buds of George have already opened and you can see the first leaves. On the same day, the Spätburgunder is more developed in its bud burst. | |
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28. April 01 | 20. April 00 | 27. April 99 | 21. April 98 | George’s bud burst ! | |
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01. April 01 | 01. April 00 | April 99 | 01. April 98 | One of George’s dormant buds. | |
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March 01 | March 00 | March 99 | 20. March 98 | George’s pruning is completed and the cane has been tied down to the wire. | |
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Feb. 01 | Feb. 00 | Feb. 99 | 14. Feb. 98 | George during the winter, before being pruned. |
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