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Vineyard
A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards are often characterised by their , a French term loosely translating as "a sense of place" that refers to the specific geographical and geological characteristics of grapevine plantations, which may be imparted to the wine itself. History The earliest evidence of wine production dates from between 6000 and 5000 BC. Wine making technology improved considerably with the ancient Greeks but it was not until the end of the Roman Empire that cultivation techniques as we know them were common throughout Europe. In medieval Europe the Catholic Church was a staunch supporter of wine, which was necessary for the celebration of the Mass (liturgy), Mass. During the lengthy instability of the Middle Ages, the monasteries m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viticulture
Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ranges from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, the vine has demonstrated high levels of adaptability to new environments, hence viticulture can be found on every continent except Antarctica. The duties of a viticulturist include monitoring and controlling pests and diseases, fertilizing, irrigation, canopy management, monitoring fruit development and characteristics, deciding when to harvest, and vine pruning during the winter months. Viticulturists are often intimately involved with winemakers, because vineyard management and the resulting grape characteristics provide the basis from which winemaking can begin. A great number of varieties are now approved in the European Union as true grapes for winegrowin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Napa Valley
Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in Napa County, California. The area was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on February 27, 1981, after a 1978 petition submitted by the Napa Valley Vintners and the Napa Valley Grape Growers Association. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier wine regions in the world. The Napa Valley AVA includes all of Napa County except the portion of the county northeast of Putah Creek and Lake Berryessa. Historical records of viticulture in the region date back to the nineteenth century, but the modern premium wine production grew in the 1960s. The combination of Mediterranean climate, geography and geology of the region are conducive to growing quality wine grapes. George C. Yount was the first vineyardist on record in Napa Valley planting his vines in 1838. John Patchett established the Napa Valley's first commercial vineyard in 1858. In 1861 Charles Krug established another of Napa Valley ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New World Wines
New World wines are those wines produced outside the traditional winegrowing areas of Europe and the Middle East, in particular from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Japan (primarily Tokachi), Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States (primarily California). The phrase connotes a distinction between these "New World" wines and those wines produced in " Old World" countries with a long-established history of wine production, essentially in Europe and the Middle East, most notably: France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Romania, Georgia, and Switzerland. Both the quantity and quality of New World wine production have increased greatly since about 1970. Outside their home markets, New World wines can be said to have been very successful in exports to non-wine producing countries, above all the United Kingdom, and also to North America. But they have achieved relatively little penetration in old wine-making countries such as France and Italy. History Ear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winemaking
Winemaking, wine-making, or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its Ethanol fermentation, fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. There is evidence that suggests that the earliest wine production took place in Georgia and Iran around 6000 to 5000 B.C. The science of wine and winemaking is known as oenology. A winemaker may also be called a #Winemakers, vintner. The growing of grapes is viticulture and there are List of grape varieties, many varieties of grapes. Winemaking can be divided into two general categories: still wine production (without carbonation) and sparkling wine production (with carbonation – natural or injected). Red wine, white wine, and rosé are the other main categories. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other plants. (See fruit wine.) Other similar light alcoholic drinks (as opposed to beer or Liq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vitis Vinifera
''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran. , there were between List of grape varieties, 5,000 and 10,000 varieties of ''Vitis vinifera'' grapes though only a few are of commercial significance for wine and table grape production. The wild grape is often classified as ''Vitis vinifera'' ''sylvestris'' (in some classifications considered ''Vitis sylvestris''), with ''Vitis vinifera'' ''vinifera'' restricted to cultivated forms. Domesticated vines have hermaphrodite#Plants, hermaphrodite flowers, but ''sylvestris'' is plant sexuality, dioecious (male and female flowers on separate plants) and pollination is required for fruit to develop. Grapes can be eaten fresh or dried to produce raisins, Sultana (grape)#Raisins, sultanas, and Zante currant, currants. Grape leaves are used ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great French Wine Blight
The Great French Wine Blight was a severe blight of the mid-19th century that destroyed many of the vineyards in France and laid waste to the wine industry. It was caused by an insect that originated in North America and was carried across the Atlantic in the late 1850s. The actual genus of the insect is still debated, although it is largely considered to have been a species of ''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'', commonly known as ''grape phylloxera''. While France is considered to have been worst affected, the blight also did a great deal of damage to vineyards in other European countries. How ''Phylloxera'' was introduced to Europe remains debated: American vines had been taken to Europe many times before, for reasons including experimentation and trials in grafting, without consideration of the possibility of the introduction of pestilence. While the ''Phylloxera'' was thought to have arrived around 1858, it was first recorded in France in 1863, in the former province of Languedoc. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phylloxera
Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belongs to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs); originally described in France as ''Phylloxera vastatrix''; equated to the previously described ''Daktulosphaera vitifoliae'', ''Phylloxera vitifoliae''. The insect is commonly just called phylloxera (; from , leaf, and , dry). These almost microscopic, pale yellow sap-sucking insects, related to aphids, feed on the roots and leaves of grapevines (depending on the phylloxera genetic strain). On ''Vitis vinifera'', the resulting deformations on roots ("nodosities" and "tuberosities") and secondary fungal infections can girdle roots, gradually cutting off the flow of nutrients and water to the vine.Wine & Spirits Education Trust ''"Wine and Spirits: Understanding Wine Quality"'' pgs 2–5, Second Revised Edition (2012), London, Nymphs also for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grape
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,000 years ago, and the fruit has been used as human food throughout its history. Eaten fresh or in dried form (as raisins, currants and sultanas), grapes also hold cultural significance in many parts of the world, particularly for their role in winemaking. Other grape-derived products include various types of jam, juice, vinegar and oil. History The Middle East is generally described as the homeland of grapes and the cultivation of this plant began there 6,000–8,000 years ago. Yeast, one of the earliest domesticated microorganisms, occurs naturally on the skins of grapes, leading to the discovery of alcoholic drinks such as wine. The earliest archeological evidence for a dominant position of wine-making in human culture dates f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biodynamic Wine
Biodynamic wines are wines made employing the pseudo-scientific methods called biodynamic both to grow the fruit and during the post-harvest processing. Biodynamic wine production uses organic farming methods (''e.g.,'' employing compost as fertilizer and avoiding most pesticides) while also employing soil supplements prepared according to Rudolf Steiner's formulas, following a planting calendar that depends upon astrological configurations, and treating the earth as "a ''living and receptive'' organism." Biodynamic viticulture Biodynamic methods are used in viticulture (grape growing) in a variety of countries, including France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Austria, Germany, Australia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, South Africa, Canada, and the United States. In 2013, over 700 vineyards worldwide comprising more than 10,000 ha/24,710 acres were certified biodynamic. A number of very high-end, high-profile commercial growers have converted recently to biodynamic practices. According to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terroir
(; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, these contextual characteristics are said to have a character; ''terroir'' also refers to this character. Some artisanal crops and foods for which ''terroir'' may apply include wine, cheese, Single-origin coffee, coffee, single malt whisky, onions, and tea. ''Terroir'' is the basis of the French wine ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) system, which is a model for wine appellation and regulation in France and around the world. The AOC system presumes that the land from which the grapes are grown imparts a unique quality that is specific to that growing site (the plants' habitat). The extent of terroir's significance is debated in the wine industry. Origins Over the centuries, French winemakers developed the concept of terroir by ob ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
