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So far you can realise why that cheap Zin blend from Lodi doesn't really do it for you with the most obvious of measurements: yield! They get even 10 tons per a

by uvdiv 14y ago

So far you can realise why that cheap Zin blend from Lodi doesn't really do it for you with the most obvious of measurements: yield! They get even 10 tons per acre there rather than 1-3 tons in a high-quality vineyard. Fewer nutrients and flavours to go around, and more water, sugar and untasty components have to flesh it out (poor overburdened vines, eh!), I don't understand this. Flavourful chemicals aren't a scarce resource to "go around" -- they're organic compounds plants synthesise "from scratch" (or their reaction products, after aging). Perhaps scarce soil nutrients influence this, for better or worse (I don't know), but this isn't a priori obvious. Wikipedia didn't help me resolve this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yield_(wine)#Yield_as_an_indication_of_quality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yield_(wine)#Yield_as_an_indic...

triplesec 14y ago
Look up, for example, why top Napa vineyards go for low yields. It's also basic chemistry. There is a finite number of nutrients in the soil, and the plant can make a finite amount of such things out of these nutrients (like phenols in the grape skins and... er.. this is not my subject, but I can look it up again myself should I have to).
- uvdiv 14y ago
  Look up, for example, why top Napa vineyards go for low yields. I tried and failed (wikipedia) -- can you point me to something informative? I don't know what I'm looking for. There is a finite number of nutrients in the soil, and the plant can make a finite amount of such things out of these nutrients (like phenols in the grape skins and... er.. this is not my subject, but I can look it up again myself should I have to). In general they're not finite. Phenols are just C,H,O -- they're made from water and CO2. All of these compounds, as far as I can tell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenolic_content_in_wine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenolic_content_in_wine I haven't found anything that says that, for example, soil nutrients correlate with phenol concentrations in vines (for example). It's not obvious.
  - triplesec 14y ago
    When i have a moment I"lk try to find a source.. In the eanwhile, this is the book to get by the ultimate wine scientist http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520275195 http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520275195

by uvdiv 14y ago

triplesec 14y ago

Look up, for example, why top Napa vineyards go for low yields. It's also basic chemistry. There is a finite number of nutrients in the soil, and the plant can make a finite amount of such things out of these nutrients (like phenols in the grape skins and... er.. this is not my subject, but I can look it up again myself should I have to).

uvdiv 14y ago
Look up, for example, why top Napa vineyards go for low yields. I tried and failed (wikipedia) -- can you point me to something informative? I don't know what I'm looking for. There is a finite number of nutrients in the soil, and the plant can make a finite amount of such things out of these nutrients (like phenols in the grape skins and... er.. this is not my subject, but I can look it up again myself should I have to). In general they're not finite. Phenols are just C,H,O -- they're made from water and CO2. All of these compounds, as far as I can tell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenolic_content_in_wine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenolic_content_in_wine I haven't found anything that says that, for example, soil nutrients correlate with phenol concentrations in vines (for example). It's not obvious.
- triplesec 14y ago
  When i have a moment I"lk try to find a source.. In the eanwhile, this is the book to get by the ultimate wine scientist http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520275195 http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520275195