Growing Grapes in your Garden in UK

A very warm welcome to GoY David!

Useful to have a vine expert on board. Do we get invited to the wine tastings??

Well said Stera.......thanks David, we do grow grapes but only for eating, a black variety and a white, would have to check my records to tell you the variety, but they do very well, some years better than others.......welcome aboard.

Hi David noticed you joined April 2008 .

I have just noticed you here .

I dont have a vine but still interested on how to care for them.

We have vines where I volunteer in the walled garden .

DavidS Yes, Scotkat, I did sign up in 2008, with the help of my good friend Michaella, however, until now I have not got around to contributing, as for several decades, a lot of my time was taken up with writing magazine articles.

I felt that a forum like GOY, was a better way to make contact with like-minded folk. Thanks for your comment.

I am hoping you'll stay around this time David! We look forward to showing you our grape vines! I work at Glamis Castle with Kath (Scotkat). Goy is a very friendly and easy to use forum. We like it! Welcome back!

Thanks for your warm welcome; I shall stick around this time - promise!

Thanks for your welcome, I shall stick around this time-
promise!

Thanks for your warm welcome, I shall stick around this
time - promise!

Lol..we love it so much, most of us are addicted to it, daytime in the garden, evening time on here sharing pictures and talk about what we have done. This is the best gardening site I have ever come across. You will certainly love it here. :))))

Hi Davids ..
Useful advice in this blog ..
I've added to GoYpedia Climbers :o)

I've been "pruning" my two vines today , Davids .
I live in Beccles .
A black Homborg in the greenhouse and an external Vitallis , plus an inherited , ancient white one . Advice sorely needed !

Hello Driad,
I have just picked up you message; I have some good vine cuttings (free!) if you have room for them?

I am off to spend a few days in Alsace and the Black Forest, in a few hours, so we can make contact when I get back.

I'm very much looking forward to my return to Germany;
I have very fond memories, of my time in International Youth Camps in the 1960's, and more recent business visits, in the 1980's

Davids

Welcome from me to David , this is very interesting my hubby this year bought one of those wine box kits , the wine wasn't to bad , it has spurred him on to try his hand at Blackberry wine as we have so many growing around us ,he has taken a recipe off google and is already stuck with some of the things it says , he might be asking you for some help Lol ... we have spent time in the Alsace this year on our holiday ..Loved it :o)

Hello Amy,

I have made wild blackberry in the past, and found it to be very good; much better than elderberry, which I find to be far too tannic, and takes years to be drinkable: I have tasted some very good ones, after they had matured fo 10 years! I cant wait that long.

I find the best approach to winemaking, ( and most things in life!) is to, "keep, simple". Use a good wine yeast like Gervin; add the sugar required to ferment out dry to an alc. level of 12-13% -dont ferment at too high a temp. about 20c will be OK for your blackberry wine.

David

I have benefited from David's advice already , as he was kind enough to do a "site-visit" to help me last week , thanks again for that David .
As far as wine making , weeellll . Made lots , drunk some , currently have a supply of pear vinegar (from last year's mishap).
I met a lady and her OH yesterday collecting elderberries for wine , he , like my OH said that he prefers the "shop bought "stuff ! Well we ignored them ; she said that if 1lb of green beans are boiled well , strained and then added at the beginning of the process then the outcome is much improved , worth a try , I thought .
Blackberry wine is very good , well worth the effort , Amy .

Thanks Both .. He's already confused Lol the recipe states
4 lbs blackberries
3 lbs granulated sugar
1 gall water
wine yeast and nutrients

He doesn't know if the wine yeast and nutrients is something you buy that is mixed together or if it's two separate items , I read it as being two separate items also it doesn't say how much of each you put in , shows how much we know :o( perhaps it tells you on the packs when you buy them !
You are lucky Julia having an expert on hand , we make a lovely Sloe Gin each year ,also I collect ripe Elderberries to make Sambuca it's very expensive to buy in health shops and is brilliant for cold in the winter I freeze it in ice cube trays that way you can take cubes out as you need them ...

Hello Driad & Amy,

Thanks for your interesting comments; winemaking is both and an art and a science; there are as many ideas about the "do's and dont's" of winemaking as there there are blades of grass on a bowling green! I have been fortunate over the years, to attend seminars with (grape) winemakers from all over the world, and have been able to pick their brains. One very memorable session last year was with Jose Canapa, who runs the family vineyard in Chile; when I asked him about his blending and other winemaking ideas, he said that he learned the principles as a child when helping his mother cooking, and learning from her, the basics; what works, and what doesn't. the same applies to home winemakers.
So, if you are walking along a hedge-row, you are very likely to bump into some old fella who will tell that his granny used to throw a dead rat into bucket when making her cider, or Driad, a well-meaning person suggesting putting runner beans in blackberry wine!
Ask yourself, If I were making a summer pudding with lovely summer fruits, would you add cabbage or sprouts?

Fruit with fruit: If you would't do it with your food, don't do it with your wine!

Amy, yeast nutrient are added when winemaking to keep the yeast working and not stopping half way through.This is in addition to adding your yeast; it is very important to allow the sugar and water to cool to about 20c before adding the yeast; too high a temperature will kill the yeast
Chin chin!

David

Thanks David a lot of interesting stuff there I'm particularly pleased that you have stopped me from putting a rat in my bucket Lol ... Yuk ! thanks for the info I've been copying it ready to use :o)

The beans were for the elderberries , David .
You can't really spoil blackberry wine , Amy .
I think that I would add about 1/2lb less sugar though .
Brindisi .

Right thanks Julia I've made notes , we haven't been able to get all the ingredients today as we've been to a horticultural show and guess what ... my Sloe Gin came second :o))

Hello Driad,

I would agree to reducing the sugar from 3pnd to 2.5pnd.
Regarding adding adding beans to fruit wines; it may work; I know a lot about this subject, but don't everything! My preference for any additive to fruit wine, would this; when boiling the water for dissolving the sugar, add two chopped ripe (skinned) bananas boil for 20 min, then, strain the hot liquid on to the sugar (discarding the bananas) this will impart a slight banana flavour, and will add body to the wine, and also it will help to produce a very clear wine. I enjoyed the Chateau Harris, and will now have another tipple!

Chin chin

David

I'll try that , David , I always like different ideas to experiment with . Pleased that the Chateau was alright !
Amy , well done with your sloe gin , you must be quite proud .

Hello Driad,

I have had an enjoyable morning, (Pamela at Mass) leaf-pruning the vines, and dead-heading roses: after a light lunch and a G&T in the conservatory, reading an interesting interview with Prof. Richard Dawkins, in The
Times Mag. on his atheist views: I filled my glass with white Burgundy, then skipped up stares, (bare-foot) where, Pamela was on the phone, chatting to bruv, John;
on my my decent down the stairs, my bare feet lost grip, and I bounced on my bum and elbows; ( removing skin from the latter) crashing into plant-pot on the landing!
after asking "are you ok" Pamela said to bruv, he's ok, but he has just broken that nice green plant-pot you gave me!"
No bones broken, but the pot will need some attention with the super-glue!
I returned to the conservatory, took a glug of wine, and resumed reading about Prof. Dawkins: if this was devine retribution, I think God let me off lightly!

David

Oops a daisy , that could have been nasty , shakes you up a bit though David , so achtung bitte !
We wives are a bit like that , mustn't show too much sympathy .
Do you think that you were being chastised for reading the Prof ?
I must have seen Pam this a.m.