{"id":2409,"date":"2023-06-30T14:12:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-30T14:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2409"},"modified":"2023-06-30T14:12:00","modified_gmt":"2023-06-30T14:12:00","slug":"pay-attention-to-farming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2409","title":{"rendered":"Pay Attention to Farming"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Essentially, wine tasting is all about what\u2019s in the glass, plus the amenities and architecture of the wineries themselves.\u00a0 But it\u2019s also about the factory that is often found right behind the tasting room.\u00a0 And it\u2019s about the farms (we call them vineyards, of course) that produce the grapes that ultimately wind up in that glass.<\/p>\n<p>Wineries offer tours of their industrial facilities and occasionally take visitors into the vineyards, but they do not emphasize the farming aspect of wine.\u00a0 In some part that\u2019s because many wineries source their grapes so the farming is someone else\u2019s job.\u00a0 But more so, it\u2019s because there really isn\u2019t anything to see, except perhaps at harvest time, when the best a visitor can do is stay out of the way of the workers.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/farming.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-2410 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/farming-300x95.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"632\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/farming-300x95.jpg 300w, http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/farming-768x242.jpg 768w, http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/farming-1024x323.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/farming.jpg 1414w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Photo courtesy of Wine Australia<\/em><\/p>\n<p>But when someone is visiting a winery, especially one with vines right outside the window, it\u2019s a good idea to learn a bit \u2013 maybe only a bit \u2013 about its farming practices.\u00a0 Here are a few things to think about.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What accommodations does the winery make for their specific micro-climate?<\/strong> We remember being at a renowned Bordeaux ch\u00e2teau and asking why their wines were so much more expensive (and better) than the one that adjoined their property.\u00a0 The answer was, \u201cDo you see that little hill between the vineyards?\u00a0 We get the morning sun and they don\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0 A few questions about the siting and orientation of the vines can provide a lot of insight as to why one particular wine tastes the way it does.<\/li>\n<li><strong>What is the winery doing about climate change and sustainability.<\/strong> Of course, everyone is concerned about the environment.\u00a0 Noticeably hotter summers and wetter winters are challenging winemakers to find year-to-year consistency in the wines they produce.\u00a0 Even more, these conditions are making it increasingly difficult for vineyard managers to grow the same amount of grapes in the same varietals with the same quality every year.\u00a0 As a visitor and wine lover, we think you\u2019d like to know what they\u2019re doing about it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Along the same lines, how do they use water?<\/strong> It seems that wine growing regions are experiencing either drought or floods.\u00a0 The way in which they use water \u2013 or protect themselves against it \u2013 are important factors in the quality of the wines you taste.\u00a0 Despite perennial panic about running out of water, California winemakers did pretty well during the drought years, but how long can this go on?\u00a0 Dry farming works in some climates, but others are virtual deserts and need irrigation.\u00a0 It\u2019s worth asking how they do it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>How do they deal with cool springs or excessively hot summers?<\/strong> You may know that the pruning and trellising practices of various vineyard managers differ.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting to find out how each winery\u2019s approach leads to what winds up in the glass.\u00a0 An average server may not know, but if the winemaker or some farmhands are around, they can explain it.\u00a0 Even if it all seems a bit geeky for the average taster, it\u2019s worthwhile to know what\u2019s going on in the fields.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Essentially, wine tasting is all about what\u2019s in the glass, plus the amenities and architecture of the wineries themselves.\u00a0 But it\u2019s also about the factory that is often found right behind the tasting room.\u00a0 And it\u2019s about the farms (we call them vineyards, of course) that produce the grapes that ultimately wind up in that &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2409\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Pay Attention to Farming<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2409"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2409"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2411,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2409\/revisions\/2411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}