Dear Anthony,
............provided mineral and biological balance (good CT) has the poten=
tial to eliminate both copper and sulfur applications in the vineyard. -tru=
e?
True . My experience this season (Australia) was CT was able to out compet=
e Powdery Mildew in Shiraz grape vines, however we were not able to stop Po=
wdery in cabernet. The grower used sulphur to control the Powdery in the c=
abernet and also chose to use it in the Shiraz. After Veraison CT was agai=
n used and no further problems with Powdery were observed.
The vineyard in question did not have mineral balance in the soil or in the=
vines, very few vineyards except the absolute premium vineyards have miner=
al balance. This issue is relevant, CT is not a silver bullet you must add=
ress mineralisation as well as biology ie Albrecht, Rheams etc work.
Unfortunately heavy rain and hail occurred in this vineyard and extensive s=
plitting of the grapes occurred.
The grower chose to use Ct to reduce the damage from fruit rotting due t=
o splitting. Warm conditions followed this event and much of the split gape=
s dried up. However some grapes did not and near harvest some of this fruit=
was decaying on the vines.
The crop was harvested and an independent wine maker assessed the fruit as=
being suitable for the reserve label of one of the large wineries in the a=
rea. He gave the fruit a 7 out of 10. This was a great result considering t=
he grower was concerned that he was going to loose his entire crop after th=
e splitting event.
We used the CT right up until 2 weeks prior to harvest
However there was a negative in that the Humic acid we used left a residue =
that did not look good, next time we will consider using more fulvic acid a=
nd less humics in the CT to reduce the dark coloration of the CT. I see it =
as an important advantage in being able to use CT nearer harvest as this is=
time when botrytis disease pressure can be high.
Wine has been made from the grapes with good results so far, no negative ef=
fects from the microorganisms in the CT.
There are some yeast organisms in the CT however the wine makers will be in=
oculating with known strains of yeasts to achieve a more predictable result=
.
Regards Mike Harvey
New Life Soils
http://www.composttea.com.au
---- Original Message -----
From: Anthony Quinlan
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2003 9:40 AM
Subject: [compost_tea] CT effect on wine
To any wine makers or viticulturist's (or anyone):
Evidence suggests that provided mineral and biological balance is achieve=
d in the soil, the use of CT
(good CT) has the potential to eliminate both copper and sulfur applicati=
ons in the vineyard. -true?
If this is the case, is there any evidence of any problems arising with r=
espect to affecting the grapes come
harvest time and ultimately the wine (fermentation etc). i.e. is there a =
withholding period for CT usage prior to harvest.
And could CT applications actually provide the endemic yeast populations =
to initiate a natural ferment???
regards
anthony
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Received on Wed Apr 16 2003 - 23:24:30 EDT