On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 23:00:39 GMT, zalzon
wrote:

I saw this news clip on
grape wine yards in France. They mentioned that the grape growers
were very happy this summer. Aside from killing a whole bunch of
people, the hot, dry summer over there has helped produce a very good
crop of grapes. Because of the heat & dryness, the grapes have less
moisture in them and hence taste sweeter. Wines therefore will taste
better and be of higher quality (and command a higher price)

Mmm. There has been quite a lot of coverage of this, mainly I think
because all sorts of different fruit has ripened earlier than it would
normally do.

However, will they actually be producing better wine from these
sweeter grapes, or will it just produce wines of higher alcohol
levels? In any case, the norm for many wines now seems to be 14% or
higher (and some of this may well be from added sugar).

I always thought that to get a good wine, you needed a balance between
the natural fruit sugars and the natural acids. I've heard people say
that very hot summers can tip the balance too much the other way (and
sometimes even diminish the acid content too), leading to wines that
can be bland.

Mind you, the approach for your tomatoes may well be fine - many
people recommend cutting back on watering & feeding once they've
fruited to get the best flavour.

Good luck.


Colin
-----
(Sorry - no direct email. Please reply via the newsgroup)