Cherry berry plum with cacao nibs

[Scooter68]

After seeing this in the hills around Marksburg Germany I figured pruning was best done when it good and cold. Thats the Rhein below.

 

[Brigitte]

After seeing this in the hills around Marksburg Germany I figured pruning was best done when it good and cold. Thats the Rhein below.View attachment 46919

Great picture !

 

[Scooter68]

The frost spikes were over 75mm long. (Hey It's europe so the measurements have to be reported correctly.) Here's some more interesting photos.
These are all photos from a business trip I had to take to Weisbaden in January 2002. Interesting drawings of wine making in Schloss Marksburg. The Glühwein and Kartoffelpuffers from the street vendors helped us ward off the chill.

 

[sour_grapes]

Nice! I am inferring that Reb is Deutsch for "root." The "root louse" <-> "phylloxera" I think. (I know I could just google it, but where is the fun in that? )

 

[Scooter68]

As I remember when I was there it translated to root stock from America - So some of those great German wines have their origins in America. Who wuddat thought that.

 

[sour_grapes]

As I remember when I was there it translated to root stock from America - So some of those great German wines have their origins in America. Who wuddat thought that.

I think that would be the Rebstöcke word. I was referring to the Reblaus. ("laus" is where we get our word "louse.") It was those two words that made me infer that Reb was "root."

However, I was wrong about what Reb- meant. The other obvious (in hindsight) choice was "vine." ( I gave up and used Google translate.) Reblaus (or "vine louse") is indeed phylloxera. Rebsorten is, not surprisingly, "grape variety." Wurzeln is "root."

And yes, you are right, the trick that saved the European wine industry from this invasive pest was to use American rootstock, which was resistant to the Reblaus, and graft vinifera vines to them.

 

[Scooter68]

Ok that makes more sense. Thanks for your update.

Now for the next quiz - Have you deciphered the drawings on the wall in the castle wine cellar? The bellows has me intrigued as to how that was used.

When I was over there I wasn't even thinking about making wine - But the seed was planted when I had a sweet apple wine in a restaurant and never get it when I came back to the states. I found it from one or two wine sellers but the laws forbid shipping it to me. So 13 years later I got inspired to make my own wine.

 

[sour_grapes]

Ah, yes, I love apfelwein, too. I have had it (and like it) both finished/aged and also really young (like Federweisser or Neuer Wein) in the fall. I think for me it is as much about the experience of getting it in an outdoor market (like the one you pictured) as it was about the product itself. However, I do recall I had a lunch at a sit-down place in Frankfurt, and I couldn't tell you anything at all about the meal, but I still remember how delicious the aged apfelwein was.

No, I cannot tell what's going on with that bellows. My best guess is that it was an "early All-in-One wine pump," and they are racking the wine off the lees from one barrel to another, maybe??