Product Description

Wherever grapevines are cultivated, this book will be welcome because it fills a long-standing need for a clear, concise treatment of modern viticulture. During the past fifty years, more progress has been made in the science and art of growing grapes for table use and raisin or wine production than in any previous century.
This new edition has been revised throughout. The chapters on vine structure, vine physiology, the grape flower and berry set, development and composition of grapes, and means of improving grape quality add to our knowledge of the vine and its functions. The text is designed to enable those concerned with either vine or fruit problems to arrive at considered diagnoses. The student will find the text and the cited references a comprehensive source of information.
The grape and allied industries should welcome the updating of the major portion of the book. Here the emphasis is on modern practices in vineyard management in arid and semi-arid regions--with special reference to California. Full and detailed treatment is provided or propagation, supports, training young vines, pruning, cultivation and chemical weed control, irrigation, soil management, diseases and pests, and harvesting, packing and storage.
The practices recommended in the book are based on the extensive research conducted in California and elsewhere by the authors and their distinguished colleagues. Examples of practices based on experiments are: methods of propagation which by-pass the usual one-year-in-the-vine-nursery; pruning as related to leaf area and time of leaf functioning, and its effect on berry set and fruit development; virus disease control through thermotherapy and soil fumigation; pests held in check by sanitary, chemical, and biological procedures; irrigation practices as related to soil texture. Tissue analyses are employed as guidelines indicating the mineral deficiencies or excesses of vines. Machine harvesting of raisins (with cane cutting) and some wine grape varieties with problems are described.
The regional recommendations for table and raisin varieties are based on log years of observations, while those for wine grapes are the results of studies of the interrelation of variety and the heat summation of the different climatic areas.
No one concerned with the cultivation of grapes can afford to be without this book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #123262 in Books
• Published on: 1974-12-13
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 710 pages

About the Author
The authors have all been members of the Department of Viticulture and Enology, University of California, Davis--a world-renowned research center.

Customer Reviews

A classic that can't be updated
This is the standard textbook for viticulture in the country and was outdated when I took the class in 1987. Unfortunately Mr. Winkler and other were in their eighties and nineties at that time so the chances of an updated edition were none (Mr. Winkler died before I graduated in 1992.) Yet, even now, I still refer to it for grafting, training and pest and diseases. Hey, just because it's old doesn't mean it's dated. There are some things in grape growing that never change.

Excellent reference, but printed upside-down???
My copy arrived with the text bound upside-down in relation to the cover. However, this is by far the best study on viticulture around. Dated but still the best.

A standard reference but. . .
I have no regrets buying General Viticulture. It is, after all, a standard reference. But in many ways it is now a lttle outdated and modern experience and advice is lacking. It should therefore be considered a important part, but only a part, of the basic library of anyone doing or contemplating viticulture.

The academic style of writing does not lend itself to the "do-it-yourself" approach. The section on laying out a vineyard, for example, is more academic than practical, at least in my opinion. A more modern book would, of course, have better photographs and graphics, and this is what I miss most.