Vine Vine Vine

So the most awesome of field trips was perhaps visiting three vineyards all in one day down at Niagara-On-The-Lake:)

It was actually really informative. My classmates and I got to learn all about the grape rows and the importance of the right amount of airflow and optimal sunlight, meaning the rows, are for the majority pointed in the north south direction. As well the vines each have to be protected during the winter months as below 20 degrees Celsius the vines can begin to frost and then eventually die. And the owners don't want a plant to die because then if they plant a new vine in it's place, it won't produce grapes for a good 3 to 5 years.

We also looked at the fermentation process and how the grapes were sitting in these tanks and they have to do a lot of waiting before a wine can be actually sold in stores. Don't get me wrong I am not a specialist on vineyards and wine making. I just quickly learned about this today and I could very well be incorrect about some if this. At each of the vineyards we did visit they each have a barrel chamber, where the wine will sit and depending on the type (red or white) it might stay longer in the barrel. And the wine is put into a certain type of barrel to get the optimal taste and flavour.

It was all extremely interesting. Two of the vineyards were specifically hand-picked, meaning there would be no machines involved to get the grapes off the vines. Which I think a person needs to be really patient if they have that job.
Mainly our purpose for the field trip was to look at the architecture of the winery building and the circulation of the spaces because our next project is to design a winery at a site. So hopefully the ones we have visited will give us some inspiration and some ideas.

I can't forget the tasting of the wines of course. I can't say that I tried any but fellow classmates did and my professors:) I did buy a bottle of Red Wine though for my parents from Jackson and Triggs Winery, so I can only hope it is a good one:) Overall a very tiring day. We drove two hours to get to the wineries and then that means another two hours to get back, it was just a lot all crammed into about 5 hours (not including the driving time). Time for some well needed shut eye:)