Written as an expansive update to the author’s previous book, Practical Field Guide to Grape Growing and Vine Physiology serves as a necessary complement to all the processes of modern grape growing in the variety of climes where grapes are found. Organized by growing cycles, the field guide gives detailed prescriptions for managing each season’s unique processes: vine dormancy, root growth, canopy training, and identifying various pathogens and bacteria in the winter; bud burst, flower cluster development, and canopy construction in the spring; berry growth, respiration rate, water and nitrogen usage, phenolic metabolism, vigor control, and irrigation or dry farming in the summer; and yield estimates, harvesting, and harvest vine management in the autumn. Also included are detailed explanations of properly adapting grapevines to various sites and agricultural systems.

Laura Bernini became a freelance viticultural agronomist in 1999 after nine years of distinguishing herself in vineyard management work in the Italian corporate wine world. Andrea Paoletti was the longtime manager of Antinori Chianti Classico companies before becoming a freelance consultant, working everywhere from the classic vineyards in the US, Hungary, and Italy, to resurgent ones in Turkey, Montenegro, and Georgia. Daniel Schuster is one of the most respected living viticulturalists. He has a permanent exhibition at the National Museum of American History in Washington D.C.’s Smithsonian.