4 - The Vine Flashcards
What is the main Eurasian specie of Vine?
Vitis vinifera
Why are not American vines used for winemaking?
What are they used for - and why?
- the wines they produce are widely considered to have unattractive flavours
- rootstocks for grafting. Resistant to Phylloxera
Varieties (def)
A group of individual plants that can all trace their lineage back through a series of cuttings and/or layerings to a single plant (genetically identical)
Other words for ‘vine variety’
‘grape variety’
‘vine cultivar’
‘grape cultivar’
Difference between varieties
- colour
- flavour
- fruit quality
- budding & ripening times
- resistance to certain diseases
How a variety is grown/propagated (new plant identical to the original)
- cutting
- layering
What is ‘cutting’?
A section of a vine shoot that is planted and then grows as a new plant.
Widely used in commercial nurseries.
Most used due to risk of Phylloxera (grafting).
What is ‘layering’?
In the vineyard.
A cane is bent down and a section of it is buried in the ground. The cane tip points upwards out of the ground.
The buried section takes root, and once these roots are established, the cane linking the new growth to the original plant is cut.
What are ‘clones’?
Mutations when the vine grows –> clones.
Each individual vine or group of vines that shows a particular set of unique characteristics.
Difference between clones, and ex.
small –> considered the same variety.
Some mutations have such a significant effect that resulting plants are treated as if they were new varieties.
Pinot Noir –> Pinot Blanc & Pinot Gris
(clones, but threated as varieties)
clonal selection
vines with positive mutations are selected for further propagation
how do we get new varieties?
By cross-fertilisation –> planted seeds give new varieties
cross-fertilisation
pollen from the male part of a flower of one vine is transferred to the female part of a flower of another vine
–> fertilisation
–> grape with seeds
–> planted seed
–> new variety with different genetic material from the parents
crossings, def & ex.
Variety from two parents of the same species.
Term normally reserved for new varieties that were bred by researchers.
ex:
Cab.Franc x Sauv.Bl. –> Cab.Sauv.
Rsl x Madeleine Royale –> Müller-Thurgau
PN x Cinsault –> Pinotage
hybrids, def & ex.
variety from two parents of different vine species
ex:
Vidal in Canada
The anatomy of the Vine
- The green parts
(shoots, leaves, buds, tendrils, flowers, berries) - One year old wood
(cane/spur) - Permanent wood
(trunk, arm) - Roots
shoots
The new growth a vine produces each year.
Along the length of each shoot: leaves, buds, tendrils, flowers, berries
leaves
the plants engine, responsible for photosynthesis
6CO2 + 6H20 –> sun/energy –> C6H12O6 + 6O2
buds
Embryonic shoots.
Mature during the growing season.
tendrils
grip a supporting structure
flowers
The vine’s reproductive organs. Both male & female parts.
Inflorescence
group/bunch of flowers/grapes
berries
each pollinated flower will become a berry (grape)
one year old wood
shoots turn woody during the winter after they have grown.
Buds from the previous year –> shoots
cane
pruned long, 8-20 buds
spur
pruned short, 2-3 buds
permanent wood
more than 1yo.
Amount restricted by pruning
roots
- absorb water & nutrients
- anchor the vine
- store carbohydrates
Phylloxera
Insect native to North America –> Europe 19th century
Complex life cycle w diff forms.
Feeding on roots –> feeding wounds –> infections –> weakened & dies after years.
American vines: clogging its mouth w sticky sap, and form a protective layer behind the feeding wound.
Exceptions: Chile, some parts of Argentina & South Australia.
Protection against inf.: strict quarantine procedures.
Rootstocks
End of 19th century: grafting of V. Vinifera onto hybrid or am.vine-rootst.
Am.vinerootst.: problem in alkaline soil (limest., chalky, calcereous) –> chlorosis etc. Hybrids better adjusted to the soil.
Other advantages: prot. against nematodes, better resist. to drought cond.
Grafting (def & 2 types)
The technique used to join a rootst. to a V. Vinifera variety
- Bench grafting
- Head grafting
Bench grafting
short section of cane from both the V.V. variety and the rootstock var. are joined together and stored in a warm anvironment –> encourage the two parts to fuse together –> planted
Head grafting
The existing vine in the vineyard is cut back to its trunk and a bud or a cutting of the new variety is grafted onto the trunk
