6. Vineyard Management Flashcards
why important?
- for grape grower to reach his goal
- goal: produce healthy and ripe crop suitable for the style the winemaker wants to make
site selection - 3 considerations
- environmental conditions: climate, temps, slopes, drainage, etc
- business: workforce, access for machines, infrastructure
- grape variety: does it fit climate, legal restrictions
young vines - where? irrigation? when crop?
- from nursery- pre-grafted
- planted by hand or machine
- some irrigation may be necessary (or allowed where irrigation generally not allowed)
- first crop expected after third year after planting
average age of wine?
- usually no longer than 30-50 years and then replaced
- old vines usually no longer enough yield
vine training - def? 2 types? advantages?
- shape of permanent wood
- head-training: only trunk or a few short arms - can be both spur- or cane-pruned
- cordon-training: takes longer because more permanent wood, but more stable and easier for machine harvesting
synonym for permanent horizontal arms of wood
cordon
vine pruning - def? how often? purpose? styles?
- removing unwanted leaves, canes, wood
- every winter (more important), every summer
- to dermine number and location of buds that will form into shoots
Winter: - spur-pruning: short sections of one-year old wood cut to 2-3 buds
- replacement cane pruning: longer section of one-year old wood, usually one or two canes (Single Guyot, Double G.), usually for head-trained, more complex than spur pruning
Summer - restrict vegetative growth, direct sugar production
trellis - def? bush vine? when&where untrellised? where not?
- permanent structure of stakes and wires supporting vine growth
- untrellised: head-trained, spur-pruned, S. Rhône, Barossa Valley (“bush vine”)
- Beaujolais: head-trained, spur-pruned but vines tied together at the tips to expose to air and sunlight
Trellised vineyards - def? why important (3)? VSP? in hot areas?
- line of posts joined by horizontal wires
- exposure to sunlight
- air circulation
- mechanisation (harvesting, spraying insecticides/fungicides
- Vertical Shoot Positioning
- shoots trained vertically and tied to trellis –> air and light
- hot: shoots not tied to top but flop over creating some shade (better than head-pruned because of easier mechanisation)
density - def? hectare? range? scenario 1 (hot, limited water)? scenario 2 (moderate, sufficient water)
- number of vines planted per hectare
- hectare: 100m x 100m
- from 1000 - 10,000 vines per hectare (low- vs high-density)
- scenario 1:
- low-density
- head-pruned bush vines or on a trellis shoots flopping over to provide shade
- scenario 2
- high-density
- VSP
number of buds - too many? too little?
- too little: each bud will have access to too much energy and will grow a lot
- too many: each buds not enough access to energy and struggle to ripen
high levels of nutrients - where? action?
- often in New World
- high-density not enough
- low-density with multiple cordons or canes produces good quality at high yields
yield - def -2? green harvesting? risks?
- def: either weight (tonnes) of grapes per hectare or volume of hectolitre per hectare
- green harvesting: when yield is getting to big remove immature grapes
- risk: remaining grapes may increase in size –> A) get back to high weight/yield, B) dilute
yields and quality - traditional view vs today?
- traditional: only high quality if low yields
- many more factors affect quality
- high levels of sunlight/heat/nutrients: potential for higher yields of quality fruit
- low levels: potential for lower yields of quality fruit
4 different pest - actions?
- Phylloxera: grafting rootstocks
- nematodes: attacking roots, prevention (before planting, using resistant root stocks)
- birds, mammals: eat fruit, half eaten fruit increases risk of fungal diseases, nets, fencing
- insects: affecting grapes and leaves, insecticides or alternatives
