6. Vineyard Management

Question 1

why important?

Answer 1

• for grape grower to reach his goal

- goal: produce healthy and ripe crop suitable for the style the winemaker wants to make

Question 2

site selection - 3 considerations

Answer 2

• environmental conditions: climate, temps, slopes, drainage, etc
• business: workforce, access for machines, infrastructure
• grape variety: does it fit climate, legal restrictions

Question 3

young vines - where? irrigation? when crop?

Answer 3

• 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

Question 4

average age of wine?

Answer 4

• usually no longer than 30-50 years and then replaced

- old vines usually no longer enough yield

Question 5

vine training - def? 2 types? advantages?

Answer 5

• 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

Question 6

synonym for permanent horizontal arms of wood

Answer 6

cordon

Question 7

vine pruning - def? how often? purpose? styles?

Answer 7

• 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

Question 8

trellis - def? bush vine? when&where untrellised? where not?

Answer 8

• 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

Question 9

Trellised vineyards - def? why important (3)? VSP? in hot areas?

Answer 9

• 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)

Question 10

density - def? hectare? range? scenario 1 (hot, limited water)? scenario 2 (moderate, sufficient water)

Answer 10

• 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

Question 11

number of buds - too many? too little?

Answer 11

• 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

Question 12

high levels of nutrients - where? action?

Answer 12

• often in New World
• high-density not enough
• low-density with multiple cordons or canes produces good quality at high yields

Question 13

yield - def -2? green harvesting? risks?

Answer 13

• 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

Question 14

yields and quality - traditional view vs today?

Answer 14

• 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

Question 15

4 different pest - actions?

Answer 15

• 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

Question 16

fungi - 2+1? actions?

Answer 16

• downey mildew: copper-based insecticides
• powdery mildew, both affect green parts and make grapes lose fruity flavours and give bitter taint, sulfur-based spray
• grey rot –> botrytis cinerea infection causes noble rot

Question 17

viral diseases - what? impact? spread by? cure?

Answer 17

• usually not kill vine but impact on yield and quality
• highly contagious and persistent
• spread by cuttings or nematodes
• no treatements or cures
• digging up vines and sanitising land

Question 18

bacterial diseases - what? impact? spread by? cure?

Answer 18

• impact grape quality and yield
• can kill vine
• often spread by insect called sharpshooters
• no treatments or cure
• need to interrupt lifecycle of sharpshooters to prevent disease
• digging up vines and sanitising land

Question 19

Three main options to reduce chemicals

Answer 19

• sustainable: restricted use of man-made chemicals, integrated pest management (i.e. predators of certain pests encourage to live)
• organic: similar to sustainable but only limited number of more traditional treatments (no chemicals), certification bodies (expensive, not harmonised)
• biodynamic: like organic but Rudolf Steiner/Maria Thun based, incl philosophy and cosmology, also certification bodies

Question 20

Harvesting - when? measure? hard criteria? premium wine?

Answer 20

• turning colours of grapes (Véraison)
• measuring sugar levels
• no hard criteria for when grape is ripe (depends on A) grape variety and B) what kind of wine should be made)
• premium wine can be hand-harvested or machine-harvested

Question 21

machine harvesting - how? disadvantages? advantages (2)? when not possible?

Answer 21

• shaking trunk of vine
• non-selective (MOG= matter other than grape), but can be done during sorting
• 1. speed (grapes such as Sauvignon Blanc over-ripes quickly)
• 2. over nights (cool berries reduced having to cool in tank and slows oxidation leading to off-flavours)
• not possible if whole bunches are required, e.g. Beaujolais, Champagne

Question 22

hand harvesting - disadvantage? advantages (4)?

Answer 22

• more expensive
  1. selective, essential for noble rot
  2. less damage (stackable trays)
  3. grape stems retained (pure juice for white wine, essential for whole bunch red wine fermentation)
  4. works for steep slopes (e.g. Mosel, Douro, Northern Rhône)