C5 - The Growing Environment - Micky - completed Flashcards
What are the five things a vine needs?
Heat; Sunlight; Water; Nutrients; Carbon Dioxide
What is Veraison?
The change of color in the grape as the fruit ripens
What are the six factors affecting heat?
- Latitude
- Altitude
- Ocean currents
- Fog
- Soil
- Aspect
What latitudes do most vines grow in?
Between the latitudes of 30 and 50 degrees north and south of the equator
What is “aspect” in relation to a vine?
The direction in which a slope faces.
What is Continentality?
The temperature difference between the coldest and hottest months.
What is Diurnal range?
The difference between daytime and night-time temperatures.
What are four main types of protection from spring frost?
Heaters; Wind Machines; Sprinklers; Thoughtful vineyard design.
What are the factors that affect sunlight in a vineyard?
Latitude
Seas and lakes
Aspect
Sunlight hazards
What is the name of the process through which vines access water through its roots and is drawn up to the leaves?
Transpiration
What are the three main irrigation techniques?
- Drip irrigation
- Sprinklers
- Flood irrigation
What is the definition of a region’s climate?
The annual pattern of temperature, sunlight and rainfall averaged out over several years.
What are the average growing season temperatures of:
1) Cool Climates
2) Moderate Climates
3) Warm Climates
4) Hot Climates
1) 16.5c or below
2) Between 16.5c and 18.5c
3) Between 18.5c and 21c
4) Above 21c
What are the characteristics of Continental climate?
- Have the greatest difference in temperature between the hottest and coldest months (high continentality);
- usually characterized by short and hot summers with a large, rapid temperature drop in autumn.
What are the characteristics of Maritime climate?
- Cool to moderate temperatures and low continentality.
- Evenly spread rainfall throughout the year
- that temperatures are warm enough for grapes ripening far into autumn
e. g. maritime Bordeaux can successfully ripe Cabernet Sauvignon.
What are the characteristics of Mediterranean climate?
- Low continentality
- warm and dry summers
examples: the Mediterranean, coastal California, Chile, South Africa and SE Australia.
What is humus?
Soil that is made up of decomposing plant and animal materials (organic matters) which are rich in plant nutrients and have excellent water retaining properties.
What are the three most important nutrients for a vine?
Nitrogen (N)
Phosphorus (P)
Potassium (K)
What is a common symptom linked to a lack of nutrients?
Chlorosis
What are the common temperature hazards?
- winter - below -20C or mild winter
- spring frosts - killing newly burst buds and young shoots
- the growing season - e.g. cold Spring, extremely hot summer
What are the effects to vines with more sunlight?
a vine will photosynthesis more, produce more glucose for growth and ripening grapes.
flowering and fruit sets also benefit greatly from plenty of sunlight
What happens to vines if without sunlight?
photosynthesis cannot happen and plants die.
What are the common sunlight hazards?
not enough sunlight e.g. because of heavy cloudy cover
too much sunlight will cause sunburn, leading a bitter flavours developing in the grape skins
Briefly describe a vine’s growing cycle
In winter, the vine will dormant, no green parts on the plant.
In spring, budburst and new shoot begin to grow.
In spring and early summer, the vine flowers and small grapes form, known as fruit set.
In summer, the grapes continue to grow but still hard and green, high acidity and no sugar.
In late summer/autumn, the grapes start to ripen, color change (veraison)
After the grapes are harvested in autumn, the growing season ends.
Turning to winter, the leaves drop, the vine becomes dormant again.
Where can vines get Carbon Dioxide (CO2)?
atmosphere
Where can vines get sunlight?
the sun; reflection from water
Where can vines get heat?
the sun; reflection (reradiation) from soil
What happens if too much nutrients?
the vine will grow too vigorously, produce a dense leafy canopy that shades the vines too much.
The soil becomes depleted, the grape grower will need to replace them with natural or chemical fertilizers.
Describe “Chlorosis”
a common symptom linked to a lack of nutrients, the leaves turn yellow, photosynthesis is restricted. Grapes quantity and quality are reduced.
How to counter the lack of nutrients (causing Chlorosis) ?
use proper fertiliser
which element is constantly no change during the a vine’s growing cycle?
CO2
Describe the functions of Heat, Sunlight, Water, CO2 and nutrient
Heat - fundamentally important, if it’s too cold, the vine will either not grow or struggle to survive.
Sunlight + water + CO2 = photosynthesis = produce glucose and oxygen
the vine combines glucose and nutrients (from soil) to support growth and ripen it’s grapes.
Oxygen is lost through the leaves.
Which element is the defining factor determines which grape varieties can be grown and in where?
the amount of Heat
Why heat is important to vine’s growth
- if temperature below 10C, the vine will dormant
- the vine needs sufficient heat for flowering, fruit set and ripening
- determine which grape varieties can be grown and where, b’cos diff. varieties need diff. amount of heat.
e.g. Riesling grow in cool locations, Grenache grow in warm region
Why Cafayate in northern Argentina can successfully grow vines?
high altitude. (latitude is -26 South)
How ocean currents affect heat in a region
it brings large volumes of warm or cold water across the surface of the ocean, warming or cooling the wine regions.
Example of major ocean currents affecting regions heat:
- Humboldt Current > cooling Chile
- Benguela Current > cooling the South Africa regions
- Gulf Stream > warming the north-west of Europe.
Example of areas that need fog for cooling:
- California
- Casablanca Valley in Chile
What kind of soil absorb and reradiate more of the sun’s heat?
Dark in color and have a high stone and rock content
How soils with higher water content affect budburst?
it requires more energy to warm up, and conduct heat from the vine more quickly than dry soils. This can delay budburst.
Why aspect is particularly important in cool climate regions?
The extra warmth can help the vine being able to ripen a crop. Steeper slopes benefit even more.
Example region with cool climate but benefit from favourable aspect and steeper slopes.
Mosel, Germany.
Why areas close to large volume of water have low continentality?
large volume of water (sea or lake) warm up and cool down slower than landmass.
Water help warming the land in winter, cooling in summer.
Why continentality can affect what grape variety can grow successfully in a region?
it determines the length of the growing season and this impact the total amount of heat to the vine.
Where can a vine get water?
- rainfall
- irrigation
- water stored in soil
Where can vine get nutrients?
- humus
- fertilizer
- soil particles
How cool nights affect grapes’ quality during ripening?
it slow the loss of aromas and acidity
How warm nights affect grapes ripening?
it accelerate ripening
a region with warm or hot climate and large diurnal range, what’s the expected characteristics of the wine made?
fresher and more aromatic.
A vineyard’s proximity to seas and lakes even rivers have a _____ diurnal range?
smaller
Generally, regions near sea or lake have a _____ cloud cover
greater
Explain how cloud cover affect diurnal range:
- clear night - temperature drop quickly (increasing diurnal range)
- cloudy day - the land warm up slower b’cos sunlight cannot heat the ground directly (reducing diurnal range)
What would affect the diurnal range?
- proximity to water (sea, lake or river)
- cloud cover
Which part of the vine most at risk from winter freeze
the graft
What can a grower do to protect the graft from winter freeze?
- use earth to cover up and protect the graft “earthing up”
What’re the problems to the vine with mild winter?
- the vine may not have dormant period, may produce more than one crop per year.
- its life will be shorten
- the grape quality will suffer
- larger population of pest survive to attack the vines the following summer
How “Spring frost” happens?
- when cold air below 0C collects at ground level
- freezing any water vapour that has settled on the ground or vine.
How a thoughtful vineyard design can protect the vines from Spring frost?
- best to plant vines on slopes
- avoid depression in which cold air can collect.
- vineyards planted on the middle of the slope are less risk than those in lower lying areas.
- vines can also be trained high to avoid the worst of the cold air.
How can cold temperature in a growing season damage the vines?
- cold temperature in Spring will delay the budburst
- this shortens the growing season means not enough time for the grapes to ripen fully.
- flowering and fruit set can also be disrupted, resulting in a smaller crop of grapes.
How can hot temperature in summer damage the vines?
- in very hot and prolonged periods of extreme heat, all vine activity will slow and eventually stop, even water is sufficient.
- the grapes cannot ripen properly
- in extreme cases the vines will die
Many of the factors affect temperatures also affect the amount of ________ in a vineyard.
sunlight
how “Latitude” affect sunlight in a vineyard? Example of varieties benefits from this factor.
Day length during the summer is longer the further from the Equator.
This extra sunlight is an important factor that helps Riesling to ripen in Germany.
Vineyards near __________ tends to have more cloud cover
large bodies of water e.g. seas or lakes
Regions at the centre of a large masses tends to be ______
sunnier
vineyards situated above rivers or lakes can benefits from _______________.
sunlight reflected from the surface of the water
The amount of water a vine needs is determined by _____
the temperature
When it gets warmer, how it affect the vine’s need of water?
Water evaporates from the vine’s leaves faster, the vine needs to take up more water from the soil.
How “canopy’ affect a vine’s growth
By limiting the supply of water, the vine still have enough water to keep photosynthesising, but the shortage of water means the vine concentrate on grape ripening rather than further shoot growth.
When rainfall is insufficient, it can be compensated by irrigation if __________ permit.
local laws
which irrigation method is the most advanced, can be computer controlled, ensure each vine gets the optimum amount of water?
Drip irrigation
which irrigation method is the cheapest?
Flood irrigation
what are the disadvantages of using sprinklers for irrigation?
- they waste a lots of water
- they create damp conditions in the vineyard increasing the risk of disease.
what are the advantages of using sprinklers for irrigation?
- it’s cheaper than dripping irrigation
- if correctly designed, sprinklers can also be used for frost protection.
What are the limitations when using ‘flood irrigation’?
- it’s only possible in vineyards that are flat or very gently sloping
- where there is access to large quantities of water
What will happen to the vines if there’s a prolonged shortage of water or drought?
Vines suffer from water stress; photosynthesis stops, leaves wilt and grapes fail to ripen. Ultimately this can weaken and kill a vine.
What are the common water hazards?
- Drought
- Too much water
- Hail
What happens if the vine has access to too much water during the growing season?
- the vine will continue to grow shoots and leaves, leaving less sugar for ripening grapes.
- the extra shoots and leaves increase the amount of shading, which restricts grape ripening.
- a waterlogged soil can cause the roots to become saturated and die.
What can be done to avoid waterlogging?
- by planting vines on a slope
- on flat sites, installing drainage pipes to aid the flow of water away from the roots.
What are the negative effect of too much rainfall?
- flowering and fruit set can be disrupted by heavy rainfall
- it can significantly reduce the number of grapes that are formed
- Damp conditions follow rainfall also encourage spread of fungal diseases
- Heavy rainfall shortly before harvest time can case the berries to swell excessively, this will dilute the flavours in the wine.
- in case the berries swell too much it’ll split, which attracts fungal disease.
What effect can hail have on a vine?
It can damage the grapes and even the vine itself, in worst cases, destroying an entire crop
Name the areas particularly prone to hail…
Mendoza, Argentina
What can be done to protect the vines from hail but it’s quite costly?
netting
What can a grower do to reduce the risk of losing the whole crop?
by owning several vineyard sites in different locations.
Define a region’s “weather”
the annual variation that happens relative to the climatic average.
Example of region has greater variations in weather than others
Bordeaux:
- the amount and timing of rainfall can vary considerably
- in 2007: the region was cool, cloudy and wet during most of August
- in 2003: high temperatures and near drought
Example of regions that have more predictable weather
Central Valley in California. With hot dry weather from one year to the next.
Growing seasons in North and South Hemisphere
North Hemisphere: April to October
South Hemisphere: October to April
How CLIMATE CATEGORIES help determining which grapes can successfully ripen in which region?
CLIMATE CATEGORIES incorporated:
- climate classification
- continentality
- diurnal range
- the level and timing of rainfall and sunlight
What kind of grape varieties are better suit continental climate?
bud late and ripen early.
What are the characteristics of the wine made in mediterranean climate regions?
- fuller bodied
- riper tannins
- higher alcohol
- lower lever of acidity
What are the pro and con of the low rainfall in mediterranean climate?
- it has positive effect on the health of the grapes
- but can also lead to drought.
What is the disadvantage of the spring and summer rainfalls in maritime climate?
Rainfall in spring and summer can be harmful to the flowering, fruit set and health of the grapes at harvest.
What is the disadvantage of the low temperature throughout the growing season in Continentality climate?
- cool continental climate regions e.g. Champagne and Chablis are at risk from spring frost
- low temperature can affect flowering, fruit set and ripening.
Why soil plays a critical role in grape growing?
it supplies water and nutrients to the vine.
What made up soil?
it’s made up of tiny particles of various sizes, as well as larger stones or rocks and humus.
Where are stones, sand and clay come from?
Underlying rock or later deposits laid on top of the rock.
What is the largest soil particles and are not always presented in vineyard soils?
Stones
Which one is the crucial factor of soil particles: source or size?
Size.
Beside stones, what tiny particles made up the rest of the soil?
Sands (the largest) and clay (the smallest)
Water is stored in the soil by binding to ______ and ________?
clay particles and humus.
if a soil contains too much _____, it can easily become waterlogged?
clay
____ and ____ do not hold water well and facilitates water drainage?
stones and sand particles.
Ideally, when does the vine needs (A) good supply of water and (B) mild water stress?
A - early in the season to supply strong shoot and leaf growth
B - after Veraison, to promote grape ripening.
What is loam?
soil made up of mixture sand and clay particles
Why loam is the best soil?
These soils have good drainage but retain enough water for vine growth.
Which type of soil is always ideal?
There’s no one soil type that is always ideal.
A soil’s suitability depends on other climatic factors such as ___ and ____?
temperature and rainfall.
