Module 3: Chapter 4 - Viticulture Flashcards
1
Q
Term for the portion of the vine that includes branches, leaves, and fruit.*
A
Canopy
2
Q
Term used for the process where an unrooted cutting is inserted into the trunk of an existing vine.*
A
Field grafting.
3
Q
Ideal degrees of latitude for commercial viticulture.*
A
Between 30 and 50 degrees.
4
Q
Ideal conditions for flowering.*
A
Warm and dry. (Rain or wind can hinder fertilization.)
5
Q
Term used for the transition from flower to berry.*
A
Berry set, or fruit set.
6
Q
Condition where many flowers do not develop into grapes.*
A
Coulure (“Shatter”)
7
Q
Abnormal fruit set resulting in many small, seedless berries in the grape bunches.*
A
Millerandage
8
Q
The onset of the ripening of berries.*
A
Veraison
9
Q
Typical time from bud break to harvest.*
A
140 to 160 days. (As short as 110, as long as 200)
10
Q
The process by which sunlight is used by the vine to create sugar.*
A
Photosynthesis
11
Q
Process by which water evaporates through the openings in the vine’s leaves.*
A
Transpiration
12
Q
Process by which sugars are broken down and used by the vine as energy.*
A
Respiration
13
Q
Process by which materials are moved from one area of the plant to another.*
A
Translocation
14
Q
French term for the combined natural factors of a vineyard.*
A
Terroir
15
Q
Root-eating louse that almost killed off the great vineyards of Europe (and then the world).*
A
Phylloxera. (Thanks, USA)
16
Q
Type of vine-training that does not use a trellis system.*
A
Head training or Bush training
17
Q
Type of vine training where vines are trained up a tall support.*
A
Pergola. Occasionally pergola-trained vines grow up trees.
18
Q
Type of cane-pruned vine training system using one cane from each vine, each trained in the same direction.*
A
Guyot
19
Q
Type of spur-trained vine system with branches from each vine trained along a wire.*
A
Cordon
20
Q
Philosophy of viticulture often credited to Rudolf Steiner.*
A
Biodynamics
21
Q
How much fruit is produced by viticulture globally?
A
70 million tons of fruit, of which 70% (49 million tons) goes into making wine.
22
Q
What is viticulture? Is it different from winemaking?
A
Viticulture is the term for the intentional cultivation of grapevines. Though often used synonymously with winegrowing, viticulture applies to the growing of table grapes, juice grapes, and raisins as well.
23
Q
What is the trunk?
A
A single pillar that connects the underground root system to the aboveground structure of branches, shoots, and leaves. The root system continues to grow throughout the life of the vine, making an elaborate network far larger than the visible plant.
24
Q
What are the one or two branches extending off of the trunk called?
A
Arms. They begin as spurs, that then develop into young, thin canes.
25
What are cordons?
Cordons are the older, thicker arms that developed from canes. New canes will grow off of the cordons from year to year, and be pruned back after harvest.
26
What is the canopy?
The entire portion of the vine, including the fruit and leaves, growing from the arms.
27
What is ripeness?
When the pulp is near maximum sweetness, and the grape seeds are mature.
28
Why is natural propagation not used in commercial viticulture?
It is tedious and unpredictable, taking a long time to grow a plant from a seed, with a high failure rate.
29
What is cloning?
A primary method of commercial grapevine propagation. By taking a small cutting from the cane of a healthy grapevine with desirable characteristics, placing in water until a root system begins, then planting it in the vineyard, a genetically identical clone of the original plant is created. This is more efficient and consistent than planting seeds.
30
What is field grafting?
The use of an existing healthy root system (in a planted field, for example) by removing the existing branches, making a small incision in the trunk, and inserting an unrooted cutting from a desirable vine. The rootstock heals at the incision site, and the cutting will grow with access to the existing root network.
31
Do newly planted vines produce fruit right away?
Yes, newly planted or grafted vines produce fruit. However, those clusters are generally viewed as substandard and removed to allow the vine to use energy for trunk and shoot development.
32
What is 'third leaf'?
The third harvest of grapes from a given vine, and the first to be used for wine. Optimal quality begins at year 6 and lasts for a decade or more.
33
When do vines begin to produce fewer grape clusters and leaves?
After roughly 20 years. The quality of the grapes continues to rise, however, and these OLD VINE grapes are very desirable.
34
Is the term "old vine" regulated?
No, but many of the vines given the designation are more than fifty years old. Some vines continue producing small amounts of quality grapes at 100 years old or more.
35
Why is the 30-50 degree belt the optimal latitude for Winegrowing?
Warm-to-hot days in summer, cool-to-cold days in winter.
36
What is the weeping?
When ground temperatures begin to rise above 50F and sap begins to flow upward from the trunk and out to the tips of the canes. Only lasts for a day or two.
37
What is it called when tiny shoots appear from nodes in the vine's branches, following the weeping?
Bud Break
38
Why is bud break a hazardous time?
Especially in cooler climates, the new growth is very vulnerable to temperature extremes, and a late frost can seriously damage the vines at this stage.
39
Why is the development of leaves important, annually?
Leaf development allows for photosynthesis, accelerating the pace of new growth. Prior to this, growth is slow as the vine is using carbohydrate reserves from the previous year.
40
What is flowering, and when does it happen?
Flowering occurs when tiny flowers appear at intervals along the new shoots, 40-80 days after bud break. Each flower that is fertilized becomes the base for a grape.
41
Are bees and insects necessary for fertilizing the flowers on a grapevine?
No. Vinifera vines are self-pollinating. The breeze blows pollen from one part of the plant to another.
42
What is the ideal weather during flowering?
Warm and dry. Too much wind or rain and the pollen doesn't reach the flowers, resulting in fewer viable grapes and a smaller crop.
43
How long from fruit set to the grapes reaching their mature size of 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch in diameter?
Roughly three months. They start out small, hard, dull, green in color, and highly acidic/low in sugar.
44
How long after fruit set does veraison occur?
Roughly a month and a half. Red grapes begin to take on color at this point, white grapes begin to turn translucent or golden. Inside the grapes sugar is storing, acidity levels are falling, and seeds are developing.
45
How long after veraison does harvest occur?
Generally a month and a half to two months, when grapes are ripe in terms of both sugar content and physiological maturity- the level of phenolic compounds in the grape, including tannins and other compounds enhancing the color, flavor, and aromas of the resulting wine.
46
Do physiological ripening and sugar concentration occur at the same time?
Both occur over the summer, but generally at different rates. Physiological ripening generally takes the same amount of time each year, while sugar concentration is considerably affected by weather.
47
What is winter pruning?
After the cold autumn night send the vine into a dormant state, where the leaves drop and sap is withdrawn from the branches back into the trunk, winter pruning removes most of the year's growth. This ensures a manageable size for the following year, and an appropriate yield.
48
What does photosynthesis convert to sugar? On what does it depend?
Carbon dioxide and water. The rate at which this occurs is directly related to the amount of photosynthesis that takes place.
It is primarily dependent on two things: sunshine and temperature.
49
True or false: Photosynthesis only occurs when the sun is shining.
True, slowing at temps below 50F and higher than 95F, Optimal production is on sunny days between 70F and 85F
50
What are ideal conditions for photosynthesis during the growing season?
Warm, clear, long days: photosynthesis still occurs on cloudy days, but sugar production is reduced. More hours of daylight=more sugar.
Minimal shading: If many leaves are shaded by other leaves, less photosynthesis occurs. Problematic in bush trained vines.
Equatorial aspect: Hillsides that face the sun, plants get more direct sunlight. Very important in regions far from the equator, where sunlight arrives at a lower angle.
51
In the absence of available sugar (as during veraison, and other times), what does respiration utilize to create energy?
Malic acid. This use as a secondary energy source reduces the acid level and balances with the sugar. If the level drops too low, the flavor of the wine may be affected.
52
For every 18F increase in temperature, what happens?
The rate of respiration doubles. The warmer it is, the faster the acid level drops as the plant uses it for energy.
53
Why are cool nights important for the ripening of grapes?
Just as warm to hot days increase acid loss, cool nights will slow acid loss while photosynthesis is not taking place.
54
What are the best conditions for growing grapes?
Warm but not hot cloudless days, cool nights, a well-groomed vineyard sloping downward towards the sun.
55
What are stomata?
Openings on the undersides of leaves allowing for transpiration. Transpiration is analogous to perspiration in animals, cooling the vine.
56
True or false: transpiration is closely linked to weather.
True. The rate is highest under sunny, hot, windy, and dry conditions. Lowest under cloudy, cool, still, and humid conditions.
57
When do stomata close, and why is that bad?
Stomata will close if not enough water is brought in through the roots. The stomata also control the intake of CO2, so a shutdown of transpiration also causes photosynthesis to stop.
58
What is the most changeable and uncontrollable of the variables that go into winemaking?
Weather. It is often the biggest factor causing one vintage to be different than another.
59
What is the distinction between weather and climate?
Weather is the condition immediately experienced.
Climate is the historical average weather of a place.
Weather=short term, Climate=Long term
60
What are the distinctions within climate?
Macro- conditions of the overall region
Meso- conditions of a specific portion of the region, i.e. a single vineyard.
Micro- The climate of a small portion of a vineyard, like a few rows.
Canopy micro- Environment directly surrounding a single vine's canopy (or at most a small section of a single row)
These are important because the small differences can have a big impact on the wine.
61
True or false: A poor sugar-acid balance is usually the result of high temperatures.
True. Cold temperatures can impact viticulture as well, but generally at beginning of the growing season (late frost during young shoots/bud break) and at the end (early frost endangering unharvested crop).
62
When are temperatures during the winter dormancy period a concern?
Only when it is cold enough to freeze the ground several feet down, causing winterkill.
63
How much water do vines need annually?
20-30 inches, through rainfall, irrigation, or a combination of the two. As long as irrigation is not prohibited by regional law, vines do not need rain.
64
Why is rain unwelcome during harvest?
Water swells the grapes and dilutes the content.
65
When is hail the most devastating?
After veraison, hail can wipe out an entire crop.
66
Is high humidity good or bad?
Bad. Makes perfect conditions for growing mold and fungus, both degrading grape quality and causing the need for fungicides.
67
Fogs can be both good and bad, why?
Reduction of high temperatures and sunlight in hot climates (not at all useful in cool climates). In some cases, creates ideal conditions for Botrytis cinerea.
68
Wind can also be good or bad. How?
High winds can interfere with the pollination and flowering processes, as well as straining the vine at any time. Wind can be beneficial by reducing humidity and pests.
69
There are many kinds of soils: name 9
Clay, chalk, silt, sand, gravel, limestone, slate, marl, loess
70
What 2 things do the greatest vineyard sites all have in common?
1. They are not very fertile (too much fertility and the vines create too much fruit, dividing sugar and flavor components too thinly). This is why, historically, vines were planted on sites not amenable to other food.
2. Their soils regulate the supply of water to the vine. Soil should allow roots to access water when necessary, but drain excess water away.
71
Is there scientific evidence that specific soil types impart unique flavor characteristics to wine?
No, but the subject is a popular debate.
72
What are the soil particle sizes?
Clay: Very fine particles so tightly packed that water has difficulty passing through.
Silt: Particles of intermediate size
Sand: Coarse particles with relatively little water retention.
Gravel: Larger pieces of solid inorganic matter - inert obstacles that roots must pass around or through to reach water and nutrients.
73
What kinds of minerals can the soil contain?
Quartz, feldspar, calcium carbonate, others. It also contains organic matter made of decomposing animals and plants. This is where the nutrient base comes from.
74
How does latitude influence terroir?
Higher latitudes have longer summer days and cooler nights, but a shorter growing season, and possibly dangerous frosts and freezes.
75
What effect does elevation have?
Higher elevation vineyards are typically windier and cooler, and have less fog. The diurnal shifts are larger, which is good provided it doesn't get too cold at night. Sunlight is also more intense, encouraging photosynthesis.
76
What effect does topography have?
Hillsides have less problem with fog, but steepness can cause harvesting difficulties. Flat bottomland is often overly fertile, but easier to work. Rolling terrain can create low areas that collect too much water and leave higher areas dry.
77
How does proximity to bodies of water effect growing conditions?
Water resists temperature change more than soil, so vineyards near bodies of water tend to have far less temperature variation: diurnal swings are less, summers are not as hot, winters not as cold. They also create humidity which could cause fog/increased cloud cover, or create the conditions for fungus.
78
What is a maritime climate?
Strongly influenced by an ocean, and have high rainfall with mild overall temps.
79
What is Continental climate?
Far from oceanic effects, hotter summer and colder winters (possibly extremes of both), and may have less precipitation.
80
What is a Mediterranean climate?
Found in temperate latitudes: warm, dry summers, with mild, wet winters and low humidity.
81
What is marginal climate?
An area with such cool temps or such a short summer growing season that grapes are just barely able to achieve ripeness before autumn frosts.
82
There are 3 causes of grapevine diseases. Name them.
Viruses, bacteria, fungi.
83
How do viral diseases spread?
The propagation of infected cuttings.
84
How do bacterial diseases spread?
Most likely through insects and animals that carry the microbes. Pierce's Disease is an example, causing premature leaf fall (which effects photosynthesis). Spread by the Glassy-winged sharpshooter, who feed on infected vines, then spread it to healthy vines. Controlling bacterial diseases often focuses on controlling the carriers.
85
How are fungal diseases generally spread?
Airborne spores. These become a problem mostly in warm and humid conditions. Sulfur and other fungicides are the primary methods of combating these.
86
What are two of the most damaging fungal diseases?
Oidium- Powdery mildew
| Peronospora: Downy mildew
87
True or false: Botrytis cinerea can be both good and bad.
True. It is bad on grapes that are detrimentally effected by it, or when it is present at the wrong time.
It is good when developing on fully ripe varieties that can benefit from it (especially Chenin Blanc, Semillon, and Riesling), where it is known as noble rot (pourriture noble in French, Edelfaule in German)
88
How does Botrytis work?
Sends filaments into the grape, extracting the water, which concentrates the grapes sugars and flavors while adding its own unique honeysuckle aroma.
Specific conditions: Early morning fog, followed by afternoon sun that prevents the fungus from spreading over the entire vine.
89
What is phylloxera?
A tiny louse, native to the Eastern USA, transported on young vines to Europe in the 1800's. Destroyed much of Europe's vinifera, and even spread to New World planting of Old World vines.
90
What was the ultimate solution to phylloxera?
After trying to hybridize American vines and vitis vinifera, it was discovered that by grafting European vinifera onto American rootstock you could get European fruit and the American vine resistance to the louse.
91
True or false: Phylloxera can now be safely removed from an active vineyard.
False. There is no method for safely removing phylloxera from an active vineyard. Only a few areas around the world can claim to be phylloxera free, and are usually isolated from other wine regions, or rich in sandy soils that are inhospitable to the louse.
92
What are nematodes?
Microscopic roundworms that feed on the roots of vines. They transmit diseases to the roots as well as physically damaging them. They are combated by the use of nematode resistant rootstocks, but commonly cover crops like mustard are used as a natural fumigant.
93
How are larger pests combated?
Birds, deer, and wild pigs can be kept out by netting or fencing. While expensive, it is worth it.
94
What does winter pruning do?
Controls the size and development of the vine. Each new branch has several nodes that would become new shoots in the spring and eventually bear fruit. All but a few of those nodes must be removed to ensure a crop that spreads sugars and nutrients in a way to create desirable fruit.
95
There are pruning strategies. What are they?
Cane pruning: Grower allows one or two year old shoots (called canes because they have not become bark covered like older branches). Each cane is trimmed to leave 6 to 10 nodes.
Spur pruning: Several canes are left, but trimmed to just a few inches, leaving only one two nodes each.
96
Once bud break occurs, new growth is tied to supports. Why?
To help airflow and sunlight reach the interior of the plant. This increases photosynthesis and prevents fungal development. Eventually it will making harvesting the fruit easier.
97
What is collective name for techniques that alter the position or number of shoots and grape clusters?
Canopy Management
98
What is a trellis?
A network of stakes, posts and support wires that position the vine, with the goal of balancing the vigor of the vine and the desired yield of grapes per acre.
99
What is Vertical Shoot Positioning (VSP)?
The new year's canes are trained upward, and braced by additional support. The grape bunches are positioned below the leaves in the fruiting area. This helps improve air circulation and light exposure, and makes the use of mechanical harvesters easier.
100
True or false: Irrigation is prohibited in much of the New World.
False. It is prohibited in much of Europe, but widespread in the New World.
101
What does the USA and many other New World countries measure sugar concentration in?
Degrees Brix. Requires a refractometer and a hydrometer. A rough estimate of ethanol level in a dry wine is 55% of Brix value.
102
How does France determine anticipated final alcohol level?
The Baume system. Each degree Baume corresponds to roughly 1% alcohol.
103
The Germans and Swiss use a different system for estimating final alcohol level. What is it based on?
The Oechsle system is based on density.
| (Density of grape must - 1.0) x 100
104
How do the Austrians estimate final alcohol level?
Klosterneuberger Mostwaage: measures the exact sugar content by weight.
105
What is organic viticulture?
Grape growing without the use of manufactured fertilizers or pesticides. To be recognized as organic, an accredited body must sanction the certification. In the US it is the USDA-NOP (National Organic Program) that designates certifying bodies. Other countries have their own, but they are not recognized for wines imported into the US.
106
How long does a vineyard have to be free of banned chemicals and prohibited materials before it can be certified?
3 years.
107
What is IPM
Integrated Pest Management. A method for targeting only damaging insects, rather than killing them all. It seeks out individual vulnerabilities to exploit to remove the pest with minimal intervention and effect on the vines and environment.
108
What is biodynamics?
Organic viticulture with metaphysical elements and a few mandated procedures. For instance, based on the position of the planets and phase of the moon, harvesting can only be done on leaf days. Others only on root days. There are nine specific compost mixtures for fertilizer. Biodynamic certification is available through a private organization called Demeter International.
109
How is sustainable viticulture different from organic?
It takes a longer term view. It includes an analysis of social goals and economic viability. There is no set of of rules. Certification can come from a variety of programs such as "Lodi Rules" "Napa Green" and"Vine Balance" in New York State
