Oxford Companion 4th Edition (Viticulture) Flashcards
Who discovered Bordeaux Mixture and when?
Alexis Millardet (professor of Botany at Bordeaux Univ.) discovered in 1885
What are the three primary ingredients of Bordeaux Mixture? (Is it ok to use for both organic and biodynamic viticulture?)
Once a much-used mixture of lime, copper sulfate, and water- Bordeaux Mixture is still used today by very traditional growers in some regions.
What became the most important chemical for the control of both fungal diseases & bacterial diseases for 50 years in Bordeaux? (French name?)
Bordeaux Mixture (bouille bordelaise)
Vineyards affected by copper toxicity in the Bordeaux area are much reduced in vigor, but the problem can be overcome by adding _______ to the soil.
lime
What is a “Cane”?
“the stem of a mature grapevine shoot after the bark becomes woody (lignified) and tan-colored at Version and starts its overwintering form.”
What is “Cépage”?
French for “vine variety”
True or False: The number of canes and their weight and avg. size are important guides to decisions about balanced pruning and canopy management tactics.
True
What is “Chalk”?
A soft and crumbly, highly porous (35-40%) type of pure white limestone and a word often used erroneously as synonyms with it
Nama a few advantages one might find when growing grapes on chalk soil
-excellent drainage
-continued moisture supply is assured regardless of short-term fluctuations in rainfall
Is pure chalk high or low fertility?
Low fertility- results in low vine vigor and good for canopy microclimate
What is “chlorosis?”
a vine disorder in which parts or all of the foliage turn yellow due to the lack of chlorophyll
True or False: The most common & extreme chlorosis is that which is visible in spring & early summer and is caused by iron deficiency.
True (common on soils high in limestone)
Lime-induced chlorosis became a problem in parts of _________ as a consequence of __________ invasion at the end of the 19th century.
France; phylloxera
Chlorosis is a common symptom of deficiencies of other nutrients such as: (name three)
Nitrogen, Sulfur, Magnesium
True of False: The sensitivity of early post-phylloxera rootstocks to lime-induced chlorosis may provide part of the explanation for an apparent drop in quality in post-phylloxera wines
True
True or False: Clay can both refer to a particular type of mineral found in some rock types and in soil AND a description of sediment or soil which is made up of particularly small particles.
True
What is quartz?
Soils that have been weathering over a long-period of time
True or False: Kaolinite clays tend to support stable structures whereas Montmorillonite clays may cause structural instability.
True: Montmorillonite clays show marked swelling when wet and shrinkage on drying
Name one place in Bordeaux where clay can be important in vineyard subsoils because of its water-holding capacity
Pomerol
What’s “chip budding?” (What’s it known in Europe and California?)
A popular method for the budding of vines, with a long history (aka- “yema bud’)
What happens during the first growing season with Chip Budding?
A piece is cut from its original wood and a matching chip piece with a bud is cut from a scion cutting
The ________ is inserted in the stock with ________ zones matching, then wrapped tightly with budding tape.
chip; cambium
What is Cambium?
A zone of dividing cells in plants such as the grapevine
____________, which may take place at any time of the year, may also be used for Top Grafting.
Chip budding
What is Top Grafting?
(aka Top Working: the viticultural operation of changing the fruiting vine variety of a mature vineyard by inserting a bud of the selected variety in each vine, but retaining the established root system.
What’s “Coulure?” (What is it caused by?)
French term, commonly used by English speakers to describe one form of poor fruit set in the grapevine. (caused by an imbalance in the levels of carbohydrates in vine tissue)
Excessive shedding of __________ and young berries results in relatively few berries per bunch, either during or soon after __________.
ovaries; flowering
True or False: Very fertile soils, excessive application of fertilizers, vigorous rootstocks, and pruning too severely can also cause coulure.
True (especially fertilizers high in nitrogen)
What varieties are particularly susceptible to coulure?
Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Grenache
What is (CI) and when was it established?
Coulure Index (CI)- the higher the numerical value, the greater the expression of the condition.
What is a “cover crop”?
“a crop of plants other than vines established in the vineyard, typically between the rows, generally for biodiversity and the benefit of the vineyard soil.”
Name a few other words that refer to “cover crop”:
sward
sod culture
“couvert végétal” (French)
Name two reasons why cover crops are used:
1) to increase organic matter in the soil & hence improve its structure & capacity to hold water
2) to stop soil erosion in areas with storms and are especially useful in sloping vineyards
3) to compete with the vines, especially when they are two vigorous, and to encourage earlier ripening & improve wine quality
Slight water stress hastens the ripening process, so cover crops (which compete with the vines for ________ and _________, especially nitrogen) can help generate this stress in areas of high summer rainfall.
water (and) nutrients
Crop thinning is the viticultural practice which improves wine quality by encouraging what?
Fruit ripening
What does “Vendage verte” mean?
Green harvest
When is crop thinning usually carried out?
During Version (when it’s obvious which bunches are slow to ripen)
True or False: The theory of crop thinning is that the remaining fruit ripens earlier, and so has better levels of sugars and anthocyanin for red varieties
True
Later bunch removal has more impact on _______, and earlier removal on ____________.
yield; fruit ripening
Name two varieties that are common to see crop thinning for large bunches
Merlot
Pinot Noir
Crop thinning became common in the early 1990’s among better producers in ___________.
Bordeaux (where it has been practiced at Petrus since 1973)
What is a “cultivar?”
term developed by professional botanists to mean “a group of plants sharing common characteristics persisting under cultivation that have either been selected or otherwise genetically modified by humans”.
True or False: According to the rules of plant taxonomy, cultivar would be a more appropriate term than variety.
True (but the term does not have a wide following outside professional botanists and horticulturists, EXCEPT in South Africa, where it’s widely & generally used.)
What are “Degree Days”?
Unit devised to measure the temperature component of climate
What is “Downey Mildew” also called in some parts of Europe? (Where is it a particular problem?)
Peronospora (it’s a problem in warm & humid springs and summers such as in Northen Europe)
Downey Mildew is caused by a disease called what?
Organism “plasmopara viticola”
True or False: Downey Mildew is one of the most economically significant fungal diseases affecting vines
True
True or False: Fungus is indigenous to eastern North America- so some species of Native American vines are relatively resistant
True - (i.e) Vitis Cordifolia, Vitis Rupestris, and Vitis Rotundifolia
What was used to combat Downey mildew?
Bordeaux Mixture
In what year was Downey Mildew accidentally introduced to European vineyards?
1878
Areas with low spring & summer rainfall are essentially free of downey mildew. Name one region in the world as an example.
Afghanistan, Northern Chile, Egypt, Western Australia
What does Downey Mildew fungus look like?
Leaves show patches of dense, white cottony growth on the undersurface.
True of False: Downey Mildew attacks all green parts of the vine and young leaves are very susceptible.
True (when severly affected, leaves will drop off)
What is “El Niño”?
“anomalous seasonal ocean current along the coast of Peru, and part of a much larger atmospheric phenomenon called the SOUTHERN OSCILLATION”.
What is the “Southern Oscillation?”
an atmospheric phenomenon where it impacts vineyard production in several countries where climate is affected by the Pacific Ocean
El Niño occurs every _______ to _______ years, and is associated with atmospheric pressure changes in the ___________.
2 to 10 years; South Pacific (can be predicted well in advance)
Typical but severe effects were felt in 1998, which started with serious flooding in _________ and continued there throughout spring & summer to retard the likely harvest dates.
California
What is a “field blend”? Name three wine-growing areas today that have a lot of this.
a mixture of different vine varieties planted in the same vineyard; It’s rare- but oldest vineyards: 1) California 2) Douro 3) Roussillon
What is a “galet”?
“pebble, cobble, or even a boulder that is well-founded but to abrasion through continual filling in fast-moving water”
Name two regions composed of pure white quartzite:
1) CdP 2) S. Rhône
True or False: In the Boutenac area of Corbières , the “galets” are formed from a brown-stained quartzite
True: “galets” are so iconic that the name is now applied to rounded rock fragments in other vineyard regions, irrespective of their composition
True of False: Underlying clays & sands are more significant for vine growth than galets itself.
True
Name two wine regions that have “galets” that differ. How are they different?
Arroyo Seco, California (galets= mixture of rock types)
Walla Walla, Washington (galets of dark basalt= old river channels)
What is “Gneiss”?
A dense, tough, coarse-grained rock in which distinct bands have developed, distinguishing it from other metamorphic rocks. The “distinct bands” look like paler feldspar and quartz alternating with darker biotite or amphibole.
True of False: Gneiss is resistant to weathering and usually yields thin, rather acid soils but is surprisingly common in vineyards.
True
Name a few wine regions that Gneiss is common? (2 OW & 2 NW)
(Old world): Austria: (Kamptal & Wachau); France: (Muscat/Roussillon/Côte-Rôtie)
(New world): Virginia (parts of it); Canada (Okanagan Valley)
What is “Goblet”?
“a form of vine-training system, used since Roman times, whereby the spurs are arranged on short arms in an approximate circle at the top of the trunk, making the vine look something like a goblet drinking vessel.”
Does Goblet have any foliage supported by wires?
No wire support
How tall is the trunk of a Gobelet?
trunk is short, usually 30-50cm (12-19 inches)
True or False: The vines on Gobelet are free standing and the system is best suited to low-vigor vineyards in drier climates
True- making it a form of head-training and generally subject to spur-pruning
What is the name for Gobelet in Italy?
“alberelli a vaso”
What is the name for Gobelet in Spain?
“en vaso”
What is the name for Gobelet in Portugal?
“en taça”
In many New world countries, the traditional and low-vigor gobelet trained vineyards are called _________ vines.
bush (NW= Austrailia, South Africa, California)
What’s “Granite”?
A coarse-grained, pale-colored igneous rock of plutonic origin
____________ are the dominant constituent in Granite, with lesser amounts of __________ together with minerals such as Mica and Amphibole.
Feldspars; quartz
Feldspars are rich in _________, although typically only a small proportion is available to the vine.
potassium
What is “potassium”?
chief mineral nutrient for vines and an indirect influence on wine flavor
True of False: Since quartz grains resist weathering, such soils are sandy & well-drained.
true
Granitic soils tend to have (high or low) fertility?
low fertility
True of False: Granitic soils are widespread and are favored for viticulture although they tend to be acidic
True
Name a few old world regions where granite exists:
- Dão
- (parts of) Sardinia
- N. Rhône
- Beaujolais
Name a few new world regions where granite exists:
- South Africa’s Western Cape
- Coastal Chile
- Cali’s Sierra Foothills (east of the Central Valley)
What is “greywacke” soil like? (how do you say it?
“gray-wacky” (from the German Grauwacke):
- tough, dark grey sandstone, with a high clay content
How are sedimentary rocks different from greywacke?
Most sedimentary rocks show a fairly uniform grain size vs. greywacke showing jumbled grain sizes, with thick accumulations of coarse material closely intermixed with fine clay.
True or False: “Coarse material” is typically quartz, feldspar, and rock fragments.
True (on land it weathers slowly, giving stony, free-draining soils.)
Greywacke is found both in South Africa’s ___________ region as well as California’s _______________ AVA in Sonoma.
Western Cape; Russian River Valley
Name three anbaugbiete in Germany where greywacke is found?
Mosel, Ahr, Mittelrhein
The bedrock spine of New Zealand’s islands dominates gravels of mainly what three wine regions?
Hawke’s Bay, Marlborough, Waipara
What’s “grubbing up”? (what’s it known in French?)
(Arrachage: AH-HA-SHAJ) “became common practice as part of the EU’s various pull schemes aimed at reducing the European wine lake.”
In the new world, Arrachage is generally referred to as:
“grubbing up” or ripping out (the vines)
Name the traditional/economical reason why one would rip out their own vines:
The vine age is so high and the average yield is so low that the vineyard is no longer economic
What’s Inflorescence?
The structure of the vine that bears the flowers
At flowering, the grape flower becomes a _______ and the inflorescence a _________ .
berry; bunch
What is the “Lake Effect”?
The year-round influence on vineyards from nearby large lakes which permits vine-growing in areas such as the northeast U.S & Ontario, Canada despite their high latitude.
In winter, the large lakes provide moisture to the prevailing __________ winds, which creates a deep snow cover, protecting vines from _________ even in very low temperatures.
westerly; winter freeze
True or False: In spring, the westerly winds blow across the frozen lake and become cooler. These cooler breezes blowing on the vines retard bud break until the danger of frost has passed.
True
True or False: Warm breezes on the vines lengthen the growing season, by delaying the first frost.
True
What’s “Layering”?
ancient method of vine propagation which involves taking a long cane from one vine and training it down to the soil, then burying a section to normal planting depth but with the end bent up and emerging in a desired position
French word for “Layering”?
“Marcottage” (mah-ku-taj)
