The Growing Environment and Vineyard Management

Question 1

What does the vine need to produce grapes?

Answer 1

Heat, sunlight, water, nutrients, CO2

Question 2

What factors affect heat?

Answer 2

Latitude (30-50)
Altitude (ex: Cafayate)
Ocean currents (ex: Humbolt, Benguela)
Fog (ex: California, Casablanca Valley)
Soil (color, stones, water retention)
Aspect (grade, direction of Equator)
Continentality/Diurnal Range (role of seas and lakes)

Question 3

What are the greatest temperature hazards?

Answer 3

Winter freeze (damage/kill vine)
Spring frost (kills buds, can be prevented by heater, wind machine, sprinklers, design)
Length of growing season

Question 4

What factors affect sunlight?

Answer 4

Latitude, seas and lakes, aspect

Hazards: cloud cover, sunburn

Question 5

What are the most significant water hazards?

Answer 5

Drought (drip, sprinkler, flood irigation)
Too much water (drowned roots, dilution of flavor)
Hail

Question 6

How are climates classified?

Answer 6

Cold (below 16.5)
Moderate (16.5-18.5)
Warm (18.5-21)
Hot (over 21)

Continental, Maritime, Mediterranean

Question 7

What are the most common soil particles, largest to smallest?

Answer 7

Stone, sand, clay

*also, humus

Question 8

What are the most important soil nutrients?

Answer 8

Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium

Question 9

What are three key factors in determining a vineyard site?

Answer 9

Environment, Business considerations, Grape Varietals

Question 10

How are vines managed?

Answer 10

Training, Pruning, Trellising, Density

Question 11

What are the two main types of vine training?

Answer 11

Head Training - very little permanent wood, perhaps only a trunk and/or a few short arms

Cordon Training - anywhere from 1-4 permanent arms, called cordons

Question 12

When is vine pruning done?

Answer 12

Winter

Question 13

What are two main types of vine pruning?

Answer 13

Spur Pruning - short sections of 1-year-old wood that have been cut down to 2-3 buds
Cane Pruning - longer sections tied horizontally containing 8-20 buds

*sometimes referred to as single or double Guyot

Question 14

What are trellises?

Answer 14

Permanent structures of wires and stakes that support replacement canes and annual growth.

Question 15

What are bush vines?

Answer 15

Untrellised vines, typically head trained and spur pruned, such as those found in the Southern Rhone and Barossa Valley. This system provides extra shade for the grapes.

Question 16

What is a gobelet?

Answer 16

A training system in which the shoots of head trained, spur pruned vines are tied together at the tips to exposes bunches to air and sun.

Ex: Beaujolais

Question 17

What is canopy management?

Answer 17

The way in which the shoots are arranged on a trellis to control sunlight and air circulation. It also aids mechanization

Question 18

What is the most common trellis system?

Answer 18

Vertical Shoot Positioning (VSP)

Question 19

What factors determine density and how is it expressed?

Answer 19

Amount of nutrients or water available

Vines per hectare

Question 20

How are yields determined and how are they expressed?

Answer 20

Wine laws, business consideration and perception of quality.

Tons or hectoliters per hectare.

Yield can be controlled to some extent by green harvesting.

Question 21

What are the most common pests that threaten vines?

Answer 21

Phylloxera (grafting), Nemadtodes (sanitizing, grafting), insects (pesticides), birds and mammals (netting, fencing)

Question 22

What are the fungal diseases vines are susceptible to?

Answer 22

Downy Mildew (copper baded Bordeaux mixture) Powdery mildew (sulfur based fungicide), grey rot (aka Botrytis Cinerea, called Noble Rot when effects are beneficial)

Question 23

What other threats are posed to the vines?

Answer 23

Viruses and Bacterial disease, such as those caused by sharpshooters. No known treatments or cures.

Question 24

What is the life cycle of the vine?

Answer 24

Winter dormancy, Budburst, Early shoot growth, Flowering and Fruit Set, Veraison and Ripening, Harvest

Question 25

What are three common categories of viticulture practice?

Answer 25

Sustainable farming (included integrated pest management, restricted use of chemicals, biodiversity)
Organic farming (extremely restricted use of chemicals,  certification required)
Biodynamic farming (much like organic agriculture, incorporates aspect of philosophy and cosmology as well)

Question 26

What determines whether grapes are hand or machine harvested?

Answer 26

hand - slow and labor-intensive, but allows grape selection to take place in vineyard, less damage, examples are Northern Rhone where slopes are too steep, Portugal and Mosel. Bush-trained vines must be hand-harvested, nor can wines requiring whole cluster.

machine - shakes the trunk, includes significant MOG, but machines are fast and can work through the night.