The Vine Flashcards
Vitis Vinifera
Main Eurasian grape species used to make wine. There are thousands of varieties. In order to preserve the unique qualities of a variety, a grower uses either cutting or layering techniques. A cutting is a section of a vine shoot that is planted and then grows a new plant. This method is widely used in nurseries. Layering takes place in the vineyard; a cane is bent down and a section of it is buried in the ground. The cane tip points upwards out of the ground. The buried section takes root and, once these roots are established, the cane linking the new growth to the original plant is cut. Due to risk of phylloxera most grape growers now use cuttings instead of layerings.
Clones
In grape growing, each individual vine or group of vines that shows a particular set of unique characteristics is known as a clone. The difference between clones is often small and all of the individual plants that make up a clone would still be considered to be from the same grape variety. Grape growers often specify which clones they want at nurseries.
Creating new grape varieties
Instead of waiting for a random mutation to occur, researchers are constantly looking for grape varieties that are better able to thrive in different climates and soils. New grape varieties can be created in controlled conditions using cross-fertilization. Pollen from the male part of the flower of a vine is transferred to the female part of the flower of another vine and fertilization occurs. The pollinated flower develops into a grape with seeds.
One-year-old Wood
Shoots turn woody during the winter after they have grown. The following spring, they become one-year-old wood, and the buds that formed on them the previous year burst and grow into shoots. Managing the one year old wood is vital for the grower because vines will normally only produce fruit on shoots that grow from buds that developed the previous year. Each winter the vine is pruned and the one-year old wood will either be called a cane or spur depending on how many buds are left. A cane is long with 8-20 buds, a spur is short and only have 2-3 buds.
Permanent wood
Wood that is more than one year old. The amount of permanent wood in the vineyard is restricted by pruning. The perm wood is made up of trunk, and where present, the arms of the wine. Not every vine has the same configuration of perm. wood.
The Roots
Function is to absorb water and nutrients from the soil, anchor the vine, and store carbs to allow the vine to survive the winter. In modern vineyards most V. Vinifera are grafted onto root systems from other species because they cannot resist Phylloxera.
Crossings
When a new variety is produced from two parents of the same species it is called a crossing. Technically every grape variety today is a crossing, however the term is more normally reserved for new varieties bred by researchers.
Hybrids
A hybrid is a vine whose parents come from two different vines species. Typically hybrids will have at least one American wine as a parent. –Used throughout the world as rootstocks.
Phylloxera
Insect native to North America and v. vinifera is unable to defend itself against the pest. Caused massive destruction to vineyards of Europe when it was accidentally introduced in the nineteenth century.
Rootstocks
Phylloxera cannot be controlled with chemicals and when it struck Europe the only way of dealing with it was to plant it with American hybrids. By the end of the 19th c v. vinifera could be grafted onto the rootstock of an American vine or hybrid. This offered protection of the American vine and the flavor of the European vine.
Grafting (bench grafting)
Technique used to join a rootstock to a v. vinifera variety. The most popular modern technique is bench grafting; an automated process that is carried out by specialist plant nurseries. Short sections of cane from both v. vinifera and the rootstock variety are joined together by machine and stored in a warm environ. to encourage the two parts to fuse together. Once this happens the vine can be planted.
Head Grafting
This technique is used if a grape grower with an established vineyard decides to switch to a different grape variety between seasons. The existing vine is cut back to its trunk and a bud or cutting of the new variety is grafted onto the trunk. If the graft is successful the vine will produce the fruit of the new variety at the next vintage. It takes a minimum of three years to be able to produce a commercial crop, but this allows a grower to adjust quickly to changes in market demand. It is also cheaper than replanting the whole vineyard.
