The Vine Flashcards
What are the two main species of vine?
**Vitis vinifera **
- Main Eurasian species
- Produces nearly all the grapes used in winemaking
American Vines
- Three important species but rarely used for winemaking.
- widely used tu produce roostocks onto which V. Vinifera is grafted
- Resistent to Philoxera
What are the two techniques to grow or propagate a grape variety, while preserving its unique qualities ?
Cutting
Layering
Explain Cutting in the growth and propagation of a grape variety
- Cutting is a section of a vine shoot that is planted and then grows as a new plant
- It is used in commercial nurseries
- The new plant is identical to the original
Explain Layering in the growth and propagation of a grape variety
- Layering takes place in a 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 the roots are established,the cane linking the new growth to the original plant is cut.
- The new plant is identical to the original
Why most grape growers are now using cutting instead of layering?
Due to the risk of phylloxera.
What is a grape variety ?
- Group of individual plants that can all trace their lineage back through a series of cuttings and/or layerings to a single plant.
- Thousands of grape varities belonging to V. vinifera species.
What are the other terms for Grape variety?
Vine variety
Cultivar can be used instead of variety
What is Clonal selection ?
When a vine naturally mutates and its new, positive characteristics are propagated by cutting or layering.
What is a clone ?
- Each individueal 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 vines are still considered to be from the same grape variety.
- Some mutations have such a significant effect that the resulting plants is treated as a new variety : ex. Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Meunier are all mutations of Pinot.
- Vine that naturally mutates
growers often specify which clone they would like when buying new plants
What grapegrowers want to improve with new vine varieties ?
- Thrive in certain climates and soil conditions
- Improved disease resistance
- Deliver a higher quality or quantity of grapes
Name and explain the technique to create new vine varieties
Cross-fertilisation
- Pollen from the male part of a flower of the vine is transferred to the female part of the flower of another vine and fertilisation occur
- Pollinated flower develops into a grape with seeds
- If the seed is planted, its genetic material will be different from that of its parents.
- A new variety will be produced even if the parent vines are from the same grape varieties
- take two to three years to see the characteristic of the new vine, but with the development of science, it is easier to select the genetic markers.
- There is a restistance to new variety from consumers.
What is a crossing ?
A new variety produce from two parents of the same species.
Explain crossing
- two varieties from the same vine species (Vitis vinifera or Vitis labrusca) are ‘crossed’ to create an entirely new variety
- Commonly used for V. Vinifera although crossing of American vines exist too
- Every grape variety used today is a crossing. For example, Cabernet sauvignon is a crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon blanc.
- This term is normally reserved for new varieties bred by researchers ex. Müller Thurgau (Riseling X Madeleine Royale), or Pinotage (Pinot Noir X Cinsault
Explain Hybrids
- A Hybrid is a vine whose parents come from two differnt vine species.
- Typically have a least one American vine as a parent
- Hybrids of amercian vines are not used for winemaking but for rootstocks.
- Exception of Vidal, which is grown in Canada.
Name the four sections of the anatomy of the vine
- Green parts of the vine
- One-year-old wood
- Permanent wood
- Roots
What are the green parts of the vine ?
- Parts of the vine that grow each year
- Principal structure is a Shoot
- Along each shoot are leaves, buds, tendrils and flowers/berries
What are Buds ?
- Form in the join between the leaf and the shoot, and can be described as embryonic shoots
- They mature inside their casing during growing season
- Each bud contains all the structures that will become the shoot, leaves, flowers and tendrils the following year
What are tendrils?
- Vine use tendrils to grip a supporting structure to stay upright
- When it senses it has touched a structure, it will wind itself tighlty around
Why are leaves important ?
- The plant’s engine
- Responsible for photosynthesis, process by which plants use sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into glucose and oxygen
- Glucose is a sugar used to support vine growth and make ripe grapes taste sweet
What is the role of flowers and berries ?
Flowers
- Vine’s reproductive organ
- Vine’s flowers hae both male and female part
- grouped in bunches called inflorescences
- Pollinated flowers will become berries, so inflorescences will become bunch of grapes
Berries
- Sweet grapes are attractive to animals that eat the grapes and disperse the vine’s seeds.
What is 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.
Why managing one-year-old wood is crucial for grape grower ?
- Because vines will normally only produce fruit on shoots that grow from buds that develop the previous year.
- Every winter, the vine is pruned ahd one-year-old wood is called cane or spur depending on the buds it is left with.
What is a cane ?
A cane is long one-year-old wood, with eight to 20 buds
What is a spur ?
A spur is a short one-year-old wood that has only two or three buds.
What is permanent wood ?
- Wood that is more than one year old
- Restricted in the vineyard by pruning
- Made up of the trunk, and where present ,the arms of the vine
- Different configurations of permament wood are possible
What are the functions of the roots ?
-Absorb water and nutrients from the soil
- Anchor the vine
- Store Carbohydrates to allow the vine to survive in winter
- Most V. vinifera are grafted onto root systems from other specices because they cannot resist to phylloxera
What is Phylloxera?
- Phylloxera is an insect native to North America and Vitis Vinifera is unable to defendd itself against it.
What is the impact of Phylloxera in winegrowing ?
- Destruction of Europe vineyards when introduced in 19th century
- Cannot be controlled with chemicals
- Life cycle is harmful to the vines:
- lives underground and feeds on the roots
- Infections enter ghrough feeding wounds and over a few years, the vine is weakend and dies
How American vines protect themselves from Philloxera ?
- Able to inhibit the underground louse by clogging its mouth with a sticky sap
- Form protective layers behind the feeding wound, preventing secondary infections
What are the countries unaffected by phylloxera ?
Chile, some parts of Argentina and South Australia
What is the purpose of rootstocks ?
- Rootstocks from American vines can offer the protection from Phylloxera , and grafted v. Vinifera, the flavours of European vine.
- Certain rootstocks, protect against nematodes or provide better resistance to drought.
- Roostocks from American vines or hybrids are often used
What is grafting ?
Name the 2 main techniques
Grafting is a technique used to join a rootstock to a v.vinifera variety.
The most popular techhniques are Bench Grafting and Head Grafting
Explain Bench Grafting
- Automated process
- Specialist in plant nurseries
- Short sections of cane from both variety are join together by machine and stored in warmed environment, so they can fuse together
- Wax is often use to protect the join
Explain Head Grafting
- Used when a grape growers decides to switch to a new grape between seasons.
- Existing vine is cut back to its trunk, and a bud or cutting of the new variety is grafted onto the trunk
- If successful, the production of fruits at the next vintage will take place
- Cheaper than replanting and benefit from an established root system
when planting a new vine, minimum of 2-3 years to be able to produce.
