Vines

Question 1

what is a spur?

Answer 1

a one year old wood with only 2-3 buds

Question 2

what are the two most important species of vines?

Answer 2

Vitis Vinifera and American vines

Question 3

What is a Vitis Vinifera?

Answer 3

main European species of vine. Produces nearly all the grapes used in winemaking and has been used to make wine for several thousands of years

Question 4

What is American Vines?

Answer 4

These are vines that are rarely used to make wine, because they have unattractive flavors. They are resistant to Phylloxera so they are used to produce rootstocks onto which V. vinifera vines are grafted.

Question 5

what is phylloxera?

Answer 5

vine pest that attacks the vine’s roots

Question 6

what are some factors the grape grower will be concerned about when selecting a varietal?

Answer 6

budding and ripening times, and resistance to certain diseases

Question 7

what are the two techniques growers use to preserve the qualities of a variety?

Answer 7

cutting or layering. most grape growers use cutting instead of layering due to the risk of disease

Question 8

what is cutting?

Answer 8

a section of a vine shoot that is planted and then grows as a new plant. used widely with commercial nurseries

Question 9

what is layering?

Answer 9

takes place in the vineyard when a cane is bent down and a section is buried in the ground. the cane tip points upwards out of the ground. The buried section takes root and ones these roots are established the cane linking the new plant is cut.

Question 10

what is a grape clone?

Answer 10

each individual vine or group of vines that shows a particular set of unique characteristics

Question 11

explain cross fertilization

Answer 11

one way of creating a new grape variety where pollen from the male part of a flower of one vine is transferred to the female part of the flower of another vine and fertilization occurs. The pollinated flower grows into a grape with seeds

Question 12

What are the four sections of the structure of a vine?

Answer 12

1 The green parts of the vine

2. one year old wood
3. permanent wood
4. roots

Question 13

what is the green parts of the vine

Answer 13

These are the parts of the plant that grow each year, consisting of the shoot. Along each shoot are leaves, buds, tendrils and flowers or berries.

Question 14

what are the buds?

Answer 14

these form the join between the leaf and the shoot and are described as embryotic shoots. once formed they grow inside their casing during the growing season so at the end of the year each bud contains in miniature all the structures that will become the shoot, leaves, flowers and tendrils the following year.

Question 15

what are the tendrils?

Answer 15

the part of the vine that keeps it upright and support its structure. once it senses a structure (ex a wire) it will wrap itself tightly around that structure in order to keep the shoot upright

Question 16

what are the leaves?

Answer 16

These are the plant’s engine. responsible for photosynthesis (using sunlight to convery water and CO2 into glucose and O2)

Question 17

What are the flowers and berries?

Answer 17

flowers are the plant’s reproductive organs. the vine has both female and male parts and are grouped in bunches called “inflorescences”. Each successfully pollinated flower becomes a berry. each inflorescence then becomes a bunch of grapes to be harvested in the fall.

Question 18

What is one year wood?

Answer 18

the shoots that have turned woody during the winter after they have grown, and the buds that grew on them last year burst into shoots.

Question 19

what is a cane?

Answer 19

a one year old wood with 8-20 buds on it.

Question 20

what is permanent wood?

Answer 20

wood that is more than one year old. its restricted by pruning. its made up of the trunk and the arms of the vine

Question 21

what are the roots?

Answer 21

their function is to absorb water and nutrients from the soil, anchor the vine, and store carbohydrates to allow the vines to survive the winter.

Question 22

what is crossing?

Answer 22

when a new variety is produced from two parents of the same species

Question 23

what type of vines are mostly used for crossings?

Answer 23

V. vinifera although American vines can be used as well.

Question 24

what is the crossing of Cab franc and Sauvignon Blanc?

Answer 24

Cabernet Sauvignon

Question 25

What two grapes crossing is Muller Thurgau made from?

Answer 25

Riesling and Madeline Royale

Question 26

what two grapes crossing is Pinotage made from?

Answer 26

Cinsault and Pinot Noir

Question 27

what is a hybrid?

Answer 27

a vine whose parents come from two very different species. Typically hybrids have at least one American vine as a parent.

Question 28

what is Phylloxera?

Answer 28

an insect native to North America which v. vinifera cannot defend itself against.

Question 29

how does Phylloxera kill vines?

Answer 29

during one phase of its lifecycle it lives underground and feeds on the roots of the vine. Infections then enter through the feeding wounds and over a few years the vine is weakened and eventually dies

Question 30

How do American Vines protect from Phylloxera?

Answer 30

they use sap to clog the louses mouth, inhibiting them. they also form protective layers behind the feeding wound preventing secondary infection

Question 31

Name three places Phylloxera is not commonly found

Answer 31

Chili, South Australia and some parts of Argentina

Question 32

What are some advantaged to rootstocks?

Answer 32

1. V. vinifera vines can be grafted to rootstocks of American vine or hybrids to help control Phylloxera
2. can be used to protect against nematodes,
3. can provide better resistance against drought conditions

Question 33

what is grafting?

Answer 33

the technique used to join a rootstock to a V. vinifera variety.

Question 34

What is the most common type of grafting?

Answer 34

bench grafting

Question 35

What is bench grafting?

Answer 35

an automated process that is carried out by specialist plant nurseries where short sections of cane from both v. vinifera and rootstock variety are joined together by machine and stored in a warm environment in order to encourage fusion together. Once fusion happens the vine can be planted.

Question 36

Why is head grafting done?

Answer 36

grafting used when grape grower has an established vineyard decides to switch to a different grape variety between seasons.

Question 37

what is head grafting?

Answer 37

The existing vines are cut back to its trunk and a bud or cutting of the new variety is grafted to the trunk

Question 38

When does the Bud remain dormant until?

Answer 38

when average temperature reach 10 degrees C
March and April in northern Hemisphere
Sept and Oct in Southern Hemisphere

Question 39

What happens in the spring

Answer 39

first buds burst on the vine

Question 40

What happens in summer

Answer 40

vine flowers - absorbs sunlight, flowers self pollinate. grapes swell and take on color

Question 41

what happens in autumn?

Answer 41

sugar levels increase rapidly and natural yeasts form on skins