Vineyard Site Selection Flashcards
What factors lead to the creation of a commercial vineyard?
Decision making and management to achieve a desired wine goal. In most instances, profitability-led decisions will be made to optimize production and minimize costs.
What are vineyard management decisions designed around?
The objective for the fruit to be grown
Maximizing the desired yield or quality
What ultimately informs the selection of a vineyard site?
The desired result in terms of wine style and varietal
The fruit for light sparkling wines generally do not require the same heat, sunlight, etc. as the fruit for full bodied red wines
How was site selection traditionally practiced in Europe?
Trial and error evaluation over centuries that informed the wine-growing regions, many of which are protected under DOP regulations
What are the environmental factors that influence site selection?
Temperature
Sunlight
Water
Soil Structure and Available Nutrients
Of the environmental factors that influence site selection, which is the least permanent?
Soil Structure and Available Nutrients
These can be ameliorated or affected by human efforts prior to planting
Why isn’t trial and error practiced more commonly when selecting viticultural sites in the 21st century?
It is time- and money-consuming
Technological and scientific alternatives exist
What techniques are common in 21st century viticultural site selection?
Soil Mapping
Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
These are generally referred to as “Precision Viticulture”
What considerations beyond environmental factors also determine the suitability of a vineyard site?
Physical access to the site
Available human resources
Access to the local and global marketplace
True or False
Most New World vineyards are located close to urban areas
True
Examples:
Adelaide, South Australia
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
San Francisco, California, USA
Constantia, South Africa
Stellenbosch, South Africa
What determines the suitability of a vineyard site?
Water Availability
Regional Climate
(Temperature and Sunshine Hours)
Type and Quality of Soil
What climate zone is the natural habitat of grapevines used for viticulture?
Temperate Zone
What is necessary for grapevines to survive outside of the temperate zone?
Adaptations or interventions, such as:
Burying vines during cold continental winters (as in Russia)
Cultivating two crops per year (as in Tropical Climates)
What wine producing region is successful despite being located far from its access to market? How far away is it from the nearest port?
Mendoza, Argentina
1,000km
What geographical features can be taken advantage of in areas with high rainfall? What does this feature help to prevent?
Rain shadows
These reduce fungal disease pressure during the growing season
In areas with moderate or low rainfall, what can be done to provide grapevines with sufficient water?
Planting near rivers or streams so the vines can access underground water
Building a dam for irrigation purposes
What level of heat is suitable for a vineyard site?
Sufficient (but not excessive) heat for the vine to advance through its developmental phases of
Floral Initiation
Budburst
Flowering
Fruit Set
Véraison
Ripening
How does a site that is too cool for a vine affect the vine’s development?
Slow phenological development
Reduction in bud fruitfulness and fruit set (low yields)
Problematic Ripening
How does a site that is too hot for a vine affect the vine’s development?
May initially enjoy optimum temperatures during growth stages (good vegetative vigor and good bud fruitfulness)
Later in season: issues with shading, uneven Véraison, competition among bunches to ripen, staggered ripening, and low berry sugar content
What variables affect the amount of sunlight a piece of land experiences?
Topography
Latitude
Season
Time of Day
Cloud Cover
How much sunlight is Vitis Vinifera believed to require to produce ripe fruit?
1,250 Sunshine Hours
How are old world sites situated with regards to sunlight? Why?
Generally on slopes facing towards the sun. Earth was cooler then and the vines required additional sunlight to ripen berries.
What can be done to maximize or minimize a vineyard’s exposure to sunlight, especially in cool climates?
Trellis Design
Row Orientation
Canopy Management
What are two common examples of nutrient deficient soils?
Sandy soils in high-rainfall areas
(Potassium, Calcium, and Sulfur deficient)
Frequently cultivated shallow soils in low-rainfall areas
(Nitrogen deficient)
What is the difference between growing grapes and other types of farming?
Growing grapes is a generational endeavor with crops lasting 25-30 years. Crop may not be available for the first three years (longer in some old world areas).
Other types of farming rely on rotational crops to meet short-term market demand.
What human-created resources might be considered when evaluating a vineyard site’s potential?
Accessibility to water, electricity, cars, and tractors.
True or False
Steep slopes are cheaper to manage than flatter sites
False
What human factors reduce the cost of developing a vineyard site?
Existing access roads
Proximity to energy and water supplies
What factors affect the cost of potential vineyard land?
Viticultural success of the region
Performance and reputation of other neighboring vineyards
How can vineyard performance (success) be measured?
In a variety of ways depending on the desired output of the vineyard. This could range from low-yield, high quality fruit in hand packaged bottles to economically produced, high yield fruit for high-volume brands
What are some practical concerns regarding vineyard site selection that must be built into a business plan?
Cost of the land
The scale of potential return on investment
Timescales of return on investment
Existing infrastructure (roads, water, power) or lack thereof
Size of the vineyard in relation to labor and mechanization goals
What are the risks of establishing a new vineyard site opposed to purchasing an existing one?
There is no existing reputation
There is no experience or proof grapes grow successfully
There is no industry or customer awareness of the region
Where is water retention a concern due to low rainfall and soil inability to retain water?
Much of Australia
What does “Free on Board” mean and how does it affect vineyard site selection?
It is the business practice of producers absorbing the cost of an item’s delivery to port. This affects the expenses related to producing wine by increasing cost.
Greater distances from port = increased cost
When a site is chosen, what is the next choice to be made?
Selecting a cultivar to plant
What is Terroir?
A sense and flavor of place
The ultimate result of years - sometimes centuries - of experiments into the relationship between variety and site
How does terroir affect site selection? Why?
Terroir determines site selection based on experiential learning and cultivar evolution over several generations
How does an understanding of terroir affect site management?
Understanding the vineyard plots, often on a small scale, allows for specific practices to be used in accordance with vine vigor, productivity, and drainage
How does precision viticulture affect site selection? Why?
It helps to remove potential mistakes in the trial-and error stage of experiential learning. It relies on scientific methodology instead of personal knowledge
How does precision viticulture affect site management? Why?
Less time is necessary to match cultivars to a site.
It can be a positive influence in the establishment of a site given that there is no previous experience of growing and establishing a vineyard can have intensive costs
What is Precision Viticulture?
A collective term for techniques that identify and map similarities and differences in patches of land.
What is the information offered by precision viticulture designed to do?
Offer information on vineyard practices that can be targeted to blacks or parcels in a vineyard.
How has the understanding of terroir affected viticulture in Europe?
Generational experimentation on flavor profile and the best adapted cultivars has led to a selective reduction in the vines grown in specific regions. Pinot Noir in Burgundy and Riesling in Rheingau are examples of this reduction.
What parameters are involved in the expression or effect of terroir?
Climate
Geology
(Rock Science)
Pedology
(Soil Science)
Topography
(Physical Features of an Area)
Vine Biology
Human Influence
(Viticulture and Vinification)
When does the effect of terroir most present itself in the vine?
Towards the end of the growing season when the cultivars begin to ripen and the weather gets cooler.
This is believed to be why planting cultivars in temperatures at the cooler limits of ripening produces better quality berries
Which group adopted a definition of terroir that included Climate, Geology, Pedology, Topography, and Vine Biology? When?
International Organization of Vine and Wine
2010
What does precision viticulture aim to offer? How does it help?
Better management of within-vineyard quality due to spatial variation with the goal of a more homogeneous crop with consistent quality.
This is achieved by defining landscape, identifying similar parcels, and the adaptation of vineyard management given the plot.
What is spatial variation?
The variation in quality of vines within a vineyard based on their location
How do Global Positioning System (GPS) surveys affect site selection?
They collect data relating to a specific point on the ground. These typically resolve to areas greater than one meter
What is differential GPS?
A more detailed iteration of GPS that increases spatial resolution to less than one meter
Why is GPS remote sensing important for vineyard establishment?
Its distinguishing feature, highly detailed surveying of the terrain, is important given that vineyard land can be variable on a small scale.
What are Geographical Information Systems (GIS)?
Computer software that store and analyze GPS survey data in 3D and renders the information as layers on a map of the vineyard.
Yield, quality, vigor, topography, and soil properties are variables these systems track
What is remote sensing?
The measuring of a feature’s attributes from a distance, such as from a light aircraft, satellite, or drone.
Other (proximal) sensing uses sensors at ground level.
What does remote sensing measure? When is it best carried out?
Vine biomass to determine the size, health, and vigor of the canopy.
The best time to do remote sensing is véraison. It requires a cloud free day (ideally sunny).
How is information from remote sensing used?
To inform on pruning and harvesting options
What data is collected by remote sensing?
Originally through a Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) that measured sunlight reflection at different wavelengths.
Plant Cell Density (PCD) is more recently accepted and measures variation in vine vigor, generally caused by factors such as climate, soil, pest, and disease activity.
True or False
The validity of remote sensing data is accepted on its own
False
The data provided by remote sensing needs to be confirmed in the vineyard by measuring canopy and crop size
What is soil sensing?
Small-scale measuring of soil without removing soil for lab analysis.
What are the advantages of soil sensing over other methods of soil analysis?
Small-scale measurements can be taken
The soil is not removed from the vineyard
Multiple samples can be taken from across the vineyard
What is the disadvantage of soil sensing?
The results are less thorough than a laboratory analysis of removed soil can offer
How does soil sensing inform on site selection and management?
It provides a soil map which, with other vineyard parameters, can offer insight into vine performance and inform on different management practices
Before the introduction of precision viticulture, how were vineyard management techniques applied in the vineyard?
One management technique was applied to all of the plots. This led to considerable variation in quality and yield.
How can yield be monitored “on the go”?
With equipment placed on a mechanized harvester.
This can be mapped and referenced along with other data.
