Viticulture Flashcards
How many acres of grapevines are throughout the world?
19 million
How many tons of fruit are produced throughout the world?
70 million tons
What percentage of fruit produced become wine?
70%
What is the difference between winegrowing and viticulture?
Winegrowing refers to grapes to be used specifically for wine. Viticulture refers to all grapevines.
What do you call the beginning of a vines arms?
Spurs
A vine’s spurs develop into what?
Canes
A vine’s thick arms are also called what?
Cordons
The entire portion of the vine, including the fruit is called what?
The canopy
How does a young grape protect itself from damage?
It is camoflauged by being green, like the leaves and by having an acidic taste so not tasty to birds.
How do grape seeds spread naturally?
Via birds
Name the methods used for grape propagation?
Grafting and cloning
Describe field grafting.
Cutting a cane off of one vine and attaching it to the root of another vine.
How long does is usually take for a new vine to produce usable grapes?
3 years, or 3 leaves
How many years before a vine typically produces optimal quality grapes?
6 years.
How long can a grapevine produce grapes?
10 or more years.
Old vine refers to vines that are how old?
Usually 50, and more
What latitude is best for growing grapes?
30 - 50 degrees
Describe the ideal seasons for grapes to grow.
Long warm to hot days in summer and short cool to cold days in winter.
Bud break begins at what temperature?
50 F/ 10C
Photosynthesis begins upon the appearance of
Leaves
Flowering begins how many days after bud break?
40 - 80 days
What kind of weather is ideal for flowering?
warm & dry
How go grapevines pollinate?
breezes move the pollen into the flowers of the vine
The transitions between flower and fruit is called
Fruit set or berry set
What is coulure, or shatter?
Poor fruit set with many flowers failing to become berries
What is millerandage?
small berries mixed in with larger healthy berries.
Berries will grow for how long before veraison?
90 days
Veraison is most noticeable in red or white grapes?
Red
How long after veraison is harvest?
1 1/2 month to 2 months after veraison
What is meant by a grapes physiological maturity?
When the grape has developed it’s color and size, phenolic compounds are developed.
What are the metabolic processes of a grapevine?
Photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration and translocation
Photosynthesis depends primarly on what two things?
Sunshine & temperature
The conversion of carbon dioxide and water into sugar is called what?
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis slows at what temperatures?
50F/10C and 95F/35C
Optimal sugar production occurs at what temperatures?
70F/20C and 85F/30C
Why is aspect important?
The grapes will receive more sunlight.
The rate of respiration doubles for every increase of what degrees of temperature?
18F
What is the ideal diurnal temperature range?
warm to hot days and cool to cold nights
The openings on the underside of leaves are know as
Stomata
What is transpiration and why is it important?
Transpiration is when water evaporates through the leaves.
The rate of transpiration is closely related to
The weather
The stomata also control the intake of
carbon dioxide
What is translocation?
The movement of materials within the plant from one part to another.
What metabolic process uses sugar and then uses malic acid for energy?
Respiration
The process of materials moved form one part of the plant to another is called
Translocation
The process of the vine converting CO2 and water into sugar is called
Photosynthesis
The process of the vine breaking down sugars and other compounds for energy is called
Respiration
The process of water evaporating through the stomata and cooling the vine is called
Transpiration
The greatest vineyard sites have what 2 things in common?
They regulate the water supply and the ground is not very fertile.
The biggest factor in vintage variation is
Weather
The most changeable and uncontrollable variable in a vineyard is
Weather
What natural aspects of a vineyard can have a major impact on wine?
Climate, soil, sunlight and water
The actual meteorological conditions isw called
Weather
The historical average weather of a place is called
Climate
The climate of a particular vineyard’s row is called
Microclimate
The climate of the full vineyard is called
Mesoclimate
The overall climate of a region is called
Macroclimate
The sugar-acid balance in grapes is affected by
the temperature in the vineyard
A poor sugar-acid balance is usually due to high or low temperatures?
High
How many inches of water is needed annually for vines?
20 - 30
Growth of mold and fungus can be due to
Fog
How can fog benefit a vineyard?
Fog can be useful for encouraging botrytis if that style of wine is the goal. Fog can reduce the temperature in a vineyard in hotter climates.
Wind can interfere with what part of the vine growth process?
Flowering & pollinating
List the common vineyard soil examples
Clay, chalk, sand, gravel and limestone
Soil with very fine particles that fit tightly so water had difficulty passing through is called
Clay
Soil with coarse particles with little water retention is called
Sand
Soil particles of intermediate size is called
Silt
Soil with larger pieces of solid inorganic matter, which roots must pass around to reach water or nutrients is
Rock & stone
Soil particles may be composed of what 3 particles?
Quartz, feldspar or calcium carbonate
Larger diurnal temperatures are experienced at hight or lower altitudes?
Higher
Hillside vineyard have more or less frost issues?
Less
Vineyards near larger bodies of water experience higher or lower temperature variations?
Lower
What climate has warm, dry summers, mild wet winters and low humidity?
Mediterranean
What climate is caused by planetary scale air mass circulation?
Mediterranean
The 3 climates most applicable to wine regions are
Maritime, Continental and Mediterranean
What climate is in influenced by an ocean, with high rainfall and mild temperatures overall?
Maritime
What climate has hotter summers, colder winters and may have less precipitation?
Continental
Grapevine diseases can be cause by what 3 things
Viruses, Fungi & bacteria
Propagating infected vine cuttings can result in what type of disease? Bacterial or Viral
Viral
A disease spread by insects and animals is referred to as what type of disease? Bacterial or Viral.
Bacterial
The bacterial contamination of a vine resulting in premature leaf fall is known as
Pierces disease
Pierces disease is caused by what insect?
Glassy winged sharpshooter
Fungal diseases are generally spread by
airborne spores in humid conditions
Powdery mildew is also known as
Oidium
Dawny mildew is also known as
Peronospora
Gray mold is also known as
Botrytis cinerea
Edelfaule is also known as
Botrytis cinerea
Pourriture noble is also knows as
Botrytis cinerea
Botrytis characteristic aroma has been described as being similar to
Honeysuckle
Morning fog followed by sun can encourage what disease that produced sweet dessert wines?
Botrytis cinerea
Phylloxera is native to what country?
US
The tiny louse responsible for the devestation of Europe’s vineyards is called
Phylloxera
What type of soil is inhospitable to phylloxera?
Sand
Name 2 soil based grapevine pests
Phylloxera and nematodes
The roundworm the feeds on a vines roots is known as
Nematodes
What crop can be used as a biofumigant against nematodes?
Mustard
In what period within the life cycle of a vine does pruning, removing excess foliage and branches occur?
Winter, post harvest. Excess foliage is removed during the early growth to encourage photosynthesis, and leave removal can is also done during veraison.
How many nodes will a typical grower leave on a vine?
A dozen
Name two pruning stratagies/methods.
Cane & spur pruning
Describe cane pruning.
Canes grow off the root at the head. One or two canes are left to be trained on a wire for the next year’s growth.
Describe spur pruning.
The vine has cordons which then have spurs located about 4 - 6 inches apart. Each spur grows canes that are pruned back.
Techniques that alter the position of number of clusters are collectively known as
Canopy management and training systems
What training system is generally used around the world
The trellis training system
Name 4 common vine training systems.
Pergola, bush/head, Guyot and Cordon
Describe bush or dead training
No trellis is used.
What cone pruned system has canes trained along a wire all in one direction?
Guyot system
The Guyot training system uses what pruning technique?
Cane pruning
The bush/head training system uses what pruning technique?
Spur pruning
The cordon training system uses what pruning technique?
Spur pruning
Vertical shoot positioning (VSP) is used in which training systems?
Guyot and cordon systems
In the US the sugar level in the must is measured in
Degrees Brix
What is the most common tool used to measure grape sugar?
Refractometer
What is the calculation to determine the potential alchohol level when you know the Brix?
Divide by 2
What is the name of the unit of measurement for grape sugar in France?
Baume
What is the name of the unit of measurement for grape sugar in Germany?
Oechsle
What country uses Klosterneuburger Mostwaage (KMW) as their until of measurement of grape sugar?
Austria & Switzerland
What metabolic process uses sunlight and cholorphyll to convert carbon dioxide into sugar?
Photosynthesis
What metabolic process is closely related to sunshine?
Photosynthesis
Warm, long days, minimal shading and Southern (or Northern) aspect are ideal conditions for what metabolic process?
Photosynthesis
What metabolic process is closely related to temperature?
Respiration
What is the metabolic process in which the plant brakes down sugars (or other compounds) in order to use their energy?
Respiration
What metabolic process can be discribed as:
Warm temperatures=fast respiration=loss of malic acid
Respiration
What metabolic process uses sugar, and when sugar is not available, uses malic acid for energy?
Respiration
What metabolic process is closely related to weather?
Transpiration
What metabolic process involves water evaporating through the stomata to cool the vine?
Transpiration
Put these four soil types in order from smallest in particle size to largest: rocks, silt, clay and sand
Clay, silt, sand, rocks
What metabolic process breaks down sugar and converts it to biological energy?
Respiration
