Viticulture Flashcards

1
Q

what is the name of the part of the grapevine that runs horizontally?

A

cordon

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2
Q

what is the technical name for the grapevine? and how long ago was it domesticated?

A

Vitis vinifera

approx 7000 years ago

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3
Q

what is the average temp range that grapevines can grow in?

A

12-22

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4
Q

what are the benefits of North-South trellising row orientation?

A

highest light penetration… peaks in the morning and afternoon

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5
Q

what are the benefits of east-west trellising row orientation?

A

lowest interior canopy interception.

peaking just after midday

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6
Q

what are 3 different types of trellising options?

A

vertical shoot positioned
smart Dyson trellising
Scott Henry

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7
Q

what are the irrigation options available to viticulturalists

A
drip irrigation - most common 
overhead sprinkler irrigation 
subsurface irrigation 
under-vine sprinkler
furrow irrigation
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8
Q

what are the two main ways to grow vines?

A
cuttings (new vineyard) 
top grafting (old vineyard)
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9
Q

describe the steps of establishing a new vine/yard using the cuttings technique. make reference to when in the year this happens.
“starting from scratch”

A
  1. from the dormant vineyard (June/July), canes are cut
  2. canes are then nurtured to develop roots and leaves
  3. these plants are then looked after indoors away from elements, giving them a chance to harden
  4. they may then move outside, but still undercover to further harden
  5. they are planted in a new vineyard
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10
Q

describe the steps of establishing a new vine/yard using the top grafting technique.
changing the grape variety of an existing vineyard

A
  1. the trunk of the vine is cut off, just below the crown so there is still a substantial amount of trunk
  2. prepare the top of the trunk
  3. insert bud/cutting of the desired variety
  4. wrap the area where the cut was made/bud inserted
  5. wait for new canes to grow
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11
Q

why are rootstocks used?

A
  • pest or disease tolerance e.g. phylloxera
  • climate tolerance - drought
  • control growth - less vigour
  • soil tolerance - salinity
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12
Q

what percentage of the world’s vineyards are planted on rootstocks?

A

90

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13
Q

in the grapevine life cycle, when does bud burst take place?

what happens and how?

A

September
new growth starts from the reserves of carbohydrates stored in the roots.
Water starts to be “taken up”

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14
Q

in the grapevine life cycle, when does shoot growth take place?
what happens and how?

A

October - November

  • after budburst, there is a new shoot and then leaf growth
  • photosynthesis begins
  • crop estimation by flower count is now possible
  • this is a critical time of vulnerability from disease, stress (lack of water) and Frost
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15
Q

in the grapevine life cycle, when does flowering and fruit set/canopy management take place?
what happens and how?

A

Nov-Dec

  • vines use photosynthesis to grow and ripen fruit, converting sunlight to sugar
  • the optimum range for efficiency is 15-30 degrees
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16
Q

what is canopy mgmt used for during nov/dec and how does it happen?

A

leaf plucking, hedging and crop thinning can be used to modify inception of sunlight to the grapes by essentially pruning the vines.
- also, fruit can be thinned (cutting away some of the bunches) to increase the quality of the remaining fruit

17
Q

in the grapevine life cycle, when does veraison take place?

what happens and how?

A
  • this is simply ripening that normally takes place around 40-50 days after fruit set
  • flavour develops
  • sugars trade-off with acids
18
Q

during veraison, how does colour change occur?

A

due to chlorophyll in the berry skin being replaced by anthocyanins (in red wine grapes)
carotenoids (white wine grapes)

19
Q

in the grapevine life cycle, when does harvest take place?

what happens and how?

A

can take place between Feb and April - the ideal month is march

  • berries start to soften as they build up sugars
  • sugars (glucose and fructose) accumulate and acids begin to fall
20
Q

what are the optimum sugar and ph readings for grapes to be harvested?

A

12-14 baume

3.6 pH

21
Q

why would a winery want to pick early?

A

to get the grapes as sweet as possible but without losing all the acidity

22
Q

in the grapevine life cycle, when does Senescence take place?
what happens and how?

A

April - May
senescence is the leaves browning and falling. this happens because after fruit harvest, photosynthesis continues creating carbohydratereserve to store in the vine’s roots, and once these are full, photosynthesis stops

23
Q

in the grapevine life cycle, when does dormancy take place?

what happens during this period?

A

May-august
in this period, no water is taken up by the roots
- as they have no leaves, no photosynthesis occurs.
- no water or fertilisation is needed as the vine uses its reserves of carbs in the trunk to survive
- the best time for pruning as the vine is least susceptible to stress

24
Q

why is pruning so important?

A

pruning and training control growth of canopy and amount of fruit for the following season
- number of buds left per cane = number of new shoots = number of bunches

25
Q

what are the 3 types of pruning most popular in Aus?

A
  • cane pruned
  • spur pruned
  • minimal pruned
26
Q

what are the benefits/downfalls of cane pruning?

A

benefits:
- produces better quality fruit
- preserves vine health in the long term

downfalls:
- more expensive than other methods

27
Q

what are the benefits/downfalls of spur pruning?

A
  • all canes are pruned to thumb-sized spurs with 1-3 Buds which will burst to become the future canes
  • less expensive but the quality can be less
  • the vine is more vulnerable to disease
28
Q

what are the benefits/downfalls of minimal pruning?

A

machine with a cutter bar is used to hedge the vines leaving an approx number of vines

  • cheap method but can damage vines
  • results in lower quality grapes/wine
29
Q

what are fungal diseases that vines are susceptible to?

A

powdery mildew
downy mildew
botrytis
they all effect vine health, wine quality and yield

30
Q

what pests (insects) are vines susceptible to?

A
  • light brown apple moth
  • mealybugs/caterpillars
  • blister mites
  • phylloxera
31
Q

what other pests and diseases are vines susceptible to?

A
  • Eytupa dieback (effects yield and eventually kills plant)
  • nematodes in soil (effects yield and eventually kills plant)
  • birds and other large animals (effects yield and wine quality)