Viticulture Flashcards
Grapes growing in Aquitaine for how long?
2,000 years
What is marcottage?
Layering of vines in a row-less tangle
Vineyard activities in October
Harvest
Fertilise
Hill up with earth to protect against winter freeze
Vineyard activities in November?
Prepare for winter pruning
Remove fasteners and low wires
Leaf fall
Winter pruning
Vineyard activities
December to March
Remove pruned branches from vineyard
Burn or chip them
Return chips or ashes to vineyard
Vineyard activities March
Bud break (débourrement)
Shoot growth
Remove hilled up earth (déchausser)
Vineyard activities in May
Flowering (floraison) Berry set (nouaison)
Vineyard activities in July
Leaf pulling
Green harvest
Vineyard activities in August
Vine stops growing vegetatively to focus on fruit (aoûtement)
Veraison (maturation, colour change)
Vineyard activities
September to October
Clusters ripen and mature
What is considered high density planting?
10,000 vines per ha
E.g. Médoc, Pessac-Léognan
What is considered moderate planting density?
5,000-6,000 vines per hectare
E.g. the Cotes
What is considered low planting density?
2,000-4,000 vines per hectare
E.g. Bordeaux AOC
Wide spacing good for mechanisation
High density planting is best on fertile soils. True or false?
False. High density planting is best on less fertile soil
Lower density (wider spacing) is best on fertile soil. True or false?
True
Name the two dominant vine training systems in Bordeaux
Guyot (including Double Guyot variation)
Bordelaise/Médoc
Describe Guyot vine training system
Vine pruned to one long temporary arm
Trained horizontally/diagonally/vertically/in an arch
Arm has 6-10 buds
A renewal spur containing 2 buds forms shoots that will replace the existing arm during winter pruning
Variation is double Guyot (2 arms)
Explain Bordelaise/Médoc vine training system
2 lateral cordon arms tied to support wires
5-7 buds
Renewal spur with 2 buds allowed - will eventually replace lateral arms
Found in Médoc, Graves, Pessac
Name the unapproved vine training system under trial
Lyre system
4 reasons it’s difficult to go green in Bordeaux
Maritime climate
River systems
High wate table
Low elevation
5 areas of focus for Haute Valeur Environmentale (HVE)
Water Energy Recycling Biodiversity Chemical inputs
What is EMS
Environmental management system
How were the Pyrenees formed?
Collision of the Iberian peninsula with France
Name for mountain building episode
Hercynian
What are lacustrine deposits?
Freshwater sediment of sands, gravels, silts and clays.
Périgord sands
Alluvial deposits, 55-36 mya
Fronsadais molasse
Alluvial deposits, 36-24 mya
Calcaire de Castillon
Alluvial deposits, 36-24 mya
Limestone
Molasse de l’Armagnac
Alluvial deposits, 7-5 mya
Calcaire à Asteries
Starfish limestone
Subsoil below gravel terraces of best crus of Médoc and Graves
Also in Bourg-Blaye, St Emilion and Entre Deux Mers
What is marl
A limestone rich clay
Source of Médoc gravels
Pyrenees (small gravels)
Massif Central, Périgord Limousin (larger stones)
Jalle
Small stream
Palus
Sandy backfill between gravel mounds
Tributaries of Dordogne river (3)
Isle
Dronne
Vézère
