Sex in the Vineyard

How vineyard practices drive the quality of a wine

The grape is the means by which a vine propagates sexually, by producing a sweet berry that is designed to appeal to birds.  Growing the perfect grape is a delicate balance of vinous foreplay: if you treat a vines too rough (too cold, hot or dry) it is not physically capable of producing a grape; if you treat a vine too well (good soil, too much water) it becomes selfish and indulges itself in extra leaves and green shoots and forgets about grapes.  So how does the grape farmer treat ‘em mean to keep them keen?

Trellising and Pruning
The key technique is to control a vine’s leaf and shoot growth to ensure the vine concentrates its energy on the grapes, and that the grapes receive plenty of sunlight to maximise their flavours.  Different trellising systems are designed to train a vine so that the leaf canopy is not too vigorous and doesn’t shade the grapes.

Irrigation
New techniques of irrigation are now being developed that cleverly (and naturally) signal to the vine’s root system that it should concentrate its growth on its grapes rather than its leaves.  These irrigation systems help grape farmers mimic the ideal vintage growing conditions by stressing the vines with reduced water at key periods of its growing cycle.

Pests and disease
In the bad old days farmers would spray chemicals for every conceivable natural enemy of the grape.  That only meant that the pest built up immunity.  Now sustainable agricultural practices are being introduced which involve creating balanced ecologies where pests and disease are not eradicated with chemicals, but controlled through nature.

Timing the harvest
Grapes are only ripe for plucking for a day or two.  Pick too early and you get sour green characters or harsh tannins; pick too late and the flavours can seem stewed or the alcohol level will be out of balance.  The grape farmer also has to keep an eye on the weather as rain can ruin the crop.

At Summertown Wine Café we have detailed tasting notes including the karma sutra of the vineyard practices on all the wines, so if you want to taste how well the grape farmer has done, come and do a tasting anytime.

Rob Malcolm