Lessons from the Vine

Yesterday I came across these gorgeous Chardonnay vines, bursting with golden-yellow fruit.  As we head toward harvest, the beauty in the vineyards compelled me to snap some photos to share with you. These vines reveal so much great information about grape growing.   

What first caught my eye was the visible signs of veraison (grapes soften and change colors). Here you have plump Chardonnay grapes changing from green to yellow-gold as they ripen in the sun. 

Notice how this vine is trained (shaped). The trunk base leads up to two arms, called cordons, going in opposite directions. The nubs on the cordons from which the shoots grow are called spurs. Therefore, this is a “double cordon, spur pruned” vine. The viticulturalist (grape farmer) trains a vine early in its life which will literally shape the future of its productive years.

Wine grape vines are also trellised to regulate the shape of the vine. This can have a profound effect on the style of the final wine. These vines provide an excellent example of a common trellis system called Vertical Shoot Position (VSP).  If left to themselves, grape vines would grow bushy and the leafy shoots would act as an umbrella, shading the grapes from the sun . But, in some cases, we want the grapes to get the maximum sun exposure to help with development and ripening. Notice how the leafy shoots are woven up through wires on the trellis to move them out of the way and fully expose the fruit zone. 

Lastly, this vine has very few leaves around the fruit zone. That's because they have purposely been removed. Leaf pulling is another important farming strategy to further expose grapes to the sun. It can be done by the hard work of human hands, or the technology of machinery, but many farmers use the assistance of sheep to feed on the leaves, provided it’s before the grapes ripen into a sweet treat for hungry farm animals.

Next time you find yourself in a vineyard, look beyond the grape and see what else is happening to help make that perfect bottle of wine!