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W i n e s & V i n e s M AY 2 0 1 4 37 W I N E M A K I N G pounds of fruit per 1 pound of prunings. You can actually screw things up by thinning too much—Napa Valley Cabs are a good example. Drop the crop to 2 tons (per acre), and you have lots of canopy and not enough fruit. The fruit ends up with lots of pyrazines due to all of the vegetative growth, which take a long time to metabolize during a prolonged ripening. You end up with sugars around 27° or 28° Brix by the time the "green" taste is gone, and high-alcohol wines. Put an extra ton on the vineyard, you have better balanced fruit/shoot ratios, and fruit ripens sooner (pyrazines are metabolized) at lower sugars, wine tastes better. Struggle? The common mantra that "grapevines have to struggle" is closely tied to a belief in ter- roir. Does this broad prescription translate into specific characteristics of a growing envi- ronment—the advantages of stony soils, lim- ited water supply and so on? Or is this more of a philosophical assertion? Van Leeuwen: "Struggle" is not the right term, but vines obviously have to face lim- iting factors to express terroir. Much research has been carried out on the sub- ject. The principal limiting factor enhancing terroir expression is water deficit. Other limiting factors are low nitrogen and mod- erate temperatures (terroir expression is limited when temperature is too high). Skinkis: The definition of what it means to "struggle" is important here. Water stress has been researched extensively to understand how it influences vine growth and fruit composition. However, there are other ways that grapevines struggle, including nutrient stress, disease and insect pests. I suspect that the struggle concept is related to the small vine size and low-yield mantras. However, there is no evidence that better wines result exclusively from those situations. McGourty: I call this the "Calvinist work ethic approach." It is also silly. You want to have enough resources to make your vines grow and yield in an economically sustain- able manner, as well as wine quality. You want vines to finish the season without stress so that you can continue photosynthesis and everything to the end so that you properly ripen the fruit with good sugar/acid balance, resolved tannins and good quality fruit that is still turgid and not "jammy/dehydrated." Zufferey: "Grapevines have to struggle" is a stoic concept (Seneca's philosophy); I'm not sure that the disciples of Epicurus would agree with this sentence. This belief is attached to specific characteristics of a growing environment like a limited water supply and nutrient (low soil fertility) supply. Globally I agree with this concept, because I'm a disciple of Seneca… Smart: Attributing struggle to plants anthropomorphizes them. It's absurd. It is naïve to think that the more the stress, the better the wine. The more the stress, the worse the wine. Good wine comes from vines that are working properly. OK, that seems pretty clear. Maybe the role of grapevines in terroir expression needs a fresh look. Tim Patterson is the author of "Home Winemaking for Dummies." He writes about wine and makes his own in Berkeley, Calif. Years of experience as a journalist, combined with a contrarian streak, make him interested in getting to the bottom of wine stories, casting a critical eye on con- ventional wisdom in the process. Need a Better Cork Supplier? All Natural Cork Closures Fresh Corks Directly From Portugal 4th Genera on Family Cork Producer Free Branding Free Shipping Free iS Better Ask about our Progressive Discounts Experience the Slimcork® Advantage CALL TODAY phone (203) 681-7743 Cell (860) 335-0667 email: reliablecork@gmail.com www.reliablecorksolu ons.com