Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/62507
WineEast harvested, the sooner a vine can get on with the business of cold acclimation. This is one of the few win-win situations in viticulture. Regardless of vine density and size, growers should strive to create a balanced vine and not to over-crop their vines, which surely can compromise their ability to overwinter. Proper yields are unique to each vineyard, and even to blocks or sections within a vineyard, so only you can determine what the proper crop load should be. This must be done through yield trials that involve winemaking to see what level makes the best wine and ideal vine balance (hopefully they are the same.) Canopy management is invariably complicated by replacement viticulture, especially if extra parts are involved such as replacement spurs and/or canes. They can crowd a finely balanced canopy and exacerbate shading issues, which in turn can hamper disease management and fruit ripening. The grower just has to manage this situation the best he can given the severity of the injury situation. There is certainly no prescription for this. The canopy is vitally important for wine quality and vine health. Ideally, a mild water stress is placed on the vine before veraison, and the vine's attention is directed to fruit maturity and away from producing more leaves. This is where soil plays such a critical role in post-veraison viticulture. Waterloo_Nov10.qxp 8/26/10 11:36 AM Page 1 Vine injury can create portals for diseases such as crown gall. Above, a vine grows with multiple replacement trunks. As new hybrid varieties come out of research programs and the barns of innovative growers there is a lag in vineyard design and management knowledge. For example, what is the best vine density and spacing, trellis and training system, yields, methods of canopy Wines & Vines OCTOBeR 2011 51