VINEYARD

New viticultural techniques have made possible the development of wine industries in various New World countries such as Canada. Today there is increasing interest in developing organic, ecologically sensitive and sustainable vineyards. Biodynamics has become increasingly popular in viticulture. The use of drip irrigation in recent years has expanded vineyards into areas otherwise unplantable. A consequence of irrigation is consistency of yields and a virtual irrelevance of vintage year. Other recent practices include spraying water on vines to protect them from sub-freezing temperatures (aspersion), new grafting techniques, soil slotting, new trellising methods, new canopy management techniques such as minimal pruning, and mechanical harvesting.
The implementation of mechanical harvesting is often stimulated by changes in labor laws, labor shortages, and bureaucratic complications making it difficult and expensive to hire labor for short periods of time, the need to reduce production costs, the need to harvest quickly, and the ability to harvest at night. However, retarding the utilization of machine harvesting are such things as very small ownership parcels, incompatible widths between rows of grape vines, steep terrain, and traditional views rejecting such harvesting.

Australian vineyard in the Riverina.
New World vineyard plantings have been increasing almost as fast as European vineyards are being uprooted. Between 1990 and 2003, U.S. vineyards increased from 292,000 acres to 954,000, Australian vineyards went from 146,000 to 356,000 acres, Chilean vineyards grew from 161,500 to 415,000 acres.
There are also changes in the kinds of grapes grown. For example, in Chile, thousands of acres of low-quality grapes have been replaced with such grapes as Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. This is often in response to changing consumer demand but sometimes results from vine pull schemes designed to promote vineyard change. Alternatively, the development of T budding now permits the grafting of a different grape variety onto existing rootstock in the vineyard. This makes it possible to change varieties within a period of about two years.
Which grapes are grown in vineyards, as well as how they are grown, often reflects legislation, which in turn may serve to reinforce tradition. For example, laws may restrict which varieties can be planted, whether vineyards can be irrigated, when grapes can be harvested, and so on.
Changes in laws can also influence which grapes are planted. For example, during Prohibition in the U.S. (1920-1933), vineyards in California expanded seven-fold to meet the increasing demand. However, they were largely planted in varieties with tough skins that could be transported across the country to home wine-makers. The resulting wine was of low quality.
Leading wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr. has had a significant influence on viticulture around the world. His taste preferences have led many growers in Bordeaux, for example, to practice "green harvesting," in which whole grape clusters are removed and discarded during the growing season in order to reduce yields. Also, because of Parker's influence, many growers now strip sections of leaves away from vines to permit more direct sunlight to reach the grapes.
There is a continuing relationship between the history of alcohol and the history of vineyards that has existed from the earliest known times

OIDIUM...Uncinula necator

An oidium (plural: oidia) is an asexually produced fungal spore that (in contrast to conidia) is presumed not to constitute the main reproductive preoccupation of the fungus at that time. The hypha breaks up into component cells/ small pieces and develop into spores. Oidia can't survive in unfavourable conditions. Uncinula necator is a fungus that causes powdery mildew on grape. It is a common parasite of grape (Vitis vinifera). The fungus originated in North America. European wine varieties of Vitis vinifera are more or less susceptible to this fungus. Uncinula necator infects leaves and young berries, and can cause large damage if untreated. This parasite does not need drops of water to infect the plant leaves; high atmospheric humidity is enough. Its anamorph is called Oidium tuckeri.
This mildew can be treated with sulfur or fungicides, especially Strobilurines. Uncinula can develop resistance to organic fungicides, so it is important to use different (rotate) fungicides during one season (for example, using two or three different types of organic fungicide and sulfur). The parasite can not develop resistance to sulfur, but efficacy of this fungicide is not as high as the organic ones. But sulfur can be used as a prevention for this plant disease.

Fungicides are chemical compounds used to prevent the spread of fungi or plants in gardens and crops, which can cause serious damage resulting in loss of yield and thus profit. Though oomycetes are not fungi, they use the same mechanisms to infect plants[1] and therefore in phytopathology chemicals used to control oomycetes are also referred to as fungides. Fungicides are also used to fight fungal infections.
Fungicides can either be contact or systemic. A contact fungicide kills fungi when sprayed on its surface; a systemic fungicide has to be absorbed by the plant.

Two-Faced FungusBotrytis cinerea is a fungal disease that can blight many species of plants, including flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Depending upon weather conditions, Botrytis can take one of two forms in grapes, one as destroyer, the other as enhancer.
As "grey rot" it appears and grows during lengthy periods of humidity early in the season. Settling in on immature grapes, it multiplies rapidly. The bunches appear to be covered with a grey powder and eventually darken and drop. Yields are greatly reduced and wine made from this fruit taste moldy and oxidizes easily. In some climates, grey rot is a severe problem with most grape varieties.
In certain white grape varieties, such as Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, and Furmint, an infection of Botrytis can be so beneficial, even critical to dessert wines like French Sauternes, German Tröckenbeerenauslese, or Hungarian Tokaj, that the mold becomes known as "Noble Rot." Weather conditions must be right for this to occur. Ideally, a short period of humidity or rain in mid to late season, when the grapes are more ripe than green, will be followed by a sustained period of cool, dry weather, where daytime temperature hovers near 60° F.
Under these somewhat rare conditions, the Botrytis fungi penetrate the grape skins with mycelia to feed and take water from the grapes, which shrivel. Overall acidity decreases. Gums form, along with glutinic and citric acids, and the grape sugars become very concentrated.
This intense sweetness partially inhibits yeast and fermentation can be very slow, lasting for months. High concentrations of glycerol developed during these extended fermentations and the resulting wines can be exceptionally smooth and extremely long-lived, cellaring well for decades.

ENEMIES AT THE STAKES There are many pests and diseases that can attack and kill grape vines. Red spiders, moth grubs and various mites, bugs and beetles can all prey on the plant above ground. Most of these may be controlled with either sulfur sprays, or by newer "green" methods, such as introducing predacious insects and protective cover crops between vine rows.
Often the ends of vine rows are planted with a single rose bush. Insects, mildew and fungi seem to prefer the sweet smell of roses, which perform a "canary in a coal mine" function for grapevines, providing early warning of the need to treat for pests or diseases.
In climates with summer rainfall, molds such as oidium, mildew, white rot, grey rot (see box at left) and black rot may be prevented by regular sprayings of a solution of copper sulfate, slaked lime and water (Bordeaux mixture). Research is ongoing into biological methods of controlling these fungal problems.
New vineyards are particularly susceptible to destruction from gophers and moles. There are many methods of control and eradication, including attracting predatory raptors, trapping, poisoning, flooding and even a device that implodes burrows.
Deer, raccoons, possums and other mammals can consume a lot of fruit, damage more, and even harm the vines, especially young plants and shoots. Vineyard fencing usually serves to keep these larger animals at bay.

The grape vine is the source of all wine. Reaching the highest level of quality in wine is only possible by starting with the highest quality fruit. Maximizing fruit quality from any vineyard site can be a lengthy process, because the end results are revealed only after several seasons of comparison.
Grapes are the largest fruit crop on earth2. The grapevine prefers the temperate climate in which it evolved, with warm, dry summers and mild winters. Winters of sustained cold kill grapevines. High humidity promotes vine disease. Tropical temperatures disrupt the normal vine cycle of winter dormancy.
Grapevines are fairly adaptable plants, growing in a wide variety of soil types, from light sand to packed clay, and flourishing around the globe in the temperate bands between 20° and 50° Latitude, north or south of the Equator. They are successfully grown in Europe, the Balkans, Asia, Mediterranean and South Africa, South Australia and New Zealand, most of North America and a good portion of South America.
THE BEST PLANS...There are multiple and interlacing factors to consider when starting a vineyard, in order to ultimately achieve highest fruit quality. In selecting a site, the average length of the ripening season, the normal annual weather conditions, the soil type and chemistry, fertility and drainage, the topography, sun exposure, and likely pest problems should all be taken into account well before the first vine is planted.
That information will bear upon the decisions of vine variety, vine density, row direction and spacing, irrigation and frost protection methods, vine training system, as well as fertilization and pest control management. These in turn will affect choices in crop load, canopy management, harvesting, and pruning. At each step in establishing and maintaining wine vines, the grower must evaluate and commit to a course of inevitable compromise between highest quality and practical economy. Yet the results of even the most carefully researched and executed decisions are ultimately at the whim of Nature.

Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. Grapes are grown for fresh fruit, dried fruit or for the grape juice, which can be used (amongst others) to produce wine. Duties of the Viticulturalist include: monitoring and controlling pests and diseases, fertilizing, irrigating, canopy management, monitoring fruit development and characteristics, deciding when to harvest and vine pruning during the winter months. Viticulturalists are often intimately involved with winemakers, because vineyard management and the resulting grape characteristics, provide the basis from which winemaking can begin.

A grape is the non-climacteric fruit that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the family Vitaceae. Grapes grow in clusters of 6 to 300, and can be black, blue, golden, green, purple, red, pink, brown, peach or white. They can be eaten raw or used for making jam, grape juice, jelly, wine and grape seed oil. Cultivation of grapevines occurs in vineyards, and is called viticulture. One who studies and practises growing grapes for wine is called a viticulturist.
Raisins are the dried fruit of the grapevine, and the name actually comes from the French word for "grape". Wild grapevines are often considered a nuisance weed, as they cover other plants with their usually rather aggressive growth. Many species of grapevines exist, including:
Vitis vinifera, the European winemaking grapevine. Native to virtually all of mainland Europe.
Vitis labrusca, the North American table and grape juice grapevines, sometimes used for wine. Native to the Eastern U.S. and Canada.
Vitis riparia, a wild vine of North America, sometimes used for winemaking and for jam. Native to the entire Eastern U.S. and north to Quebec.
[[Vitis
Vitis vulpina Frost grape. Native to the Midwest east to the coast up through New York.
Vitis cognitiae Ornamental Grape from East Asia, grown for its crimson autumn foliage