A
vineyard is a
plantationA plantation is a large farm or estate, usually in a tropical or subtropical country, where crops are grown for sale in distant markets, rather than for local consumption. The term plantation is informal and not precisely defined....
of
grapeA grape is the non-climacteric fruit, botanically a true berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, and grape seed oil...
-bearing
vineThe term vine may refer to a climbing or trailing plant. The word, derived from Latin vīnea, in the original sense referred to the grapevines . The modern extended sense is mostly restricted to North American English, which uses "grapevine" to refer to the grape-bearing Vitis species...
s, grown mainly for
winemakingWinemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...
, but also
raisinRaisins are dried grapes. They are produced in many regions of the world, such as Armenia, the United States, Australia, Chile, Argentina, Macedonia, Mexico, Greece, Syria, Turkey, India, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, China, Afghanistan, Togo, and Jamaica, as well as South Africa and Southern and...
s,
table grapeTable grapes are grapes intended for consumption while they are fresh, as opposed to grapes grown for wine production, juice production, or for drying into raisins. Table varieties usually have lower sugar content than wine grapes and are more flavorful when eaten...
s and non-alcoholic
grape juiceGrape juice is a juice obtained from crushing grapes. The juice is often fermented and made into wine, brandy, or vinegar. In the wine industry, grape juice that contains 7-23 percent of pulp, skins, stems and seeds is often referred to as "must"....
. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as
viticultureViticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...
.
A vineyard is often characterised by its
terroirTerroir was originally a French term in wine, coffee and tea used to denote the special characteristics that geography bestowed upon particular varieties. Agricultural sites in the same region share similar soil, weather conditions, and farming techniques, which all contribute to the unique...
, a
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
term loosely translating as "a sense of place" that refers to the specific geographical and geological characteristics of grapevine plantations, which may be imparted in the wine.
A
vineyard is a
plantationA plantation is a large farm or estate, usually in a tropical or subtropical country, where crops are grown for sale in distant markets, rather than for local consumption. The term plantation is informal and not precisely defined....
of
grapeA grape is the non-climacteric fruit, botanically a true berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, and grape seed oil...
-bearing
vineThe term vine may refer to a climbing or trailing plant. The word, derived from Latin vīnea, in the original sense referred to the grapevines . The modern extended sense is mostly restricted to North American English, which uses "grapevine" to refer to the grape-bearing Vitis species...
s, grown mainly for
winemakingWinemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...
, but also
raisinRaisins are dried grapes. They are produced in many regions of the world, such as Armenia, the United States, Australia, Chile, Argentina, Macedonia, Mexico, Greece, Syria, Turkey, India, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, China, Afghanistan, Togo, and Jamaica, as well as South Africa and Southern and...
s,
table grapeTable grapes are grapes intended for consumption while they are fresh, as opposed to grapes grown for wine production, juice production, or for drying into raisins. Table varieties usually have lower sugar content than wine grapes and are more flavorful when eaten...
s and non-alcoholic
grape juiceGrape juice is a juice obtained from crushing grapes. The juice is often fermented and made into wine, brandy, or vinegar. In the wine industry, grape juice that contains 7-23 percent of pulp, skins, stems and seeds is often referred to as "must"....
. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as
viticultureViticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...
.
A vineyard is often characterised by its
terroirTerroir was originally a French term in wine, coffee and tea used to denote the special characteristics that geography bestowed upon particular varieties. Agricultural sites in the same region share similar soil, weather conditions, and farming techniques, which all contribute to the unique...
, a
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
term loosely translating as "a sense of place" that refers to the specific geographical and geological characteristics of grapevine plantations, which may be imparted in the wine. The precise conditions which a vineyard must maintain are often tightly-regulated and in recent years have become the subject of progressive and often radical change.
History
The earliest evidence of wine production dates from between 6000 and 5000 BC. Wine making technology improved considerably with the ancient Greeks but it wasn't until the end of the Roman Empire that cultivation techniques as we know them were common throughout Europe.
In
medieval EuropeThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
the
Christian ChurchChristian Church and church Christian Church and church Christian Church and church (Greek kyriakon, "thing belonging to the Lord"; also ekklesia (Latinized as ecclesia, "assembly") are used to denote both a Christian association of people and a place of worship. In the phenomenological sense there...
was a staunch supporter of wine, which was necessary for the celebration of the Catholic Mass. During the lengthy instability of the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
, the Christian
monasteriesMonastery , a term derived from the Greek word μοναστήριον, neut. of μοναστήριος - monasterios denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer Monastery (plural: monasteries), a term derived from the Greek word μοναστήριον, neut. of μοναστήριος - monasterios...
maintained and developed viticultural practices, having the resources, security, stability and interest in improving the quality of their vines. They owned and tended the best vineyards in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and
vinum theologium was considered superior to all others.
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an vineyards were planted with a wide variety of the
Vitis viniferaFor the town in Australia, see Vinifera, VictoriaVitis vinifera is a species of Vitis, native to the Mediterranean region, central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Spain north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran.It is a liana growing to 35 m tall, with flaky bark...
grape. However, in the late 19th century, the entire species was nearly destroyed by the
plantPlants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The scientific study of plants, known as botany, has identified about 350,000 extant species of plants, defined as seed plants,...
louseLice , , also known as fly babies, are an order of over 3,000 species of wingless insects; three of which are classified as human disease agents. They are obligate ectoparasites of every avian and most mammalian orders...
phylloxeraGrape phylloxera , commonly just called Phylloxera , is a pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America...
accidentally introduced to Europe from
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
.
Native AmericanThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples...
grapevines include varieties such as
Vitis labruscaVitis labrusca is a species of grape native to the eastern United States. It is the source of many grape cultivars, including Concord grapes. It is characteristic of this vine to have tendrils form on every node of the cane . This is in contrast to the European wine grape Vitis vinifera. The...
, which is resistant to the bug, but produce wines with a foxy, animal-like taste.
Vitis viniferaFor the town in Australia, see Vinifera, VictoriaVitis vinifera is a species of Vitis, native to the Mediterranean region, central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Spain north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran.It is a liana growing to 35 m tall, with flaky bark...
varieties were saved by being grafted onto the rootstock of native American varieties, although there is still no remedy for
phylloxera, which remains a danger to any vineyard not planted with grafted rootstock.
The oldest productive vineyard in the world is claimed to be located in
MariborMaribor is the second largest city in Slovenia, with 93,584 inhabitants as of 2007. Maribor lies on the river Drava at the meeting point of the Pohorje mountain, the Drava Valley, the Drava Plain, and the Kozjak and Slovenske gorice hill ranges...
,
SloveniaSlovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central Europe bordering Italy to the west, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north...
, based largely on the celebrated
Stara trta, a 400-year-old grapevine which grows there and was recognized as the oldest living example by the
Guinness Book of Records in 2004.
Modern practices
The quest for vineyard efficiency has produced a bewildering range of systems and techniques in recent years. Due to the often much more fertile New World growing conditions, attention has focussed heavily on managing the vine's more vigorous growth. Innovation in
palissage (training of the vine, usually along a
trellisTrellis may refer to:* Trellis Drainage System* Trellis , a structure that supports climbing plants* Trellis , a special kind of graph, often used in coding...
, and often referred to as "canopy management") and
pruningPruning is the process of removing certain above-ground elements from a plant; in landscaping this process usually involves removal of diseased, non-productive, or otherwise unwanted portions from a plant. In nature, certain meteorological conditions such as wind, snow or seawater mist can conduct...
and
thinningThinning is a term used in agricultural sciences to mean the removal of some plants, or parts of plants, to make room for the growth of others.- Forestry :...
methods (which aim to optimize the Leaf Area/Fruit (LA/F) ratio relative to a vineyard's microclimate) have largely replaced more general, traditional concepts like "yield per unit area" in favor of "maximizing yield of desired quality". Many of these new techniques have since been adopted in place of traditional practice in the more progressive of the so-called "Old World" vineyards.
Other recent practices include spraying water on vines to protect them from sub-zero temperatures (
aspersionAspersion , in a religious context, is the act of sprinkling with water, especially holy water. Aspersion is a method used in baptism as an alternative to immersion or affusion...
), new
grafting
Grafting is a method of asexual plant propagation widely used in agriculture and horticulture where the tissues of one plant are encouraged to fuse with those of another. It is most commonly used for the propagation of trees and shrubs grown commercially.In most cases, one plant is selected...
techniques, soil slotting, and mechanical harvesting. Such techniques have made possible the development of wine industries in New World countries such as
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Today there is increasing interest in developing
organicOrganic foods are made according to certain production standards. For the vast majority of human history, agriculture can be described as organic; only during the 20th century was a large supply of new synthetic chemicals introduced to the food supply...
, ecologically sensitive and sustainable vineyards. Biodynamics has become increasingly popular in viticulture. The use of
drip irrigationDrip irrigation, also known as trickle irrigation or microirrigation, is an irrigation method which saves water and fertilizer by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either onto the soil surface or directly onto the root zone, through a network of valves, pipes, tubing, and...
in recent years has expanded vineyards into areas which were previously unplantable. As a consequence of irrigation, yields are more consistent and vintage years virtually irrelevant.
For well over half a century
Cornell UniversityCornell University is a private university located in Ithaca, New York, USA, that is a member of the Ivy League.Cornell counts more than 255,000 living alumni, 28 Rhodes Scholars and 41 Nobel laureates affiliated with the university as faculty or students...
, the
University of California, DavisThe University of California, Davis is a public research university located in Davis, California, and one of ten campuses in the University of California system. Commonly referred to as UC Davis, the school was originally established in 1905 as the University Farm, an extension of UC Berkeley. UC...
, and
California State University, FresnoCalifornia State University, Fresno, commonly referred to as Fresno State, is one of the campuses of California State University system, located at the northeast edge of Fresno, California, USA....
, among others, have been conducting scientific experiments to improve viticulture and educating practitioners. The
researchResearch can be defined to be search for knowledge or any systematic investigation to establish facts. The primary purpose for applied research is discovering, interpreting, and the development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a wide variety of scientific matters of...
includes developing improved grape varieties and investigating pest control. The
International Grape Genome ProgramThe International Grape Genomics Program is a collaborative genome project dedicated to determining the genome sequence of the grapevine Vitis vinifera...
is a multi-national effort to discover a genetic means to improving quality, increasing yield and providing a "natural" resistance to pests.
The implementation of mechanical harvesting is often stimulated by changes in labor laws, labor shortages, and bureaucratic complications. It can be expensive to hire labor for short periods of time, which does not square well with the need to reduce production costs and harvest quickly, often at night. However, very small vineyards, incompatible widths between rows of grape vines and steep terrain hinder the employment of machine harvesting even more than the resistance of traditional views which reject such harvesting.
Current trends
Numbers of 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 to , while Australian vineyard numbers more than doubled from to and Chilean vineyards grew from to . The size of individual vineyards in the New World is significant. Europe's 1.6 million vineyards are an average of 0.2 square kilometres each, while the average Australian vineyard is 0.5 square kilometres, providing considerable economies of scale. Exports to Europe from New World growers increased by 54% in the six years up to 2006.
There are also changes in the kinds of grapes grown. For example, in
ChileChile, officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, large areas of low-quality grapes have been replaced with such grapes as
ChardonnayChardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is believed to have originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...
and
Cabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...
. Grape changes are often in response to changing consumer demand but sometimes result from
vine pull schemesVine pull schemes are programs whereby grape growers receive a financial incentive to pull up their grape vines, a process known as arrachage in French. A large program of the kind was initiated by the European Union in 1988 to reduce the wine lake glut from overproduction and declining demand...
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, making it possible to switch varieties within a two year period.
Local legislation often dictates which varieties are selected, how they are grown, whether vineyards can be irrigated and exactly when grapes can be harvested, all of which in serves to reinforce tradition. Of course, changes in the law can change which grapes are planted. For example, during
ProhibitionProhibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is a sumptuary law which prohibits alcohol. Typically, the manufacture, transportation, import, export, and sale of alcoholic beverages is restricted or illegal. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries...
in the U.S. (1920-1933), vineyards in
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
expanded sevenfold to meet the increasing demand for home-brewing. However, they were largely planted in varieties with tough skins that could be transported across the country to home wine-makers and the resulting wine was of low quality.
Leading wine critic
Robert M. Parker, Jr.Robert M. Parker, Jr. is a leading U.S. wine critic with an international influence. His wine ratings on a 100-point scale and his florid tasting notes, published in his newsletter The Wine Advocate, define modern American wine criticism and are a major factor in setting the prices for...
has had a significant influence on viticulture around the world. His taste preferences have led many growers in
Bordeauxis a port city on the Garonne River in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area at a 2008 estimate. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department...
, 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.
Terroir
Terroir refers to the combination of natural factors associated with any particular vineyard. These factors include such things as soil, underlying rock, altitude, slope of hill or terrain, orientation toward the sun, and
microclimateA microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square feet or as large as many square miles...
(typical rain, winds, humidity, temperature variations, etc.) No two vineyards have the exact same terroir, although any difference in the resulting wine may be virtually undetectable.
Vineyards are often on hillsides and on
soilSoil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics. It is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and...
of marginal value to other plants. A common saying is that "the worse the soil, the better the wine." Planting on hillsides, especially those facing south, is most often in an attempt to maximize the amount of sunlight that falls on the vineyard. For this reason some of the best wines come from vineyards planted on quite steep hills, conditions which would make most other agricultural products uneconomic. The stereotypical vineyard site for wine grapes (in the Northern hemisphere) is a hillside in a dry climate with a southern exposure, good drainage to reduce unnecessary water uptake, and balanced pruning to force the vine to put more of its energy into the fruit, rather than foliage.
Vignette
A vignette is a 500 square metre vineyard which is part of a larger consolidated vineyard. Investors purchase a piece of land within a vineyard, and outsource the grape maintenance and production operations to an outside grape grower or wine producers. Because they are contracting under a co-operative structure, they benefit from
economies of scaleEconomies of scale, in microeconomics, are the cost advantages that a business obtains due to expansion. They are factors that cause a producer’s average cost per unit to fall as scale is increased. Economies of scale is a long run concept and refers to reductions in unit cost as the size of a...
and hence cheaper labour and operational costs.
See also
- Precision viticulture
Precision viticulture is precision farming applied to optimize vineyard performance, in particular maximizing grape yield and quality while minimizing environmental impacts and risk...
- List of vineyard soil types
- Terroir
Terroir was originally a French term in wine, coffee and tea used to denote the special characteristics that geography bestowed upon particular varieties. Agricultural sites in the same region share similar soil, weather conditions, and farming techniques, which all contribute to the unique...
- Vineyard designated wine
A vineyard designated wine is a wine produced from the product of a single vineyard with that vineyard's name appearing on the wine label. Throughout the history of winemaking and viticulture, the differences in quality between one plot of land and another have been observed with the boundaries of...
- Viticulture
Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...
- Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage typically made of fermented grape juice. The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients. Wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast consumes...
- Clos (vineyard)
Clos, from the French for Closure or enclosed, is a walled vineyard used to protect the grapes from theft as well as improving the mesoclimate...
Further reading
- Echikson, Tom. Noble Rot. NY: Norton, 2004.
- Robinson, Jancis (Ed.) The Oxford Companion to Wine. Oxford
Oxford is a city, and the county town of Oxfordshire, in South East England. The city has a population of just under 165,000, with 151,000 living within the district boundary. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through Oxford and meet south of the city centre...
, EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
: Oxford University Press, second edition, 1999.
External links