Viticulture
The vine
How a grapevine is built, and which parts matter for wine — roots, trunk, canopy, bunch and berry, and what each one contributes to the glass.
Overview
A grapevine is a climbing plant that, left alone, would sprawl for tens of metres and fruit poorly. Almost everything a grower does is about constraining it.
The parts that matter for wine: the roots (water and nutrient uptake, and depth determines drought resilience), the trunk and cordon (permanent structure), the canes and shoots (this year's growth), the leaves (photosynthesis, and shade for the fruit), and the bunches.
A berry is skin, pulp and seeds. Colour and tannin live in the skin; more tannin and bitter oils in the seeds; sugar, acid and water in the pulp. That is why skin contact governs red winemaking.
Sources
Sources consulted
- UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology — University of California, Davis
- WSET educational materials and the Systematic Approach to Tasting — Wine & Spirit Education Trust
More in the vineyard
Viticulture
Climate and wine style
The largest single influence on what a wine tastes like — larger than grape, producer or winemaking, and the reason the same variety is unrecognisable in two places.
Viticulture
Climate change and wine
Warming is already reshaping where wine is grown and what it tastes like.
Viticulture
Harvest and picking decisions
When to pick — the single most consequential decision a producer makes each year.