1. The Vine

Anatomy of a Vine

• Key parts of a vine include the tendril, lateral shoot, inflorescence, leaf, prompt bud, and cane

Structure of the Shoots

• Mature buds contain all the parts of a vine in miniature form

Compound buds

• Latent buds that form in one growing season and break open in the next
• Produce the following season's shoots
• Have primary, secondary, and tertiary buds, but the latter two only develop if the primary bud fails

Prompt buds

• Form and break open in the same season
• Form on the primary shoot and produce lateral shoots

Lateral shoots

• Grow from prompt buds
• Have a stem, leaves, buds, tendrils, and sometimes inflorescences
• Their primary function is to serve as a backup if the primary shoot fails
• They can be near the tip of the primary shoot and have additional leaves

Risks

• If the buds are near the base, airflow will be impeded, requiring summer pruning
• Second crops (inflorescences) ripen later, increasing acidity, as seen in Pinot Noir
• Green harvest is used to reduce risk or hand pick later

Tendrils

• Curl around wires and keep the canopy in place
• Sometimes vines are tied to ensure solid connection

Leaves

• The main site of photosynthesis
• Sugars created are used for vine metabolism and growth
• Stomata under the leaf allow water to leave through transpiration
• These will close if under stress

Inflorescences

• Clusters of flowers on a stem that become a bunch of grapes at fruit set
• Usually, there are 1-3 on each shoot

Bunches

• A bunch of fertilised inflorescences
• Success varies based on the variety; Pinot Noir is often tightly packed, leading to disease

Grapes

• Pulp is the largest part and contains water, sugar, ascids, aroma compounds, and aroma precursors

Pulp

• Only aromatic after fermentation, such as thiols (box wood) and terpenes (grapey)
• Usually colorless, except for varieties like Alicante Bouschet, Dornfelder, and other Teinturier varieties

Skin

• Contains aroma compounds and aroma precursors, tannins, flavour compounds, and color compounds (anthocyanins)

Seeds

• Contain oils, tannins of a specific type, and embryos which can turn into a new plant

Skin Bloom

• A foggy skin as seen in Nebbiolo
• Contains ambient yeasts and other compounds from the local environment, such as eucalyptus trees in Australia or smoke from bushfires

One-Year-Old Wood

• Refers to shoots from the previous growing season that have not been pruned

Permanent Wood

• Wood that is older than one year, including the trunk

Cordons

• One or more year old permanent horizontal arms of wood
• Transport water and solutes around the vine and store carbohydrates and nutrients

Roots

• Anchor the vine and facilitate uptake of water and nutrients
• Store nutrients and produce hormones
• Most vine roots are found in the top 50cm of soil
• Root distribution depends on soil properties, irrigation, cultivation, and the type of rootstock
• Nutrients are absorbed in root tips

Vine Propagation

Cuttings

• Using a section of a vine shoot that can be planted
• Most common method
• Permits use of rootstocks
• Nurseries can treat cuttings to reduce disease

Layering

• Fills gaps in vineyards involving bending a cane down and half burying it underground
• The tip of the cane points out from the soil
• The wood underground begins to take root, and shoots appear
• It's then cut from the old plant and left to grow
• This method will not have rootstock, losing benefits and increasing disease risk

Clones

• Genetically identical plants are produced
• Mutations can arise, leading to changes in characteristics (genetic diversity)
• Clonal selection involves selecting for favourable characteristics

Pinot Noir Clone 115

• Has low yields of small grapes, making it suited to high-quality red wine production

Pinot Noir Clone 521

• Higher yields of bigger grapes, making it better suited to sparkling wine production

• This is because high concentrations of tannins and color from the skins are not needed in these wines

• Grape varieties like Pinot Noir, Meunier, Pinot Blanc, and Pinot Gris are all mutations of the grape variety Pinot

• Buy young from nurseries and clones

Mass Selection (Sélection Massale)

• Involves taking the best cuttings from your own vineyard, cultivating them, and grafting onto rootstock where necessary

Advantages

• Increases the diversity of planting material
• Can enhance fruit quality and relative yield

Disadvantages

• Costly in time and labor to manage program
• Big problem if parent is unknowingly infected

New Grape Varieties

• Typically produced from seeds (cross-fertilization)
• Vines grown from these seeds have different characteristics
• Monitored for an extended period to assess attributes, and may lead to propagation
• New categories must be registered in the OIV catalogue

Cross

• Two parent vines are from the same species (Pinotage - Pinot noir and Cinsault)

Hybrid

• Parents from different species - Vidal Blanc (Vidal, from Ugni Blanc (V. vinifera) and a member of the Seibel family (American parentage))