Posted By Joel on April 24, 2011

In so many ways, Spring is a time of new beginnings and refocusing of energies.

With the arrival of Spring, bud break in the vineyard marks the transition from winter’s quiet dormancy to that unique awakening which begins another growing season.

Here's the vine before shoot thinning. Note that the shoots near the head of the vine and the end of the vine are crowded and bunched up. Photo / caption credit: winemakermag.com.

Other benefits of shoot thinning include improved air flow among the clusters aiding in prevention of disease, and the creation of spatial openings for filtered light to better hit clusters thus promoting better color development and uniform ripening.

The same vine after shoot thinning. It may not look totally distinct, but note the sun flecking inside the canopy is much better after thinning. The idea here is to give each cluster a bit of niche space to grow, hang and ripen without being nested up with other clusters (which can shade the fruit and cause off flavors). Photo / caption credit: winemakermag.com.

As you might imagine, manual shoot thinning can be time and labor intensive and vineyard managers may need to hire additional help to accomplish it – especially considering that sometimes, depending upon weather and if additional buds push shoots after the first thinning pass, shoot thinning may need to be done twice…Yikes !

As if vineyard maintenance, seasonal care, pruning, vine training, nutrient management, planting, grafting, irrigation, weed control weren’t enough to worry about … now we need to find the right team players for a second round of shoot thinning??? … I would be, like, OK, point my browser to www.olx.com and it’s OLX local classifieds to the rescue ! Cuz, I mean, hey, after all…grape clusters need their space, too

In the end, it’s all about keeping the vine in balance. That is to say, the vine will happily produce more shoots than it can support with quality fruit. The extra, unwanted shoots steal energy and nutrients from the vine. Through shoot thinning, the vine’s energy and nutrients are redirected to provide only for those shoots selected during the thinning process to remain on the vine.

From vineyard to cellar, there are many decisions along the way that impact the Quality vs Quantity debate, but, as has been said many times… good wine begins in the vineyard.

Categories: Culture, Uncategorized, Wine
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