Concisely:
Canopy Management: maintaining the grapevines to optimize the yield and quality of the berries, in line with the winemakers’ goals.
Perfect grape growing conditions rarely occur, so viticulturists need to control whatever elements they can to produce grapes suited to the winemakers’ goals. It doesn’t matter whether that goal is top-quality wine or maximum crop yield; the watchword is balance.
It’s the right balance of sunlight, airflow, plant mass to water, the number of grape clusters on the vine, etc., that determines the quality, quantity, and health of the wine grape. Even the choice of quality versus quantity is a balancing act.
Canopy Management includes all the procedures viticulturists use to influence those balances.
- Pruning
- Pruning sets the basic outline of the canopy, the number of shoots, and at what location.
- Suckering (Shoot Thinning)
- Taking off buds and young shoots before they establish to control shoot distribution and limit density.
- Shoot Positioning
- Training the grapevine shoots on the trellis. Shoots are held in place with wire, plastic clips, or branch locks.
- Leaf and Lateral Removal
- Leaf removal from above or below the grape clusters is called basal leaf removal. Removing leaves from the main shoot is lateral leaf removal, and tunneling is the removal of lower, interior leaves.
- Hedging
- Hedging removes excess growth for the top and sides.
Concisely Wine Section: