PRUNING

Received wisdom is that pruning hard keeps yields low and quality high. However, many growers in Australia have found that they can produce good quality wine with minimal pruning or no pruning at all: yields, they say, find their own level. The debate continues, with European growers still firmly in the hard-pruning camp. This worker at Château Léoville-Barton in Bordeaux is leaving just two crop-bearing branches for the year to come. The answer (if there ever is one) may turn out to be that it is local conditions that matter most.

GRAFTING

THE VINE

VITIS VINIFERA

The best wines are made from a type of vine known as Vitis Vinifera. Some of which are known to be three hundred years old. This wine grows best in this broad belts one north and the other south of the equator. Grapes can be grown outside these belts and be turned into wine, but its quality is not considered as high as that from vines grown within these belts. The northern belt includes knowledgeable wine making countries such as France, Italy, Germany and the United States. The Southern belt embraces Chile, Argentina, Australia and South Africa. Vines will yield more grapes when planted in fertile soil on flat land but the wine made from such grapes will seldom be comparable in quality to wine made from grapes grown on sunny slopes in soil that may not be fertile but is rich in the mineral that create a special characteristic, known as bouquet, that is present in all quality wines.

As the grapes mature, their sugar content increases and their acid content decreases. Grape growers thus must know when the balance between sugar and acid is just right to produce the best wine.

  

FACTORS AFFECTING WINE

Finally, the skills of the winemaker is extremely important as it can effect the personality and quality of the wine produced. The vintner's skill can also vary, because of local tradition and will dictate the type of wine made. The market for whom the wine is to be manufactured also calls upon different wine making skills. For examples, if the wine is to be made in a smaller quantity with a high quality or in a larger quantity with a lesser quality.