🌿 Pergola
A high trellis on which the vine's shoots form a roof of leaves.
A pergola is a vine training system in which the shoots are spread horizontally on a high frame, about 1.5 to 2 metres above the ground. The posts and crossbars carry a roof of leaves, and the bunches hang below it in the shade.
The pergola is traditional in northern Italy. In the Valpolicella area of Veneto it was developed hundreds of years ago, and today it is about as widespread there as the Guyot system. In the province of Trento the pergola trentina is the most common training system; it is built as a single or a double pergola, depending on the number of arms.
The shape affects the grapes. The layer of leaves shades the bunches, so the berries stay cooler and suffer less from sunburn than on a vertical trellis. In a study in Valpolicella, Corvina berries from pergolas had thinner skins and more tartaric acid than those from Guyot vines.
A pergola is one kind of trellis, a support for the vine.
How it connects to Wine
🌿 Pergola → kind of → 🌿 Trellis → kind of → 🌿 Viticulture → kind of → 🍷 Wine
Links
- Next step
- 🌿 High-altitude vineyards
- Part of
- 🌿 Trellis
Frequently asked questions
What is a pergola in viticulture?
A high frame on which the vine's shoots spread horizontally overhead, with the bunches hanging below in the shade.
Why use a pergola in a vineyard?
Its roof of leaves shades the bunches, so the berries stay cooler and suffer less from sunburn.
Where are pergolas used?
Traditionally in northern Italy, for example in Trentino and in Valpolicella in Veneto.
Similar
Sources
- Wikidata Q264458
- Battista F. et al. Corvina berry morphology and grape composition as affected by two training systems (Pergola and Guyot). CREA / Fondazione Edmund Mach, Terroir Congress 2014 (IVES)
- Provincia autonoma di Trento. Disciplinare di produzione integrata: scheda agronomica vite