🌿 Vineyard

A vineyard is a plot of land planted with grapevines. Every vineyard has its own character, called terroir. The OIV defines vitivinicultural terroir as an area in which collective knowledge of the interactions between the physical and biological environment and applied practices develops, giving distinctive characteristics to the products of that area; it includes specific soil, topography, climate, landscape and biodiversity features.

Vines are planted in rows, and the spacing depends on the cultivar and the training system. Oregon State University, for example, recommends 6 feet (about 1.8 m) between European vines in the row and 9 to 10 feet (about 2.7 to 3 m) between rows for single-canopy systems. The vines are trained on trellis wires, for example a single wire about 6 feet high. Every year they are pruned in winter while dormant, before budbreak. During the growing season the canopy is managed to reduce disease: shoots are thinned, leaves are pulled on the morning-sun side and shoots are positioned for airflow; European cultivars may also need sulfur or other fungicide against powdery mildew. Depending on variety and region, grapes ripen between mid-July and mid-October.

A new vineyard is made with young vines. The first two years are used to build the permanent structures, the trunks and cordons. Fruiting begins in the third growing season, but the crop is limited, and vines usually do not reach full production until the fifth or sixth year. Properly cared-for grapevines can live 50 to 100 years.