Terms Part 3 - Green Harvest & Yield
Every field of study seems to have its’ own vocabulary, and the wine industry is no different. When it comes to growing grapes a great deal of effort is devoted to managing the vines and growing good tasting grapes with characteristics appropriate to the variety. We learned yesterday the best wines come from low yield vines that are slightly stressed and the grapes have more contact with light and air. One way to accommodate this is to practice what is referred to as green harvest, or the midsummer removal of unripe bunches of grapes in order to reduce the final yield of the vine. The yield is the amount of fruit produce and is usually measured in weight per acre. Very often low yields equate to quality. You see a grape vine will not automatically cull itself when it is over producing, like a fruit tree which drops fruit. Instead it will try to ripen all of the fruit on the vine, which may result in rather thin of dilute flavor profiles. Yields are different depending upon the variety of grape and the growing season. However, all can be influenced and developed based on varying decisions of canopy management. Very often the winemaker will dictate the amount of yield they are looking for to create a specific flavor profile. It is a complicated process. There you have it defined the terms green harvest and yield in the grape vineyard. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at ag info dot net and thanks for joining me on today’s Vine to Wine.
