Wine: Vine Trellising Systems

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Canopy management

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Aim is to achieve optimum leaf and fruit exposure to sun, while reducing the risk of disease and while pushing the quality-to-yield ratio as far as possible.

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Tendone

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Italian term for the arbour or pergola system common in parts of Italy (They look pretty, and yields can be heroic, but fruit shading is a problem and quality suffers as a result. They are hard to work, too. Of all trellising systems, this most closely replicates the growth of the vine in the wild.

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Basal leaf removal

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This is done to expose the fruiting zone, allowing access to light and disease-preventing air circulation.

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Cane

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The shoot of a grape vine that is one season old and has become woody, and which can either be cut back to spurs (up to four buds) or canes (typically six to fifteen buds) for the following season's growth. Canes are also sometimes called "rods" although in many cases "rod" refers to a shoot intermediate in length between a cane and a spur.

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Cordon

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The woody framework of the vine extending from the top of the trunk. A cordon-trained vine has a trunk terminating on one or more cordons, which are then spur-pruned.

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Head training

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Where the head of the trunk is pruned to either spurs (gobelet system) or canes (e.g. guyot).

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Hedging

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Also known as shoot tipping, this involves cutting back excessive growth at the top and sides of the canopy midway through the growing season. The aim is to leave enough leaves to ripen the fruit, while preventing excess growth that will lead to shading and competition for resources with the fruit. A balanced vine will typically have two fruit clusters and fifteen leaf nodes on each shoot.

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Shoot

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Green growth arising from a bud.

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Spur

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A short cane cut back to between one and four buds to provide the following season's shoots.

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Trunk

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The main, permanent vertical growth of the vine which supports the canes or cordons.

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Gobelet

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An old technique and probably the simplest. Spurs are arranged around the head of a trunk or short arms coming from the top of the trunk. Used in warm, dry climates in low-vigor situations.No support trellising. Shading of fruit zones can be a problem. Popular in mediterranean regions. Known in the New World as the bush vine (or head-trained in USA); in Italy it is called the alberello.

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Guyot

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One of the most popular cane pruned systems, with a single or double cane layered horizontally from the head of a trunk. One or two renewal spurs are also left. Simple and effective. Well suited to Old World, low-vigor vineyards.

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Cordon de Royat

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Simple spur pruned system, usually with a unilateral cordon spreading from a low trunk. Variations on the theme include a double cordon.Simple, effective.

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Vertical Shoot Positioning (VSP)

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Widely adopted system where the shoots are trained vertcally upwards in summer, held in place by foliage wire. Leads to relatively tall canopies, and suitable for mechanization. A good option for most sites.

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Scott Henry

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A split-canopy trellising system where the shoots are separated and divided into upwards and downwards growing systems, held in place by foliage wires. Useful for high-vigor situations. Suitable for both spur and cane pruning.The advantage is lower disease pressure, improved grape quality, and higher yields. Looks like a wall of vines, growing from the ground to 6 1/2 feet high.

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Smart-Dyson

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Developed by Richard Smart and John Dyson, this is a variant of the Scott Henry trellis, with curtains trained up and down from just one cordon. Popularized by the influential work of Smart, a major flying viticulturalist.

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Dopelbogen

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The "double bow" system for Riesling vines common in the Mosel. Each vine is singly staked and two canes are bent round into a bow shape. Single-staked vines are also found in France's Northern Rhone. For steep slopes, where any other sort of trellising would be impractical.

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Eventail

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French term for "fan." A cordon system with a number of arms arising from a short trunk, each bearing a short cane. Popular in Chablis. Also used in Champagne.

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Geneva double curtain

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A rather complicated split-canopy system with cordons grown high on two parallel horizontal trellising wires, with the shoots bending down, A variation on this theme is the lyre system that is relatively common in Austria, but here the split canopies have upward growing shoots, and angle outwards slightly. Both are hindered by the need for wider rows and complicated trellising systems.