Managing this network of green by training the vine onto a trellis system, pruning the vine, and positioning its shoots is known as canopy management . The goal in managing the canopy is to improve fruit quality by allowing sunlight to strike as many leaves as possible for optimal photosynthetic production of sugars to provide gaps within the canopy so that air can circulate and help prevent rot, molds and mildews and to allow sunlight to strike the grape clusters for optimal color and flavor development. Sunlight also needs to strike the cluster primordia, buds on the vine that hold the developing tissue for next season s grape crop. Large, vigorous vines produce too much foliage. This shades the fruit and thereby prevents color and flavor development in the cluster.
Excess foliage increases the humidity of the canopy and creates an environment for rot and disease.
Leaves that do not see sunshine are unproductive photosynthetically and rob the fruit of the sugars it needs to ripen. Managing the canopy is vital to quality fruit production and award-winning wines. It s true. Overwhelmingly, most wine contains sulfites those produced by yeasts during fermentation and those added by the winemaker. Sulfites prevent wine from oxidizing, inhibit browning, and kill organisms like bacteria and yeast that would otherwise spoil the finished product.