This sample newsletter is complimentary but a subscription will be required as of February 2001. Upon registration you will be supplied a password to access the newsletter. His findings were enlightening. Interestingly, he discovered that Bordeaux s great sites were very different in soil composition. Similar studies in Burgundy revealed the same results and go a long way in explaining why the best sites maintain consistent quality regardless of vintage year.
Soil structure is the key.
This is important. A vine of moderate vigor will have less shading in the vine canopy and produce high-quality fruit. 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.