Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/76198
Grapes Busting the low- yield MYTH The size, condition, and character of the canopy determines the ability of the vine to ripen the fruit, and the effective crop load. by Melissa Hansen ne of the most contentious issues between grape grower and winemaker is the long-held belief that lower yields make better wines. Though research has uncoupled the linkage of low yield to premium wine, some U.S. winemakers still cling to the European tradition. Old World Dr. Nick Dokoozlian, vice president of viticulture, chemistry, and enology at E. & J. Gallo Winery, one of the world's biggest wineries, says winemakers in Europe believe low tonnage equates to quality, a perspective he believes is prevalent throughout America's wine industry. It's no wonder, he mused, con- sidering that roots of the U.S. wine industry and culture came from Europe, where grape growing and winemaking go back thousands of years and the industry is steeped in tradition. "If I were growing grapes in Europe and trying to make decent wines— based on their shallow soils, natural precipitation, virus-infected plant material, and other variables—I'd be thinning crop, too, to try to get quality," Dokoozlian said. But New World vineyards in the United States, espe- cially eastern Washington, with carefully applied irrigation and managed canopies, are vastly different than the French vineyards. Dokoozlian took part in a panel discussion debating the myth that low yields always mean better wine quality held during a winter meeting of the Washington Associa- tion of Wine Grape Growers. The panel included: grape grower Tedd Wildman of StoneTree Vineyard in Mattawa, Washington; Eric Brasher, wine and vine consultant from Portland, Oregon; and Brennon Leighton, winemaker for Efeste Winery of Woodinville, Washington. Although the panelists agreed that low yields do not always make better wine, they also agreed there are still winemakers out there hanging onto the myth. Winemaker viewpoint Leighton said that as a winemaker, he looks for phenolic development in a vineyard and strives to achieve as much phenolic ripeness as possible in the berry without losing acidity. "There is correlation between quality and yield in the sense that there's a mid-area where it really works," Leighton said. "Quality goes down when you overcrop, and it also goes down when you undercrop." He tries to find balance in the vineyard and often hangs more crop in a warmer year. Consultant Brasher, with clients in Oregon and Washington, believes there 54 AUGUST 2012 GOOD FRUIT GROWER is a more pervasive change in quality due to yield when growing grapes in marginal climates. He also believes that thinning in cool climates is some- times justified to hasten ripening. In warmer climates, the bell curve of qual- ity is broader and there is less quality difference between yields than in cooler regions where grapes might have difficulty ripening in cool years, Brasher explained. Historically, winemakers trying to reach phenolic maturity have used lower yields as an easy way to have a conversation with the grower to ensure that ripeness can be reached. "This conversation has helped develop the myth that you automatically hasten phenolic maturity by reducing crop load," Brasher said, adding that phenolic maturity has been the driving rea- son winemakers he's worked with in the past have asked growers to drop crop. Grower perspective Sharing a grower's viewpoint, Wildman said that each vineyard has a sweet spot when vines are in balance, but the sweet spot is different for each vine- yard and depends on many variables, from site and variety to weather and canopy. Some of the state's highest quality grape years have also been years of the highest average yields, he noted. Wildman stressed that crop load is important, but not so subjectively that it should become the driving factor behind winemaker decisions. "There's this European, mythical view of ultralow crop that seems to be ingrained in the www.goodfruit.com "Quality goes down when you overcrop, and it also goes down when you undercrop." —Brennon Leighton