Free Flashcards DipWSET D1: Wine Production – 3/Viticulture

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[h] DipWSET D1 SET 3 Viticulture

[i] DipWSET D1 – Wine Production Flashcards

SET 3 Viticulture

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[start]

[q] When was conventional grape growing widely implemented throughout the world?

[a] The second half of the twentieth century

[q]
What are the aims of conventional grape growing and how are they achieved?

[a]

Aims

Raising production levels;
Reducing labor requirements.
How achieved

Mechanization;
Irrigation;
Use of agrochemicals, mineral fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides;
Clonal selection;
Creating a monoculture in the vineyard

[q]

What are the advantages of monoculture?

[a]

Mechanized vineyard work
Minimizied competition from other plants
Unilateral care for the grape variety planted (irrigation, nutrition level, treatments against hazards, pests and diseases)
Increase yields while reducing costs

[q] What are the disadvantages of monoculture?

[a]

Monocultures are significantly more prone to diseases, the quick spread of disease, and pests, so they need more treatments and protection
Nutrient depletion is common as there is no natural ecosystem to replenish nutrients, requiring more applications of fertilizers
Residual chemicals seep into ground water or become airborne, which creates environmental damage

[q] Why are so many grape growers moving away from conventional farming?

[a] They have increasingly realized that agrochemicals are harmful to the soil, the plant, laborers, and the end consumer

[q] What are the three themes to sustainable viticulture?

[a]

• Social;
• Economic;
• Environmental sustainability.

[q]

What are the aims of sustainable viticulture?

[a]

Promote natural ecosystems in the vineyards
Maintain biodiversity
Manage waste and energy use
Minimize applications of chemicals
Reduce the impact of viticulture on the broader environment

[q] How do grape growers who employ sustainable viticulture practices predict/prevent pest or disease outbreaks?

[a]

They develop a thorough understanding of the vine’s lifecycles and of vineyard pests
Monitor weather forecasts
together, these help them time applications so that they have the greatest impact

[q]

Integrated pest management (IPM) is also known as ____ ____.

[a]

Lutte raisonée

[q]

Lutte raisonée allows the use of cheminal interventions:

Weekly
Only when necessary
Never

[a]

[q]

What are some actions a grape grower practicing sustainable viticulture needs to implement to keep their vineyard as healthy as possible?

[a]

Identifying / monitoring pests and their populations, and what to look for
Understand and anticipate the damage caused by certain pests and how to set up preventative measures
How to boost the vine’s own defense mechanisms
Evaluating control options and deploying them at optimal times

[q] What are the advantages of sustainable viticulture?

[a]

A more thoughtful approach to grape growing, with attention on the economic, social and environmental impact of viticulture;
Scientific understanding of the threats to successful grape growing (pests and diseases) to minimize the number of interventions;
Reduced synthetic and conventional treatments

[q] What are the disadvantages of sustainable viticulture?

[a] 

The term is not protected and can therefore be used to promote wine without a clear set of standards;
Danger that nationwide standards for sustainability can be set too low

[q]

What are the aims of organic viticulture?

[a]

Improve the soil of the vineyard
Boost the range of microbes and animals (e.g. earthworms) within the vineyard
Increase the vine’s health and disease resistance

[q]

What are four key features of organic viticulture?

[a]

Compost
provides a slow release of nutrients into the soil;
improves soil structure;
increases biomass in the soil (the total quantity or weight of organisms in a given area or volume);
Cover crops
prevent erosion of the soil;
contribute to the improvement of biodiversity of the soil;
Natural fertilizers
animal droppings;
natural calcium carbonate to restore the natural balance;
Establish ‘islands’ of biodiversity to reduce monoculture of vineyards

[q] What do organic grape growers use to combat mildew?

[a]

Sulfur and copper sulfate

[q]

Copper can build up in soil if grape growers over use it.

How are some organic grape growers rethinking the use of copper sprays?

[a]

In vineyards where frequent sprays are necessary, some grape growers believe that careful use of longer-lasting synthetic chemical sprays might be a better option for the environment

[q] Name two ways organic grape growers combat disease and pests in the vineyard

[a]

• Use of natural predators;
• Ecosystem mechanisms, such as sexual confusion to disrupt the mating patterns of insects

[q] What is the universal requirement across all global organic-certifying bodies for a vineyard to be certified organic?

[a]

The vineyard must go through a period of conversion working towards organic standards before it can be certified.

[q] What are the advantages of organic + biodynamic grape growing?

[a]

1. Improving the vines’ health, the health of the soil, and the vines’ resistance to disease;
2. Reduction in the number of chemical treatments in the vineyard;
3. Terminating use of synthetic chemicals;
4. Reducing costs from not buying synthetic chemicals and the labor used to spray them

[q] What are the disadvantages of organic + biodynamic grape growing?

[a]

1. Potential small reduction in yield in normal years;
2. Potential significant reductions in yield in difficult years (e.g. rainy vintages);
3. Increased dependence on copper sprays, which may lead to a build up of heavy metal in the soil;
4. Cost and time spent on certification

[q] Biodynamic viticulture is based on the work of these two people

[a]

Rudolf Steiner and Maria Thun

[q]

Biodynamic viticulture utilizes organic practices along with:

Philosophy and cosmology
Psychology and cosmetology
Physiology and cosmic ecology

[a]

Philosophy and cosmology

Grape growers who practice biodynamics view the vineyard holistically, and time their actions to coincide with the cycles of the planets, moon and stars

[q] What are the four “days” of biodynamic viticulture?

[a]

Root
Leaf
Flower
Fruit

[q] Name three homeopathic remedies, or ‘preparations,’ used in biodynamic viticulture used to fertilize soil

[a]

Preparation 500 (horn manure)
Preparation 501 (horn silica)
Compost (activated by preparations 502-507)

[q]

What is Preparation 500 (horn manure) and how is it used?

[a]

1. It’s made by stuffing cow manure into a cow’s horn and burying the horn in the soil over winter;
2. Unearthing the horn in the spring then dynamizing its contents;
   • stirring the contents of the horn into water (creating a vortex and then reversing it) so that the water memorizes the power of the preparation, which can then be passed on to the vineyard;
3. This preparation is then sprayed onto the soil as a homeopathic compost

[q] What is Preparation 501 (horn silica) and what is it believed to do?

[a]

1. It’s made by filling a cow’s horn with ground quartz (silica) and burying it for six months;
2. The horn is unearthed, its contents dynamized, then sprayed onto the soil;
3. The manure is believed to catalyze humus formation and the silica is believed to encourage plant growth

[q] What are Preparations 502–507 used for?

[a]

They are used to facilitate effective decomposition of compost (farmyard wastes, crop residues, farm animal dung, etc.).

When these preparations are used, it’s called “activating” the compost

[q]

Do biodynamic grape growers use or not use traditional chemicals to spray against disease (including sulfur and copper sprays)?

[a]

They use them, just like organic grape growers do

[q] What is “ashing” in biodynamic viticulture?

[a]

Spreading the ashes of burnt weed seeds or harmful animals (such as rats or sparrows) on the vineyard to ward off these hazards

[q] What is precision viticulture (PV) and what does it aim to do?

[a]

It aims to maximize the oenological potential of vineyards.

PV uses data collected from the vineyard (soil, vigor, topography, plant growth) to respond to changes from plot to plot and from row to row, and to identify different quality zones within a given vineyard;

The data is collected by sensors either on aircraft (‘remote’) or mounted on a tractor or harvester in the field (‘proximal’);

Geospatial technology [global positioning systems (GPS) and geographical information systems (GIS)] presents the data visually in the form of maps;

Interventions in the vineyard are then targeted in response to the data collected, e.g. details about the composition of soils or the rate of canopy growth. This is also called ‘variable-rate application technology’

[q] Precision viticulture is often used in conjunction with which two types of viticulture?

[a]

Sustainable
Organic

[q] What are the advantages of precision viticulture?

[a]

Detailed variations of a vineyard or vineyards which could affect yield and quality
Capability to adjust a range of interventions to individual blocks or even rows of vines, with the aim of improving yields and/or quality

[q] What are the disadvantages of precision viticulture?

[a]

Upfront cost of the hardware, software, and the data collection
Cost of consultancy or trained staff to analyze and interpret the data, and make interventions with the information attained

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