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The climate in Southern
Piedmont is ideal for viniculture.
In our vineyards at Casa della Fontana we grow
Barbera, Chardonnay and Moscato grapes.
Casa della Fontana is being refurbished to enable us
to offer guest accommodation.
A
swimming pool will be installed.
More information ?
If you would like more information please call
me, Kerrie Barker, on:-
0039 0141 851 154
or send me an email,
(link at bottom of page)
If you would like us to
keep in touch, please fill in and
send us the form on the Registration page.
We look forward to hearing from you.
© Kerrie Barker 2007
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The art of growing grapes for
winemaking is called viniculture. It involves planning, planting, care and maintenance and,
the vital end result,
harvesting of the vineyard.
A well-cared for vineyard can thrive for 50 years.
Grapevines are highly adaptable plants, but
quality grape production requires hot, dry summers and a short, sharp winter
chill, because high humidity and mild winters promote vine diseases. This is
why the
climate in Southern Piedmont is ideal for viniculture.
Exposure to the sun is vital for ripening the
grapes. Hilly country casts early shadows, so later-ripening grapes (black
varieties) are planted on and around the hilltops, and the angle of the
slopes is
exploited to enable sunlight to penetrate the rows of leafy vines.
Different types of vine (varietals, such as
chardonnay, or moscato) all have
their own preferences for soil type and chemistry, fertility and drainage,
and where these conditions are optimised defines the boundaries of the
'controlled areas' for the wines made from them.
After all of these physical and climatic
issues have been considered, vineyard design and management approach - density of
planting, row direction and spacing and the vine training system - need to be
decided. Planting a new vineyard is an expensive process and as the new
plants take three years to provide a crop, mistakes are not easily
rectified.
Planting a new vineyard
Once you have decided where you want to plant
a vineyard, the next decision is to consider what varietal to plant. If you
want to sell your grapes (or wine made from them) this will need to be one
of the authorised types for your comune.
The overlapping areas of the different DOC's,
in theory, give quite a wide choice. At Casa della
Fontana, for example, we are in the authorised area for barbera,
brachetto, chardonnay, cortese, dolcetto, freisa and moscato, but this
choice of seven reduces to three if the site is only advantageous for white
grapes.
To plant a vineyard, you also have to own the
rights to plant that variety. This is a form of quota under the DOC system
to prevent over-production. If you have an exhausted vineyard, you already
own the rights, so these are transferred to the new site, although you must
plant the same grape varietal. After the transfer, the old vineyard is
allowed to produce for three more years (until the new one crops), and then
it must be eliminated.
If you want to expand your vineyards,
however, you have to buy the appropriate quota, perhaps from someone who is
retiring, or changing over to hazelnut production. The quota price will depend on the recent and expected price for those grapes. At the
moment, moscato prices are at a premium and moscato quota is like gold-dust.
Physically, the next thing to do is to clear
the land, which if it is a new vineyard will invariably be covered with
luxuriant vegetation. This is best done in winter, when there is no foliage
to cope with, and it is safe to have a fire.
You must dig the soil to the necessary depth
required by the DOC regulations to eliminate roots and aereate it. (You need
to get the roots out anyway because vineyards and trees don't mix well).
In Piedmont, new vines are planted in the
early Spring. This allows their root system to develop sufficiently from the
late Spring showers to withstand the long dry Summer. The new vines are supplied as
cuttings made from healthy plants grafted onto vigorous rootstock. Unwanted
regenerating vegetation - and there will be a lot of it - must be ruthlessly
eliminated to allow the new plants to establish themselves, and for the vine to develop a
healthy stalk, to support later fruit-bearing.
Now the system of posts and wires to support
and train the vines can be introduced. The two main options are horizontal
rows, running along the hillside, or vertical rows, running up and down it.
This new vineyard has vertical rows running down the hillside.
In general, horizontal rows like these are easier to work, both by hand and machine,
and are less stressful to the integrity of the soil. Tradition and culture
also play a part. Ultimately, however, vertical rows may be required on some
land parcels to ensure that enough long sunshine hours are available.
Maintaining the vineyard
Left to nature, a vine grows in a seemingly
random manner, pushing out masses of vegetative growth and rooting wherever
the plant touches the ground. Better quality
fruit however grows on vines that have been pruned, to concentrate the power of the
plant into the bearing wood.
Pruning is a winter activity, when the vines are
dormant and the leaves have dropped, so you can also see what you are doing.
Proper pruning is vital to ensuring the long term health of the plant and
controlling the yield at next harvest. Over-pruned vines will crop
uneconomically and it may take the plant several years to recover.
Under-pruning will cause over-cropping, with poor quality fruit and
reduce the life expectancy of the vine significantly.
When pruning, the 'best' one year old fruit-bearing spur is
identified and shortened to around 8 buds (the exact number will depend on an
assessment of the strength of the individual plant), and one or two spurs
which will also be allowed to grow to bear fruit the following year. Any
remaining spurs are cut away altogether.
On a misty morning, the spurs destined for
fruit-bearing,
made supple by the damp air, can be trained and tied to the supporting wires
to direct its power in the required direction for growth management.
Growing grapes
Springtime causes the sap to rise in the
vines. The brown buds break open and new shoots emerge, and the vine bears
tiny flowers. Pollenation is a critical period for fruit setting, heavy rain
now will devastate the crop level for the year.
Where pollenation occurs,
tiny green berries are formed. Those that survive to develop will
constitute this year's crop. The vine will not flower again this year.
As the vine grows, surplus leaves around the fruit bunches are removed to encourage the penetration of
sunlight and the light hill breezes, which keep diseases encouraged by
dampness at bay. Vine suckers are removed, and competing growth is managed
vigorously.
In vineyards accessible by
tractor, growth between the rows of vines is managed by mowing. In older,
narrower vineyards, a strimmer must be used.
The vines are sprayed periodically with Bordeaux mixture, which
combats further diseases, although under the quality regulations, spraying is not
permitted after a certain date.
Around the turn of July and August, white
grapes turn translucent and black grapes start to ripen and acquire their
final colour. Within the grape, sugar levels increase and acidity decreases.
When the balance is just right - taste is the best arbiter - the grapes are
ready for harvest. Again, the weather plays an important part, because heavy
rain in the final days preceding harvest will make the fruit watery, losing
both its taste and aroma.
Harvesting grapes
The grape harvest, or vendemmia, is
the pinnacle of the yearly cycle and the peak of activity. Once the grapes
are ready, the object is to get them off the plant and into the winemaking
cycle as soon as possible.
The vendemmia is a major social occasion, as
the picking team will be made up of extended families and circles of close
friends. The grape bunches are picked by hand, and loaded onto a tractor and
trailer for delivery to the cantina (wine cellar) for immediate
processing.
And now the wine-making cycle can begin.
E mail:
kerrie@anitalianadventure.co.uk
0039 0141 851 154
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