Measure in the vineyard for the purpose of minimizing the yield. The grapes are halved on the vine. The best moment is the beginning of the ripening stage, when the berries are still small, hard and green. In contrast to thinning out (green harvest), where complete grapes are removed, this does not stimulate vine growth. The remaining berries now have more space and sag downwards. The resulting loose berries dry out more quickly after precipitation, which significantly reduces the risk of Botrytis attack. This means that the grapes can be left on the vine longer until harvesting. The positive effects are a higher extract content, a higher must weight and better physiological ripeness. Densely berried grape varieties such as the Pinot varieties are particularly suitable for this. However, the method is very laborious; an alternative is the less laborious grape breaking. The video (click to view) shows this process at the Mario J. Burkhart Winery in the municipality of Malterdingen (Breisgau, Baden). See a list of all care measures under vineyard care.
wein.plus is a handy, efficient guide to a quick overview of the colourful world of wines, winegrowers and grape varieties. In Wine lexicon, the most comprehensive of its kind in the world, you will find around 26,000 keywords on the subject of grape varieties, wineries, wine-growing regions and much more.
Roman Horvath MW
Domäne Wachau (Wachau)