Wine Word of the Week: Pruning
By Kori ~ February 22nd, 2011.
This week’s Wine Word of the Week is pruning.
Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine:
Pruning of vines involves cutting off unwanted vegetative parts in the form of canes in winter. …. Winter pruning is a vineyard practice developed primarily to produce fewer but larger bunches of riper grapes and is particularly important in cooler climates. More than 85 percent of each year’s shoot growth may be removed. There is an important relationship between vine pruning and vine training, as the pruning method used depends on the training system employed.
Layman’s terms from Kori:
Pruning is a canopy management technique in which portions of the previous season’s growth is removed so that the vine maintains a desired size and shape.
Filed under: Wine Word of the Week