D1 Styles of Viticulture/Farming Practices

Question 1

When was conventional grape growing widely implemented throughout the world?

Answer 1

The second half of the twentieth century

Question 2

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

Answer 2

Aims

1. Raising production levels;
2. Reducing labor requirements.

How achieved

1. Mechanization;
2. Irrigation;
3. Use of agrochemicals, mineral fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides;
4. Clonal selection;
5. Creating a monoculture in the vineyard.

Question 3

What are the advantages of monoculture?

Answer 3

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

Question 4

What are the disadvantages of monoculture?

Answer 4

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

Question 5

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

Answer 5

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

Question 6

What are the three themes to sustainable viticulture?

Answer 6

• Social;
• Economic;
• Environmental sustainability.

Question 7

What are the aims of sustainable viticulture?

Answer 7

• 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.

Question 8

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

Answer 8

• 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.

Question 9

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

Answer 9

Lutte raisonée

Question 10

Lutte raisonée allows the use of cheminal interventions:

• Weekly
• Only when necessary
• Never

Answer 10

Only when necessary

Question 11

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

Answer 11

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

Question 12

What are the advantages of sustainable viticulture?

Answer 12

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

Question 13

What are the disadvantages of sustainable viticulture?

Answer 13

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

Question 14

What are the aims of organic viticulture?

Answer 14

• 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.

Question 15

What are four key features of organic viticulture?

Answer 15

1. 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);
2. Cover crops
   
   • prevent erosion of the soil;
   • contribute to the improvement of biodiversity of the soil;
3. Natural fertilizers
   
   • animal droppings;
   • natural calcium carbonate to restore the natural balance;
4. Establish ‘islands’ of biodiversity to reduce monoculture of vineyards.

Question 16

What do organic grape growers use to combat mildew?

Answer 16

Sulfur and copper sulfate

Question 17

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

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

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

Name two ways organic grape growers combat disease and pests in the vineyard.

Answer 18

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

Question 19

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

Answer 19

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

This increases costs for the grape grower, but having the certification can be an advantage when selling in certain markets.

Question 20

What are the advantages of organic + biodynamic grape growing?

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

What are the disadvantages of organic + biodynamic grape growing?

Answer 21

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.

Question 22

Biodynamic viticulture is based on the work of these two people.

Answer 22

Rudolf Steiner and Maria Thun

Question 23

Biodynamic viticulture utilizes organic practices along with:

• Philosophy and cosmology
• Psychology and cosmetology
• Physiology and cosmic ecology

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

What are the four “days” of biodynamic viticulture?

Answer 24

1. Root;
2. Leaf;
3. Flower;
4. Fruit.

Question 25

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

Answer 25

1. Preparation 500 (horn manure);
2. Preparation 501 (horn silica);
3. Compost (activated by preparations 502-507).

Question 26

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

Answer 26

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.

Question 27

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

Answer 27

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.

Question 28

What are Preparations 502–507 used for?

Answer 28

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.

Question 29

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

Answer 29

They use them, just like organic grape growers do

Question 30

What is “ashing” in biodynamic viticulture?

Answer 30

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

Question 31

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

Answer 31

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’.

Question 32

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

Answer 32

1. Sustainable;
2. Organic.

Question 33

What are the advantages of precision viticulture?

Answer 33

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

Question 34

What are the disadvantages of precision viticulture?

Answer 34

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