Friday, June 28, 2013

Something Tells Me It's All Happening At the Node

I've already written about this phenomenon in a previous blog that I called The Mysterious Life of Grape Buds. The mystery was not the grape buds, but in my understanding of the statement: Starting with a mature, leafless, dormant vine, the buds for this year's crop sprout in early spring already bearing cluster primordia generated the prevous summer.1
While walking the vineyard, I noticed some little red swellings in the axial positions of the Chardonnay and when I looked closely, I saw the little primordial buds! So, they do start growing in the spring and summer and are indeed affected by the weather patterns of this summer. I get it now! I dug up Charlotte Pratt's review article and I finally understand the diagram that is reprinted in many articles on grapevine structure and function and reproduced below.2
Although the Pratt review was published in 1974, I found it to be good background reading. The review goes through the various vine structures: (1) the roots, (2) the stem, (3) the bud and branch, (4) the tendril, and (5) the leaf, elaborating on the first and second year growth characteristics, which is timely for us to know. The review ends with a glossary to grapevine/plant terminology.
References:
1. Boulton, R.B., Singleton, V.L., Bisson, L. F., and Kunkee,R.E., “ Principles and Practices of Winemaking”, Chapman & Hall, New York, 1995.
2. Pratt, C., Vegetative anatomy in cultivated grapes, A review, American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, 1974, 25:131-150.

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