Monday, June 27, 2022

Berry Set in the Vineyard

On June 24, I wrote a blog about Vintage 2022: June Update Annual Cycle of Growth. On that day, I also took pictures of all of our varieties and where they were with respect to berry set.
Here is a photo compilation of our vineyard at various stages of berry set:
The photo shows that the Auxerrois, Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon are still at flowering and the Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc and Barbera are at berry set.
Here is a summary of what happens during berry set from Ed Hellman's excellent article:1
  • Successful pollination and fertilization of the ovule leads to berry development
  • Flowers with unfertilized ovules shrivel and die
  • Many of the initially formed tiny berries abscise or drop off during the first 2-3 weeks
  • Only about 20-30% of flowers on a cluster develop into mature berries; this is enough to develop a full cluster of fruit
Here is a photo of berry set in the Barbera:
The photo shows the initial stages of berry set, with the flower's filaments still attached to the developing berry. It also shows that one of the calyptra whithered while still covering the filaments. Cold temperatures, rainfall or high humidity are often associated with incomplete detachment of the calyptras leading to reduced fruitset.

References:
1. Ed Hellman, Grapevine Structure and Function.

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