More and more I am convinced that good wines are made at the vines and not at the wineries. Good wine is the result of excellent work at the vineyards more than anything else, and thinning is a very important part of this work.
At the vineyards, good adaptation between climates, soils and varieties, is just the beginning of the long road towards quality wine. One of the key factors is the number of bunches per plant, or what is technically known as yield. That is why we titled this article “Less is More,” as this concept turns out to be fundamental.
Most ordinary wines that are sold in tetra-pack or offered in inexpensive 1-liter bottles generally come from vineyards with abundant yield. The result is boring wine, which lacks body, flavors, and aromas.
When a wine producer intends to make quality wine, he has to do some thinning. This means, pruning bunches so that the ones left hanging from the vine get all the nutrients the plant has to give.
In areas were the soils are fertile, rich in organic matter and with good water retention, the roots will get to the water without much effort. This element is vital in the plant when it comes to producing leafs and, therefore, very important for photosynthesis. The typical result in fertile soils with poor drainage is large bunches with big grapes of watery flavor.
In areas where soils are poor, with abundance of rocks, or with thin soils and rocky subsoil, the water drains easily. On that path, the roots looking for water not only will find traces of humidity, but also minerals that will fill the resulting wine with complexity.
Likewise, leafs doing performing the photosynthesis on vines less filled with bunches will distribute their sugar better, making each grape mature better.
The thing with many producers in the world is that, historically, they have sought to produce larger quantities. But now that everyone is talking about quality associated to less production, many of them have chosen to manage their vineyard with the theory of less is more in mind.
Not long ago, I read in an article of the Financial Times that in Australia, during the last season, they left grapes to rot in the vineyards because wineries did not want to continue producing “industrial wines, which lacked spirit.” In this country, supply clearly exceeded demand; this means that the majority of vine growers were seeking greater yield from their vineyards.
The best way to cut down the yield is to reduce the number of bunches per vine, and this is done at several times during the annual period of growth of the plant. First you can reduce the buds when the bunch has not formed yet; then bunches can be pruned before ripening or coloring begins. The French call this process the green harvest.
It is evident that pruning and discarding bunches is a practice that not everyone is able do. Cost is an essential factor when it comes to making a decision. First, because you have to pay for the labor to do it. And second, because you have to be sure that what you gain with the bunches remaining on the vine will make up for what was lost by pruning others.