Vines blossom in two fairly small bands of latitude about 30-50° North and 30-40° South of the equator. This is because the climatic conditions required for raising high quality vines are strictly defined.
1. Cool Winters
Vines need cool winters when they can "sleep" and gather strength for the production of the subsequent summer's crop. However, it can't be overly cold, or the roots of the vine will be injured by frost, and the plant will die.
2. Warm, Damp Springs
Spring must be warm and damp (though not too wet) so that the plants can bud and produce the small blooms that will ultimately become bunches of grapes.
3. Lengthy, Hot Summers
Summers need to be long, sunny, and hot. On the other hand, too much heat is counter-productive, as the fruit will ripen too rapidly and scorch.
4. Dry, Mild Falls
Falls should be mild and relatively dry so that the grapes can easily reach full maturity and the harvest can be finished before rain or cold can damage the mature grapes.
Most of these strict requirements leave out a lot of the northern and southern latitudes, as these are too cold and have too little sunshine. The equatorial lands are also excluded, as they are too hot, with simply no period in which the vines can rest. Only in between the latitudes approximately 30-50° N and 30-40° S are the climatic conditions suitable for wines of the finest standard. Wines are produced on the edges of these latitudes, but they are seldom consistent or of real quality.
Soil Conditions
Unlike most agricultural crops, the grape-vine does not really require fertile, rich, earth to flourish, and the world's finest wines are nearly always produced from poor quality soils where few other crops would be worth growing. The excellent Burgundies come from acidic, granitic soil on a base of limestone, and the superb wines of Bordeaux are produced from soil composed largely of gravel and pebbles, on a base of clay or chalk.
The thinness of the soil obviously restricts the amount of the crop, so that less grapes are produced, but of higher quality. Furthermore, the poor, free draining top soil stimulates the vine to drive its roots deeper in search of water and nutrients. As the roots reach deeper down, complex minerals are absorbed that will add complexity to the grape and, eventually, to the wine.
If the soil is too rich, too full of nitrogen and nutrients, the vine might produce abundant grape crops, however these will be grapes suitable for eating, not for making wine. The fruit will be too sweet and uncomplicated and will lack in complex minerals, sugars, acids and flavors.
Vineyards are likely to be situated along river valleys, on gentle slopes where they have optimum exposure to the sun, where the soil is free draining.
By: Eddie Smith Article Directory: Articledashboard.com
