Hardscrabble Journal

Long Term

Yesterday we completed pruning the 2003 block of Cabernet Sauvignon here at Hardscrabble. Our vine blocks are designated after the year they were planted. I was in an experimental mode in 2003. This block is a spacing trial. It has 18 rows. In the first six rows vines are spaced three feet apart. The next six rows are four feet apart and the final six are six feet apart. 

At that time there was much buzz and discussion about vine density (how many vines should be planted per acre). Modernists felt that it was best to give each vine lots of growing space. Sometimes this wider spacing included fancy, three-dimensional trellising with names like French Lyre, Geneva Double Curtain, and Smart Dyson Ballerina.

Traditionalists argued that the best wine came from very tightly spaced vines so that each individual vine only needed to ripen a small number of clusters.

I was agnostic (or at least confused) at the time, but curious all the same. I figured that a spacing trial would need about twenty years before we could learn something from it. Vines have youthful exuberance in their first dozen years and then slowly begin to moderate and balance themselves. I’m seeing that now.

Initially it seemed that the three-foot spacing was a big mistake, but now that the vines have calmed down, it may be more feasible. Four feet between vines is best right now. Each vine has enough room on the trellis and a nice airy canopy. Six foot spacing is starting to present problems. Canopy gaps, also known as windows are becoming more common. This is when there are not enough shoots to fill the allotted trellis. If we push the vines too hard, they produce poor quality grapes and will weaken. Therefore we allow them to stay naturally small, but waste valuable trellis space in doing so.

The next decade will be an important one. Perhaps we can then start to draw some more definitive conclusions.

Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Journal: March 25, 2020