WIRE LIFTING AT URBINA VINEYARDS
By the end of May, the shoots are 50 centimeters long. They must now be raised from the ground and attached vertically to wires running some 30 centimeters above the main support wires. This vertical positioning of shoots is what gives the vines their architecture, also making it easier for operators to do their work. Since not all shoots are the same length and some are not naturally inclined to go vertical, lifting is a delicate business.
Wire used to form vine trellis systems, along with posts. Wine consumers might never credit something as mundane as wire in vineyards with their enjoyment, yet it is difficult to conceive of how wine could be so widely produced without it. The widespread use of wire has revolutionized trellising of vines, since it is now possible to train vines forms which maximize their production and mechanization.
High tensile wire can support very heavy loads without breaking. Normally, thicker wire is used to support the weight of grapes in a trellis, and thinner wires to support foliage. The trellis system is the structure that acts as support for vine training. They range from simple poles (stake) to complex systems with wires and posts made of wood, metal or concrete, which help the plant to withstand the weight of its canopy and facilitate its tendering.
There are multiple training systems which aim for optimal grape ripeness (maximum foliar and bunch sunlight exposure, easiness of vine management, etc.) and which influence the structure, vine crop load and yield of vines, especially in their first years of life. In Spain two large groups of training system stand out. "Gobelet", for free standing or "bush" vines that grow without support and whose arms or branches are pruned forming a circle, and on trellis (support structure). Both may be subjected to spur or cane pruning, either head trained (a definite knob is formed on the top the trunk from which arms raise) or cordons.
On trellis the most usual training and pruning forms are single royal, bilateral cordon, single guyot, lyre, pergola and double guyot, though there are multiple variations (in V, T or Y, fan shaped, double wire, Scott Henry, etc.).
Bodegas Urbina is a family winery with four generations since 1870 dedicated to grape growing and winemaking. The cultivation is done in low-trained (vignes basses) and trellis, and does not force the production, not exceeding the 4,500 Kgrs. / Ha. They own 75 hectares of native varieties of Rioja, whose sole purpose is the quality of their wines.
