Vine Size

Definition - What does Vine Size mean?

Vine size is the total amount of vegetation grown during one growth cycle or one year’s growing season.

An aspect of grape growing that viticulturists must constantly be aware of and monitor is vine size. There are several different vine sizes that depend on the species of grapevine, climate, soil type, sunlight exposure and crop management.

WineFrog explains Vine Size

To measure vine size, the viticulturist must include the shoots, trunks, leaves and roots. The roots can grow up to 15ft under the ground, the canes can grow up to 6-10 ft a year, and the leaves and shoot growth depend on canopy management and spacing. Vine size can fluctuate depending on the type of vine and the way it grows on spacing, climate for that year, age of the vine and pruning pattern from the year before.

The vine training can also play a crucial part of vine size as the higher the stakes or more intensive the training the vine size will increase. The prunings after each year can also be used to measure vine size for the growing season if the vine is not trimmed conservatively.