LIFECYCLE OF THE GRAPEVINE

The Lifecycle of the Grapevine: A Side-by-Side Look at the Northern and Southern Hemisphere

While the life cycle of a wine grape goes through a predictable sequence of events and stages, at the time of this publication, the grape harvest has recently ended in sub-Equator vineyards while those in the North have just undergone budburst and early shoot growth. After the roots are planted, the grape has a long journey until it reaches the glass you get to enjoy.

1. Budburst

As early springtime arrives, the first buds of the grape vine will begin to burst. These buds are the first signs off life after winter dormancy, but they are very delicate and susceptible to the perils of frost in many vineyards.

​2. Early Shoot & Leaf Growth

Shoots start to grow out from the initial buds. The foliage, or grape leaves, also grow in size. These are the plant’s important center for photosynthesis, where sugars will accumulate before being translocated to the berries.

3. Flowering & Fruit Set

Flowers appear and shortly after, clusters of grapes appear. This is a period where winemakers pray for weather to cooperate as a good fruit set is directly linked to the volume of grapes that will ultimately be harvested.

4. Veraison & Berry Ripening

Veraison is the inflection point when grapes stop growing and transition to ripening.

5. Harvest

When the desired amount of sugar, acidity, color, and phenolic compounds has been reached per the winemaker, grapes are harvested. They can be machine or hand-harvested and either by whole-bunch or by individual grape. In reality, the harvest period can actually stretch over a wider period of time depending on the stylist goals or by how cooperative weather conditions have been during the growing season.

6. Vinification

There are many steps once the grapes arrive to the cellar and before they make it to your glass. Grapes are crushed and pressed to extract juice and all those good polyphenolic compounds. In the presence of yeast (either natural or inoculated) sugar is converted to alcoholic in the process of primary fermentation. Next, aging occurs. There are many choices involved: use of oak or not, which species of oak, vessel type and the list goes on. After this, the winemaker decides what type of fining and filtration, if any, is needed before bottling.