Viticulture participants may receive instruction in and may assist with most aspects of the vineyard: sampling, grape growing processes, canopy management, spraying programs, and harvest intake.
During their program, trainees will learn how the climate and soil of the vineyard has a significant impact on flavor, and how certain grapes will flourish only under certain climatic conditions. Trainees will gain knowledge of how the land affects the character of the grape, and the importance of canopy management practices such as vine support and trellises, crop thinning and leaf removal.
Viticulture Duties:
- Pruning observing growth cycles
- Pest monitoring
- Fertility investigations
- Collecting of plant tissue
- Thinning
- Canopy management
- Cluster and berry sampling
- Data collection and review
Skills to be learned may include:
- Identify grape varieties - wine grape cultivars, root stocks
- Identify vine structure - shoot system, root system
- Identify and describe vine physiology
- Identify and describe the vineyard growth cycle
- Perform irrigation techniques used
- Identify and control insects, rodents, and birds
- Conduct sugar and acid tests on berry samples
- Identify and perform different harvesting methods, hands vs. mechanical
- Identify and execute post-harvest operations - fertilization, irrigation, pruning
- Identify and perform vineyard management practices
- Identify and practice vineyard safety procedures
- Identify vine structure - shoot system, root system, soil types
*Actual skills learned will vary by host and previous experience