If you’re a devotee of small producers or high-end wines of any kind, most likely you’ve heard the phrases “reduced yields,” “dry farming,” “nutrient-poor soils,” “high vine density,” and more. These practices are regularly employed by many of the world’s best winemakers, and they all have a single goal in common: to stress the vine.
It is now common knowledge (and common practice) that vines pushed to the edge of their tolerance for many environmental factors generally tend to make better wine — more concentrated, more complex, more tasty.
This is not just supposition, there’s actually some science behind it, and I was reminded of this recently by an interesting post on Harold McGee’s blog, News for Curious Cooks. Scientists have actually measured higher levels of various flavor and color compounds in grapes from “stressed” vines. Many of the vine stress techniques (not to be confused with “stress positions” used by the US Military during interrogations) described above are associated with sustainable, or organic viticulture.
Harold’s post is most interesting, however, because he mentions a recent study in which Syrah vines which received pesticide treatment actually produced even MORE of some desired compounds. The running hypothesis?: pesticides are stressors on the vine too in certain situations.
