Winemaking Terms Defined: In the Vineyard—Grapevines and their Fruit

We move to the vineyard for terms that describe grapevines and the fruit they bear. Here are the parts of a grapevine (note that terms are not in alphabetical order because they follow a grapevine from the ground up):

roots  the part of the vine that is underground.

grafted vine  the combination of a vine of a selected variety and a rootstock of another variety that the vine has been trained to grow on (grafted onto), thus taking advantage of the best qualities of each. It consists of:

rootstock  roots of a selected variety, used as the base upon which a vine of another variety has been trained to grow.

scion  a vine of a selected variety, that has been trained to grow on the rootstock of another variety.

graft union  the point where a rootstock and a scion connect.

canopy   the part of the vine that is aboveground, including trunk, cordon, canes, leaves, flowers, and fruit.

curtain  the current year’s growth of fruit and leaves.

trunk  the woody vertical main support of the vine.

cordon  one or more canes selected to permanently extend from the trunk, and normally tied in a lateral position. It becomes woody after a growth season. Cordons may be unilateral (one cane), bilateral (two canes) or four-arm (four canes).

node  a thickened area on a shoot or cane where a bud will grow.

internodal space  the distance between nodes, measured as a way to monitor a vine’s growth rate.

bud  a point of new growth on the vine. Each bud is compound, containing these:

primary bud  produces normal ripening fruit, unless damaged.

secondary bud  if the primary bud is damaged, the secondary bud will then grow but will produce smaller, later-ripening clusters called secondary grapes.

tertiary bud  if both primary and secondary buds are damaged, the tertiary bud will then grow but will produce no grapes.  

shoot  new growth from a bud. If allowed to stay it will eventually become a cane.

cane  a grown shoot that may eventually bear fruit.

lateral  a cane that grows horizontally.

spur  a cane that has been pruned to a length of three to four buds.

renewal spur  a cane at the base of a vine that has been pruned to a length of three to four buds, for the purpose of producing canes the following year.

stalk  a smaller branch off a cane, that holds a grape cluster. Also known as a bunchstem.

cluster  a bunch of grapes.

pedicel  a stem that holds an individual grape.

berry  an individual grape.

pip  a grape seed. There are usually multiple pips in a berry.

leaves  grape leaves, which grow from nodes, always have five lobes but their size and exact shape varies by grape variety. They provide nourishment for a grapevine during growing season with photosynthesis, but they die and fall off in the autumn. Grape leaves are edible.

tendril  a specialized stem that twines around whatever it touches, thus providing support for a vine. Tendrils help attach a grapevine’s canes and stalks to a trellis.

sucker  a shoot that grows from a bud at the base of a grapevine or from its roots. Suckers on an own-rooted vine may be removed so they don’t waste a vine’s energy, or they may be spurred or tied up to train for renewals. Suckers from the vine of a grafted plant, if growing above the graft union, may be used for renewals. Suckers growing from the rootstock of a grafted plant must be removed.

Special thanks to Tom and Marcy Mitchell of Pa’tridge Run Farms and Fall Bright, the Winemaking Shoppe, for their help with this article. For more information or to order winemaking supplies, see their website fallbright.com, visit them at 10110 Hyatt Hill, Dundee, NY, or call 607-292-3995.   

Other sources for this article: www.nysaes.cornell.edu; www.ces.ncsu.edu; plants.usda.gov; April-May 2010 WineMaker magazine.