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Grape leaves are thin and flat. As is common among leaves in general, they are composed of different sets of specialized cells. Today, on average, sunlight reaching their surface is about 4% ultraviolet (UV) (<400 nm), 52% infrared (IR) (>750 nm) and 44% visible (VIS) radiation. Little of the UV and IR are used by plants. As with other leaves that are green, only the red and blue ends of the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum are absorbed, thus leaving green available by reflection and transmission. On the surface of the leaf (Figure 8.1), the cells of the outermost layer (the epidermis) are designed to protect the inner cells where the workings needed for gathering the sunlight used for photosynthesis and other chemistry necessary to the life of the plant are found. That is, the more delicate cells, beneath the epidermis, are involved in production of carbohydrates as well as the movement of nutrients in and products out of the leaf. The epidermis, exposed to the atmosphere, has cells that are usually thicker and are covered by a waxy layer made up of long-chain carboxylic acids that have hydroxyl groups (–OH) at or near their termini. These so-called omega hydroxy acids can then form esters using the hydroxyl group of one and the carboxylic acid of the next. This yields long-chain polyester polymers called “cutin.” As indicated in the earlier discussion of cells and, in particular, regarding the fatty acids of cell walls, the fatty acids found in the epidermis generally consist of an even number of carbon atoms, and for cutin, the sixteen carbon (palmitic acid) family (Figure 8.2) and the eighteen carbon family (oleic acid bearing a double bond or the saturated analogue stearic acid) are common. While one terminal hydroxyl group is usual (e.g., 16-hydroxypalmitic acid, 18-hydroxyoleic acid, or its saturated analogue 18-hydroxystearic acid) more than one (allowing for cross-linking) is not uncommon (e.g., 10,16-dihydroxypalmitic and 9,10,18-trihydroxystearic acid).

Chapter 3 gives examples of how grapevines, being woody perennials, have the potential to develop extensive, deep root systems when soil conditions are favorable. One of the most important factors governing root growth is a soil’s structure, the essential attributes of which are • Spaces (collectively called the pore space or porosity) through which roots grow, gases diffuse, and water flows • Storage of water and natural drainage following rain or irrigation • Stable aggregation • Strength that not only enables moist soil to bear the weight of machinery and resist compaction but also influences the ease with which roots can push through the soil The key attributes of porosity, aeration and drainage, water storage, aggregation, and soil strength are discussed in turn. Various forces exerted by growing roots, burrowing animals and insects, the movement of water and its change of state (e.g., from liquid to ice) together organize the primary soil particles—clay, silt, and sand—into larger units called aggregates. Between and within these aggregates exists a network of spaces called pores. Total soil porosity is defined by the ratio . . . Porosity = Volume of pores/Volume of soil . . . A soil’s A horizon, containing organic matter, typically has a porosity between 0.5 and 0.6 cubic meter per cubic meter (m3/m3)—also expressed as 50% to 60%. In subsoils, where there is little organic matter and usually more clay, the porosity is typically 40% to 50%. Box 4.1 describes a simple way of estimating a soil’s porosity. Total porosity is important because it determines how much of the soil volume water, air, and roots can occupy. Equally important are the shape and size of the pores. The pores created by burrowing earthworms, plant roots, and fungal hyphae are roughly cylindrical, whereas those created by alternate wetting and drying appear as cracks. Overall, however, we express pore size in terms of diameter (equivalent to a width for cracks). Table 4.1 gives a classification of pore size based on pore function.

In reality, there can be no generic definition of an “ideal soil” because a soil’s performance is influenced by the local climate, landscape characteristics, grape variety, and cultural practices and is judged in the context of a winegrower’s objectives for style of wine to be made, market potential, and profitability of the enterprise. This realization essentially acknowledges the long-established French concept of terroir: that the distinctiveness or typicity of wines produced in individual locations depends on a complex interaction of biophysical and human cultural factors, interpreted by many as meaning a wine’s sense of place. As discussed in “Soil Variability and the Concept of Terroir” in chapter 1, because of this interaction of factors that determine a particular terroir, it is not surprising that no specific relationships between one or more soil properties and wine typicity have been unequivocally demonstrated. While acknowledging this conclusion, it is still worthwhile to examine how variations in several single or combined soil properties can influence vine performance and fruit character. These properties are: • Soil depth • Soil structure and water supply • Soil strength • Soil chemistry and nutrient supply • Soil organisms Provided there are no subsoil constraints, the natural tendency of long-lived Vitis vinifera, on own roots or rootstocks, to root deeply and extensively gives it access to a potentially large store of water and nutrients. In sandy and gravely soils that are naturally low in nutrients, such as in the Médoc region of France, the Margaret River region in Western Australia, and the Wairau River plain, Marlborough region, New Zealand, the deeper the soil the better. A similar situation pertains on the deep sandy soils on granite in the Cauquenas region, Chile. However, such depth may be a disadvantage where soils are naturally fertile and rain is plentiful, as in parts of the Mornington Peninsula, King and Yarra Valley regions, Victoria, Australia, and the Willamette Valley region in Oregon (see figure 1.11, chapter 1), because vine growth is too vigorous and not in balance.