EXPLORING INNOVATIVE TRELLIS SYSTEMS IN VITICULTURE: THE LYRE SYSTEM AT BEL LAGO
Dr. Charlie Edson Ph.D - Founder Bel Lago Vineyard and Winery
We use several different trellis/training systems to produce good yields of the high quality fruit we desire to make our wines. Our newest trellis system is called a Lyre system, due to the shape of the foliage when trained to the trellis, which reminds folks of the shape of the musical instrument. It was pioneered by Alain Carbonneau in Bordeaux, France. I was lucky enough to meet Professor Carbonneau many years ago when he gave Dr. Andy Reynolds (a Canadian friend who also does research on viticulture and winegrape flavor chemistry) and I a tour of his research plots. He called grapevines “the door to imagination” and then applied science to improve vine culture. The Lyre is particularly well-suited to Cabernet Franc due to its upright growth habit, so we have installed the Lyre on one of our Cabernet Franc blocks with a goal of growing even better grapes and them making even richer wine from them. Grape growing and winemaking at Bel Lago and FVV: Art and Science.
Why different training/trellis systems? You may have heard the old sayings “Winemaking is a blend of art and science” and “Great wine begins in the vineyard”. Well, at Bel Lago we adhere to both these truisms. For us, the artistry of winemaking really begins with artistry in the vineyard; so, like Professor Carbonneau, we too, see growing grapes as a blend of art and science. It is there, in the vineyard, where we as winemakers begin to dream of the possibilities of what we might create in the cellar. It all begins with the inspiration that we gain by our footsteps in the vineyard.
Balance. This is a keyword for us in both winemaking and grape growing. In the vineyard we need to balance vegetative growth (shoots and leaves) with that of the grapes. Our goal, of course, is to grow perfectly ripe grapes loaded with great flavors, plenty of sugar, balanced acidity and particularly for the reds, ripe tannins.
Sunlight is essential! Sunlight on the leaves drives photosynthesis to help the plants grow and the grapes to ripen. From the science, we also know that we need a certain amount of foliage exposed to a good amount of sunlight to get our grapes ripe and to leave enough energy (carbohydrates) to survive our cold winters here in Leelanau (the ultimate balance and sustainability). Here’s where some of the creativity comes in: training systems.
Trellis/Training Systems. We’ve all seen grapes growing in vineyards in nice orderly rows. These grapevines are grown on trellises that support their natural vining growth habit; further, how they are arrayed on the trellis and then managed is often referred to as the training system. There are many possibilities. Most commonly seen on Leelanau Peninsula is one called a Vertical Shoot Positioned (VSP) Trellis/Training System. The canes of the vine are arrayed along a lower wine on the trellis and the shoots trained to grow up vertically through several additional wines above. The goal of this system is to have most of the clusters growing along the lower support wire and to manage growth and fruit exposure through additional pruning if needed. VSP is a good system that we use in many of our vineyard blocks. It is relatively easy to manage and produces great fruit depending on the variety and soils.
Winegrape varieties differ in their inherent vine vigor potential and soils differ in how they impact that inherent potential. The VSP trellis system becomes difficult to manage under high vigor conditions. The vines can get a bit unbalanced with too much vegetative growth that causes shading in the fruit zone. This means you must make an extra effort (extra pruning) to open up the fruit zone to good sunlight penetration. Dr. Andy Reynolds likes to call this ‘karate viticulture’ because you are spending so much time in the vineyard ‘chopping’ extra shoot growth off the vines. Andy has done lots of research that has helped to demonstrate how creative grapevine trellis/training systems promote good sun exposure in the fruit zone that helps the grapes develop wonderful aromatics and nicely balanced fruit. Even better, you can increase yields (means more great wine) without a loss in quality. One of the ways you do this is by dividing the canopy to spread the foliage out and even creating multiple fruit zones on the same trellis.
We grow about 100 different varieties of grapes at Bel Lago, so we have varieties with different growth potentials. Between Bel Lago Winery and French Valley winery, we also grow about 52 acres of grapes, meaning that we have several vineyard sites with different soils. Currently use 6 different trellis/training systems: VSP, Modified Scott-Henry, Geneva Double Curtain, Smart-Dyson, Smart Ballerina, and Lyre, all aimed at creating the best conditions to grow the best grapes that we can so that we can create the wines we envision. The latest addition is the Lyre System.