VITICULT 7002WT - Viticultural Science

This course involves teaching sessions that may be attended by both Undergraduate and Postgraduate students.

NOTE: Viticultural Science begins on the Monday of O-Week. Attendance at these classes is required for completion of the course.

Viticultural Science covers the entire life cycle of the cultivated grapevine with an emphasis on fruit production for wine making. The practical component of the course takes advantage of the vine growth phases that occur from flowering and fruit-set leading up to harvest. Topics covered include: The growth cycle of the grapevine and the biology that underpins the different phenological stages. Grapevine physiology as it is relevant to growth and vine form, flowering, water use, mineral nutrition, berry development and ripening. Grapevine anatomy of the vegetative and reproductive parts. Techniques to monitor berry maturity development, and yield potential. Taxonomy of grapevines, characteristics of fruiting varieties and variety identification. Tutorial and practical sessions will focus in more depth on the following topics: vine and bud anatomy, shoot and fruit based variety identification, and yield estimation, canopy measurements, maturity sampling and grapevine mineral nutrition.

Approximately one half of the lectures encompassing Viticultural Science will be provided from Botany II. The selection of lectures from Botany II will cover topics relating to the general principles of plant biology including structure and function, systematics, floral biology and the physiology of growth and development. These lectures are intended to complement the Viticulture based lecture material of Viticultural Science with topics of whole plant biology that are common amongst most plant systems.