| yield |
This is the term used to measure the number
of grapes or the volume of grape juice produced per area ( i.e. expressed
as amount per acre or hectare .. 2 tons per acre .. 7hl/ha etc).
While it is difficult to know what yield a given producer chooses
to use in a given vintage, the yield has a huge impact on quality.
Basically .. when there are very high yields, the number of
grape clusters per vine is maximized, and when there are very
low yields the number of clusters per vine is minimized. Don't
confuse "low yield" with poor quality .. more often
or not it is a signal of very high quality since the producer
has taken the time ( and the $$ ) to trim off a certain percentage
of clusters so that those which remain produce grapes with higher
concentrations of flavor. A grape vine has just so much energy
to give to the fruit and if you let all of the fruit grow, they
will generally have thinner flavor than if you trim off some
of the early fruit and let the vine put it's energy into the
ones that remain.
In many areas of France and other countries that regulate the
yield in order for a winery to qualify for being labeled as an
AOC or something else, there is a yield figure that is determined
by the governing agency each and every vintage.
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