Divided Canopy

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Wine

By Jancis Robinson

Published 2006

  • About

divided canopy, group of vine-training systems which involve separation of a leaf canopy into two or more subcanopies, sometimes called curtains. The expression was popularized by Professor Nelson shaulis in the 1960s and 1970s as part of his pioneering promotion of canopy management. One of the most important divided canopy training systems is the geneva double curtain developed by Shaulis. The lyre, scott henry, and smart-dyson are more recent developments. The advantage of canopy division is that it increases the surface area of the canopy that is exposed to sunlight, while reducing canopy shade. Both yield and wine quality can increase as a result.