France: Viticulture

Most vineyards in France are immediately recognizably French. With its generally reliable rainfall and supply of soil water, northern France has the highest vine density in the world, with up to 13,000 plants per ha, and the vines are typically planted in neat, low-trained rows, often using guyot systems of pruning and training (typically dictated by the detail of appellation contrôlée regulations). leaf trimming during the growing season is common. French vignerons have in general had centuries to match cultural practices to local conditions, although in the early 20th century many less suitable terrains were planted in an extension of classic zones. irrigation is usually unnecessary in northern and western France, and is strictly, if sometimes only theoretically, controlled in the south. The relatively humid climate of western France means, however, that frequent spraying against fungal diseases is often necessary. In the early 1990s, concern was increasingly expressed at the use of agrochemicals in many French wine regions, particularly Burgundy, where organic viticulture and biodynamic viticulture is increasingly common. Other common viticultural hazards are frost in the north, hail in Burgundy, and drought in the south, both of the last two on the increase. Crop levels can vary considerably since the weather during flowering is by no means predictably fine, winter freeze has been known to kill a substantial proportion of vines, as in 1956, and spring frosts can seriously affect total national production, as in 1991.