Fruit Set

fruit set, known as nouaison in French, an important and delicate stage of the vine’s development after flowering which marks the transition from flower to grape berry.The setting period of about a week is a critical one for the vine-grower, since it is a major determinant of the size of the crop, yet the grower can do little to change the course of events. Only ‘set’ or fertilized flowers grow into the berries from which wine is made; the others fail to grow and eventually fall off. Fruit set occurs immediately after flowering, and is the result of successful pollination achieving fertilization of the ovules and the development of seeds. The grape seed contains an embryo, formed by the union of the sperm cells from the pollen and the egg cell of the ovary. Most wine grape varieties contain up to four seeds. The more seeds there are, the larger is the berry.