protected viticulture, a form of vine-growing where the vines are protected from climatological excesses to avoid stress. In a conventional agricultural sense, this would involve protection from low temperatures using glass or plastic houses or cloches; such structures are rare in commercial wine grape vineyards because of the prohibitive costs although they can be seen in the cool climate of england or very occasionally in cooler parts of California to protect some Chardonnay vines from poor fruit set. Protected viticulture is more usual for table grapes, as in northern Europe, Japan, and New Zealand.
