LEANING CURTAIN BREEDING

GENERAL ASPECTS

It is a form that consists of a permanent horizontal spurred cordon with no upper support wires for hooking the shoots, which then tend to fall sideways and downward under the weight of the shoots and clusters. The advantages of this training form are mainly the low cost of planting and the extreme simplicity of fully mechanizable management.

On the other hand, the main issues are as follows:

  • Medium to low production potential (especially if not able to tighten much between rows)
  • Difficulty, on weaker varieties (e.g., Pinot Grigio), in maintaining a satisfactory vegetative-productive balance because horizontal shaking harvesting leaves little useful photo synthesizing surface area for the vineyard system
  • Classic problems of hanging curtains (hailstorms, sunburn, windiness, acrotonic behavior of some varieties)
  • Classic problems of spurs (skilled labor, basal fertility, etc.).

It is a type of planting that can therefore be recommended for extensive viticulture whose priority objective is fully mechanizable management with very little time per unit area, with medium-low production requirements and medium-quality grapes.

Finally, mention should be made of the Simple Mobilized Cortina, which was introduced so that vertical shaking harvesting could also be carried out on this form of farming in order to improve grape quality. Mobilization is achieved by attaching the wire to small caps threaded to the top of the poles. The length of the caps is such as to prevent them from slipping off the poles. The stem is raised by forming a curvature, which is necessary to give it a way to move freely upward under the action of the vertical shaking harvesting machine.

SIXTH OF PLANTING

Distance between rows

The dislocation of the production belt in the upper zone of the system and its limited vertical development do not lead to shading problems so, also to increase productivity, the tendency is to squeeze as much as possible between the rows compatibly with the available mechanical means:

Average ranges from 2.20 m to 3.20 m

Distance on the row

Because it is a vigor-reducing system, the distances of vines on the row vary from 0.80 m to 1.40 m

MECHANIZATION

The structural characteristics of the Cortina Semplice allow complete mechanization of winter pruning (for which a manual trimming pass is recommended every 2÷3 years), suckering topping and harvesting.

Compared with G.D.C., combing of the shoots is no longer necessary.

It is definitely the system that minimizes the hours to manage the unit area of the vineyard.