The Oregon wine grape industry has established itself in the international market by producing premium wines. Excellence in wine grape production begins in the vineyard. Care in training grape vines during the growing season, results in quality fruit arriving at the winery. The process of training vine growth during the growing season is called canopy management.

Proper canopy management can enhance fruit quality by providing the proper exposure of the fruit to light and air.

There are many different training systems and trellis designs used throughout Oregon's diverse wine grape growing regions.

One of the more popular training systems is the Vertical Shoot Position or VSP. In other parts of the world this training system may be referred to as the double guyot and/or single guyot.

In Oregon, the VSP generally begins with cane pruning the vine during the dormant season. In cane pruning, most of the one-year old wood is cut off except for one to four canes. Renewal spurs are often left below the canes for next year's cane. Some vineyards employ the cane or spur pruning method instead of cane pruning. Much of this will be discussed in a future instructional video on the two major pruning systems.

Bud break occurs after the dormant season pruning. Depending on the latitude, elevation, and variety of grape the compound bud breaks with the primary bud emerging first. In colder sites where the danger of frost occurs, the primary bud may be 'burned back' and the secondary shoot emerges. The secondary shoot contains less fruit and ripens later. In colder sites the secondary bud can burn back and final shoot or tertiary shoot emerges. In general the tertiary shoot has no fruit. Details of this will be offered in future OSU Viticulture Extension educational materials.

In the spring after bud break, the primary and often the secondary shoots emerge from the bud. The secondary shoot is removed when it is succulent to prevent crowding which can lead to disease and poor fruit quality. This very important step will also be covered in future instructional materials.

After the secondary shoots alone are removed the primary shoots are trained throughout the season in a process called 'canopy management'. During canopy management, the current season's growth is trained to optimize light exposure to the leaves and fruit.

The following are three critical steps involved in Canopy Management Videos: suckering, moving catchwires, and head thinning.

Head Thinning: Before & After	Moving Catch Wires in June	Suckering
Video: Head Thinning in Spring	Video: Moving Catch Wires in June	Video: Suckering
To view the videos, you'll need "Realplayer" from RealNetworks.com. To get it, download a free copy of the software here.
Credits: Filmed by: Lynn Ketchum, OSU Extension Education Video Specialist Designed by: Anne Connelly, OSU Viticulture Extension, and Lynn Ketchum Assistance from: Jessica Sandrock, Jeff Cygan (Vineyard Manager, OSU Research Vineyard-Woodhall III), and Dai Crisp Funding was provided by: Oregon Wine Board