Extreme viticulture: do small berries and low yields mean higher quality?

Small berries may increase the ratio of skin to pulp and therefore the relative importance of anthocyanins, tannins and other phenolic compounds. Their value nevertheless depends on whether they result from balanced ripening or excessive water stress. Skin condition, seed maturity, acidity, aroma and freshness must be read together.

Yield is treated with the same caution. Excessive crops can impair uniform ripening, but extremely low yields can accelerate sugar accumulation, reduce acidity or produce wines lacking tension. The correct load is the amount a vine can ripen in a particular season, evaluated through vigour, foliage, fertility, water, exposure and climate.

Extreme vineyards may combine steep slopes, terraces, islands, altitude, wind, drought, poor soils and difficult access. These conditions increase the demands of pruning, canopy management, crop protection, harvest and transport. Their value emerges only when they are converted into coherent choices: bunch exposure, leaf area, crop load, parcel separation, harvest timing, maceration and extraction. Cipresso’s consulting method consequently begins in the vineyard and links cellar practice to the actual maturity and behaviour of each parcel rather than to a standardised style.