Why do wineries and vineyards brag about low grape yields? Do low yields necessarily make better wines?
No, not necessarily. Measuring by tons per acre, hectoliters per hectare, or as I prefer to put it, “bottles per vine” (because the first two commonly used measurements don’t account for vine density, and because it’s simpler and better) doesn’t provide an easy assessment of fruit concentration or wine quality, though it is an important factor in most cases. Assuming that the vine is in balance, with the right number of leaves per cluster, optimum canopy and vine orientation for the varietal and area, there are still other complexities. Lower yields from smaller berries that have a higher skin to juice ratio (because of the cube/square law) will be more highly flavored since it is the layer just under the skin that provides almost all of the biochemicals from which aromas and flavors come. Let’s take two examples to show how complex this can be; on a very cool coastal hillside with poor soils, a vine won’t be able to ripen more than one or two bottles worth of grapes per vine, so the y
