Rainbow End Wine Estate

Viticultural Philosophy

The activities of our viticulturist, Francois Malan, all strive to develop and maintain optimal balance in our vines. There are five forms of viticultural balance:

Above soil surface and below soil surface balance:

Here we strive for an optimal ratio of 1:1 between root and canopy volume. There must be enough roots to support the above surface vegetative and reproductive growth.

A balance between young and old leaves:

There must be enough young leaves for optimal photosynthesis especially late in the season to achieve optimal bunch ripeness. Enough old leaves are important to protect the bunches from sunburn.

Left and right cordon balance:

The cordon is the main permanent wooden arms of the vine which are formed on the first trellis wire. The left and right cordon must be of equal length, strength and thickness to ensure bunches (berries) of homogeneous quality.

A balance between shoot growth and crop:

The amount of leaves on each shoot must be in balance with the number of bunches on each shoot. This is necessary for the vine to ripen each bunch and berry to its optimum. Here we strive for between 8 and 10 leaves per bunch.

A balance between thick and thin roots:

The thick roots give the vine structural stability. The thin roots play the important role of water and mineral uptake.