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Learning module - Yield Yield is the amount of fruit harvested and, ultimately, wine produced per area of vineyard. Typically, this is expressed hectoliters per hectare in Europe. In California the operative terms are acres and Imperial tons (2,000 pounds/ton). Yields vary according with the variety grown, terroir, vineyard management practices and winemaker’s preferences. Generally, low yields tend to result in better quality wine, but there are vineyards which break the rules of vineyard yield and produce sensational wines. |
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Vine spacing, trellising, pruning and training, soil fertility, temperature, latitude, altitude and temperatures as well as variety and even clone affect the decisions that govern vineyard yield. The range of yield is quite large from 2 to 12 tons per acre depending on the variables outlined above. To say that wine quality decreases with vineyard yield is a fair generalization. While many vineyards are farmed to yield a number of tons per acre, another approach is to measure yield in pounds (or kilograms) per vine. Another measurement or index of yield focuses on average berry size. This is felt to be a good index of yield and quality because the smaller the berry, the higher the ratio of skin to pulp and the better the quality of wine (usually). Each of these three measures has its own merit.
Often, wine writers or winery web sites will cite a numbers to indicate vineyard yield. At the most basic level, the following rules of thumb hold in most cases:
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An acre typically is planted to 400 vines (there is variation as indicated above).
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At low yield (likely to produce high quality wines), one acre of vineyards gives 2-4 tons of grapes.
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With a high yield (resulting in less concentrated wines), one acre of vineyard gives about 10 tons of grapes.
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A ton of grapes gives approximately 700 bottles of wine, or just over two barrels.
At a yield of 5 tons (10,000 lbs) of grapes, a winery can obtain:
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13.5 barrels / acre
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797 gallons / acre
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3,985 bottles /acre
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15,940 glasses /acre
But wait! How much wine can you get from one vine?
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40 clusters / vine
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10 bottles / vine
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1 barrel / 30 vines
How many grapes does it take to make ___ ?...:
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75 grapes / cluster
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1 cluster / 1 glass
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4 clusters (300 grapes) / 750 mL bottle
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1200 clusters (90,000 grapes) / barrel
So... how much wine is there in a barrel?
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24.5 cases / barrel
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1,180 glasses / barrel
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