To Dry Farm or Not? That is an Aesthetic Question

Irrigation usually enters wine discussions via viticultural practices, water policy, regional regulation, or sustainability. But irrigation also shapes what wine tastes like and what we mean when we say a wine expresses the place in which it was grown. Concentration, acidity, tannin development, freshness, alcohol, and texture are influenced by irrigation practices. So irrigation has a lot to do with our aesthetic judgments about a wine. Too much water can encourage the vines to produce foliage rather than sending nutrition to the grapes. It enlarges the berries and dilutes flavor concentration while increasing yields. But when the vines get too little water photosynthesis shuts down, ripening is delayed and the fruit lacks intensity. The romantic story told in tasting rooms of heroic vines suffering nobly beneath a blistering sun is misleading. Vines do not become expressive simply because they are miserable. Much depends on the site. What matters for fruit quality is the kind and…