Sylvos - History

History

As one of the world's oldest cultivated crops, grapevines have been trained for several millennia. Cultures such as the ancient Egyptians and Phoenicians discovered that different training techniques could promote more abundant and fruitful yields. When the Greeks began to colonize southern Italy in the 8th century BC, they called the land Oenotria which could be interpreted as "staked" or land of staked vines. In the 1st century AD, Roman writers such as Columella and Pliny the Elder gave advice to vineyard owners about what type of vine trainings worked well for certain vineyards.

For most of history, regional tradition largely dictated what type of vine training would be found in a given area. In the early 20th century, many of these traditions were codified into specific wine laws and regulations such as the French Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) system. The widespread study and utilization of various training systems began in the 1960s when many New World wine regions were developing their wine industry. Without the centuries of tradition that influenced Old world winemaking and viticulture, vine growers in areas like California, Washington, Australia and New Zealand conducted large scale research into how particular vine training systems, pruning and canopy management techniques impacted wine quality. As research in this area continued into the 21st century, new vine training systems were developed that could be adapted to the desired wine making style the grapes were destined for as well as the labor needs and particular mesoclimate of the vineyard.