HILLSIDE VINEYARDS

Some of the great vineyards of the world are hillside vineyards. Think of the roll call:  many of the best plots in the Mosel, Côte Rôtie, Hermitage, Shafer Hillside Select, many Port terraces along the Douro River, and the famed Côte d’Or (“Slope of Gold”) of Burgundy.  

When it comes to making terrific wine, slopes aren’t for dopes. 

What makes hillside vineyards so beneficial for growing wine grapes is stress. Like human beings put to the test, vines that undergo stress can turn out grapes that are superior to vines that have it easy. 

Hillside vineyards stress vines in several ways: first, soils tend to be poorer and water, scarcer, so vines must reach deep to find nutrients and sustenance. When vines spend energy doing that, they allocate less to the production of grapes, so yields are lower. Low yields mean that grapes arrive at the winery with greater concentrations of flavor and color. That makes for better wine. 

Hillside vineyards also have inherent benefits for grape growing. For example, sunlight hits hills at a full-on angle, in the face as it were. Combine direct sunlight with hillside’s cooler temperatures (a function of both higher altitude and air flow) and you have a longer, more temperate growing season – perfect for long, full maturation of flavor, color and aroma in grapes, hence in wine. 

Hillside vineyards also are less prone to frost damage (again, a function of air flow because cold air flows down a hill, away from vines). 

On the negative side, hillside vineyards are more difficult to farm than valley floor vineyards – some need to be worked completely by hand and on foot, for example – and that can result in more expensive wines than those from flat land vineyards.