Advice on Canopy Management to improve Yield and Quality
Advice on site selection and variety choice
Advice on world best Vineyard Management Practices
Advice on control of Grapevine Trunk Diseases in young and old vineyards
Introducing “The Flying Vine Doctor 2.0”
The Carbon-conscious Vine Doctor
WHAT I BELIEVE
“Most vineyards are producing below their yield and quality potential. Let me show you.”
— RICHARD SMART
– 1965, Research Scientist
studying irrigation and canopy management, Griffith NSW, Australia
– 1971, PhD Studies
with Prof Nelson Shaulis, Cornell University, NY, USA
– 1976, Taught Viticulture
and made research at Roseworthy Agricultural College, SA, Australia
– 1980, Government Viticultural Scientist,
New Zealand
– 1990 – Present , Consulting
with Smart Viticulture, Based in NSW, Tasmania, UK and Victoria, Australia
SOME AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS:
“One of World’s 50 Most Influential Winemakers” – 2004 US Wine and Spirits MagazineWine Industry “Personality of the Year” for Innovation – 2004 Wine Magazine, UK
Among “50 Most Powerful Names in Wine” Decanter Magazine 2005
Inductee to the New Zealand Wine Hall of Fame 2006 and 2012
Lifetime Achievement Award International Wine Challenge UK
Best Trade or Technical Wine Writer – 2015 Wine Communicator of Australia
DR Smart at Work
China 2015
Chile 2015
Purchase Sunlight Into Wine
The following are the section headings of Sunlight into Wine:
- Winegrape canopies and their importance
- Quality assurance in vineyards
- Improving canopy microclimate
- Canopy management – how to do it
- Improved trellis systems
- The economics of canopy management
- Common questions about canopy management with answers
- Constructing trellis systems
This seemingly innocuous little viticulture book is to be found on bookshelves the world over, and is often described as ‘the bible of canopy management’. Published by Winetitles of Adelaide, South Australia, in 1991, this 96 page book was developed by Dr Richard Smart (viticulturist) and Mike Robinson (agricultural engineer) when both worked with the New Zealand Government in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
The aims of the book were simple, says Richard Smart. It was to be a handbook of wine grape vineyard canopy management, and further to be an applied book to be directly used by grape producers wishing to adopt this exciting new technology. Only sufficient scientific principle was to be included so as to make the reasons for trellis system design evident. As well, the book was designed to be “reader friendly” and also “practical and trustworthy”. It is generously illustrated in colour, and the writing style is easy to read. Those aims seem to have been met. One grapegrower’s wife once complained to Richard Smart that her husband was giving more attention to “Sunlight into Wine” of an evening than he was to her!
Click below for a brochure about Smart Viticulture Consulting.
Click below for a downloadable concise CV.
