What If Vine Stress Doesn’t Actually Make Better Wine?

Dylan Grigg is one of Australia’s most respected viticulturists. He’s just come back from speaking at a farming conference in Burgundy, traveling through the Jura, and he brought a suitcase full of ideas that challenge a lot of what we think we know about growing grapes.

In this conversation we get into some big questions — and some uncomfortable answers.
Do old vines actually make better wine, or are we romanticising the side effects of accumulated stress and poor pruning? Does deliberately stressing vines improve quality, or is that an oversimplification that’s doing long-term damage? And why are French vignerons fermenting willow bark and spraying it on their vines?

We cover a lot of ground:
→ What Dylan taught Burgundian farmers about managing heat stress — and what they’re already dealing with that mirrors Australia
→ Why middle-aged vines in France are dying while the genuinely old vines survive — and what grafting methods have to do with it
→ The pruning problem — how decades of poor practice are being mistaken for natural vine decline
→ The myth that old vines inherently yield less — Dylan’s PhD research showed the opposite in well-pruned vineyards
→ Vine balance vs vine stress — why the “vines must struggle” philosophy might be doing more harm than good
→ Phytotherapy — using plant-based sprays (willow, horsetail, she-oak) to trigger natural defence pathways in grapevines
→ Salicylic acid, silica, and systemic acquired resistance — the actual science behind what sounds like folk wisdom
→ The looming copper restrictions in France and what it means for organic viticulture globally
→ Why white wine grapes are almost certainly a human-preserved mutation — there’s zero competitive advantage to fruit the same colour as your leaves
→ The 2026 season — why it’s shaping up to be one of the latest vintages in memory across southern Australia
→ Ampelography, rootstock selection, omega grafts vs whip and tongue, and why good grafters are worth their weight in gold

This one goes deep. If you usually listen to podcasts at 1.5x speed, you might want to slow this one down.

Got a question for Dylan or for us? Drop it in the comments.
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🍷 Visit us: https://www.bottleshock.tv
🍷 Unico Zelo wines: https://www.unicozelo.com.au
📖 Phytothérapie — Using Plants to Heal Plants: https://athenaeum.com/en/books-organic-biodynamic-permaculture/9016-phytotherapy-used-on-vines-told-by-the-plants-english-edition-by-justine-vichard-9791043504068.html
📖 Taille de la Vigne — Pruning techniques: https://athenaeum.com/en/books-viticulture/2396-best-pruning-practices-and-curative-techniques-against-wood-diseases-french-edition-sicavac-pruning-guide-9782958469207.html

#viticulture #winemaking #oldvines #pruning #vineyardmanagement #australianwine #burgundy #jura #winevlog #winescience #phytotherapy

CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction and Travel Priorities
00:57 Recent Travels: France and Tasmania
01:55 Focus of the French Viticulture Conference
03:42 Australian Winemakers Traveling Abroad
04:35 Seasonal Variability and Climate Challenges
10:10 Lessons from Traveling in the Jura
13:44 Using Plants to Heal and Protect Vines
18:20 Innovations in Grafting and Vine Care
25:01 The Role of Stress in Vine Quality
28:14 Vine Evolution and Mutation
33:01 Seasonal Variability and Future Planning
36:01 Adapting to Changing Seasons and Climate
40:42 Closing Remarks and Final Thoughts