RIP Dr. Richard Smart
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Sad news. Thanks for sharing. I haven’t opened my copy in many years but learned so much from his book when first starting my home vineyard.
Lived a full life for sure . . .
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I think I gave my copy to my foreman when I retired. Dr Smart changed how many people farmed, including me. I believe he coined the term canopy management. I attended numerous seminars of his. He created formulas for pruning weights as well as number of shoots per linear foot of cordon. He argued that a vigorous vine could make better wine at 8 tons/acre than 5 due to canopy balance and vigor control with proper cropload. He came to Anderson Valley in the early 90’s and asked where we learned to do judicious leaf removal…I said I learned from one of his presentations years before. He hated total removal of leaves in the fruiting zone. He said after removal you should only be able to see about half the fruit.
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