Leaf thinning is an operation during the growing season which consists in removing all or part of the leaves which are generally located in the area of the bunches (the fruit-bearing zone). The objective is to ventilate the bunches as much as possible in order to reduce phytosanitary risks while also exposing them to plenty of sunlight to facilitate ripening. The leaves located around the clusters, also called basal leaves, are the first to have grown and therefore the first to reach maturity. They will also be the first to stop photosynthesizing and so will no longer contribute to synthesis and the accumulation of sugars in the grapes. Removing these leaves has less impact on the sugar load and the ripening of the grapes than the vine's median or apical leaves higher up on the vine.
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