While we take great care of 2019 in our cellars, 2020 is already emerging…
Now that winter has begun and once having produced its fruits, the nature takes a beneficial break, at least on the surface. A brief respite in the year: despite the apparent calm the winegrower does not really stop! Work on the vineyards resumed immediately after the Christmas holidays: pruning, tillage, trellising… In short, the utmost is done to produce high-quality grapes. And we very much hope that Mother Nature would have the wisdom to preserve us from the elements!
Vine pruning for better harvest
Because vine is a sarmentous liana…
One vine can produce invasive foliage and it is essential to control excess growth and limit the number of grapes to get beautiful concentration. And this step is critical, when we have to strike a balance to promote vigour of the plant and yield as well. To that end we must select the more recent shoots and keep only a few buds which will give new shoots in the springtime. This is for maintaining the vigour of the vine. But we also keep some buds on older wood to preserve vine yield!
And wood pruning...
… which is the next important step after vine pruning to “clean up” the trellising and create more space for the next new shoots. Pruning wood means removing shoots from among the vines. In other words shoots that have been cut must been removed, and this work is particularly hard as we have to effectively pull on the woods entangled in the trellising wires, and lay them on the row. Then vine shoots are shred and left in place to enrich the soil – an eco-friendly practice! But this does not exclude the possibility of using them for a family barbecue why not!! And of course with a glass of Château la Claymore or Château Flaunys!
