With a nation obsessed by the weather (I’m guilty of that). I thought it’s time to show you what’s happening on the vineyard during these cold and wet months. Many of you may have had a sprinkling of snow in the last week, but our vineyard didn’t see a flake. Even if we did, we wouldn’t be that worried. Our vines need that period of cold and it’s thought that cold weather can help ward off unwanted disease and pests, and helps supercharge the vines for the growing season. Although the vines may be resting after working their socks off producing last year’s superb crop, we certainly are not. Our team is hard at work pruning, probably the most important task of the vineyard calendar.
We carefully prune each vine, we take care to assess the vigour to determine how many buds are left on each cane. This is crucial in achieving the yield consistency and the all important fruit quality.
PULLING OUT
After pruning we have to carry out the removal of the old wood, this is known as ‘pulling out’. We remove up to 90% of the vine during this process. The prunings are placed in a row ready for mulching. This mulch helps to replenish the nutrients in the vineyard. Finally we tie every cane to the fruiting wire ready for the next growing season.
