Pruning

We are well into pruning now. The weekend saw us complete 29 of the 64 rows that make up the vineyard. Pruning is a very important part of growing good grapes and there are lots of theories about it. Pruning occurs while the vines are dormant.  Once the leaves have all fallen, usually in early June we start the long process. It generally takes one person one full day to prune one 400m row (approx 200 vines).  This year for the first time we used a mechanical "box pruner" to pre-prune the vines by trimming  off the excess growth.  This has made it easier for our small team of pruners to follow up and do the fine detailing of the each vine. The vines below have been box pruned. Before box pruning the canes were up to and higher than the top wires.

The next stage involves trimming the vines down to approximately 7-8 spurs on each side of the vine.

 Of course, it doesn’t ever go to plan, but if you don’t get it right at pruning, there is only grief ahead. Last year we got 2.4 tonnes/acre.