Pruning, Pruning and more Pruning...

Pruning is one of the most important practices in the vineyard as it creates balance between vegetation and fruit production to achieve the grape yield, maturity and quality we desire. With pruning we also decide the fruiting area that will maximise sun exposure, disease control and harvest. During winter, the vines have dormant buds located at the base where every leaf had grown in the previous season. These buds are potential growing points for the following season. If we do not prune, there will be too much growth with fruit everywhere and the plant will waste energy on weak shoots that may not bear fruit. On the other hand , if we prune too aggressively and leave only a few buds, the plant will grow so vigorously that the energy will be concentrated on the leaves or canape, instead of on ripening the fruit. The goal of pruning is to leave the correct number of buds with proper placement to produce the right balance between shoot growth and fruit production.The most fruitful buds are located in one year old wood, older wood tends not to be as productive. 

The method of pruning I first learned and had been using since planting the vineyard in 2014 was the cane pruning method, where a longer cane of one year old wood is trained annually from the head of the vine onto the fruiting wire. Also, a two bud renewing spur is left each year with the next year cane often selected from this spur. However my life changed when thanks to my mentors Thomas Bartlett and Simon Woodhead, I discovered the Simonit & Sirch pruning method.

I am not quite sure what made Marco Simonit wonder about the inside of vines, but I think it has been one of the most inspirational teachings I have experienced in my life. Given that if we want to cultivate vines, we have to prune them,  he sees plants as beings that are at our disposition and do not have any saying on how we prune them. Hence our responsibility to do it in a manner that will enhance their health, longevity and well being. That was such a powerful concept, to actually put ourselves, as oenologists, on the Vine’s perspective and decide what was best for THEM, not just for US. Of course in return,  we will be able to take profit from those very vines for a longer period of time, as with the technique he and his team developed, the vines are healthier and have more longevity to continue expressing the true Terroir for years. 

The basis of the method is to respect the Vines organic growth whilst ensuring the continuity of the sap flow through the structure of the plant, separating desiccated areas from the main structure of the plant. Making small cuts and hence the pruning more precise, greatly reduces the area of the wound exposed, thus reducing the risk of wood disease. By leaving a portion of extra wood to allow for disecation, the sap is allowed to flow naturally. 

I know it may sound a bit weird, but pruning is one of the most exciting and skilled tasks of the Vineyard. It involves understanding of the individual vine (yes, there is not such a thing as standard, every vine is different), forecasting of the yield we intend to produce in the season and on top of that strategy of what we expect to produce for the following season. 

There is a lot more information about the Simonit&Sirch Method in this link https://simonitesirch.com/simonitesirch-pruning-method/ and videos online. In the meantime I better go outside and continue giving my girls that yearly haircut that will hopefully be respectful and will allow me to enjoy them and their fruit for many , many years to come.

One site done, the other one to go…