Vintage 2020: Pruning Time

We have been working in the vineyard since February 1, 2020, pruning the tendrils which is our first step in pruning. We learned from our experiences of last year that in order to speed up our pruning task, all the tendrils needed to be removed from the trellis wires as well as from each other. We finished this task on March 4.
As a comparison, in 2019, we were simultaneously cutting tendrils, pruning and laying down the canes. We began on March 18 and finished up on May 4, 2019. We were laying down the Chenin Blanc canes just a little before they entered budbreak.
We thought that we were cutting it too close so this year, we began our vineyard work on February 1. Despite our early start, Mother Nature has a few tricks up her sleeves because it has been a very warm winter so far and with spring coming in one week, the temperatures are not going to be cold for too long and we might be looking at an early budbreak.

This year, we are trying the Simonit & Sirch Pruning Technique, and tried that method on the Barbera. The Barbera was planted in 2017 and this year, we hope to lay down a few of the canes to see what kind of fruit develops. We are using a single guyot since the vines are only a meter apart from each other.
After pruning, we are applying a product called VitiSeal, to prevent bacterial and fungal intrusion into the pruning wound. It is a non-pesticidal, natural solution to grapevine trunk and related diseases. The VitiSeal looks a little like milk. We end up spraying the VitiSeal on the pruned areas.