Vintage 2022: April Update

It's the third week of April and once again we are running up against the deadline imposed upon us by the grapevines responding to the warm spring.
Working in the Chenin Blanc clone FPS-1 shows that many of the buds are at budswell, meaning that we have to hurry and get these canes laid down before the buds become too fragile and we knock them off in the process of doing our manipulations.
Work in the vineyard began in February with the removal of the accoutrement holding last year's growth in place, the wires, the tendrils, and the branch locks (Agfast). The first pass of pruning, cutting the tops of last year's shoots now one year old canes and cutting back the growth to leave options for this year's fruiting canes are all done and we are now in the final pass.
We've managed to do the final pruning and the laying down of this years fruiting canes for two thirds of our vineyard with another third to go!

There is something so serene about looking at a vineyard before all the activity begins for this season.