Pruning Time is Approaching

We typically give ourselves a break in January and then get back into the vineyard in late February, but the warm weather coming up may be forcing our hand. We have been trying to apply the Simonit&Sirch method of pruning in our vineyard. It was time to refresh our memory on the technique and to take a further look into it's concepts. Toward that end, I found an excellent article online in Canopy Vineyard called The key to pruning: Respect.
Marco Simonit, a Friuli-based master pruner observed the gnarly old vines in the vineyards of Italy, France, Tunisia and Greece and wondered why some vines lasted for centuries while others died well before reaching their prime.

In 2003, Marco Simonit and his childhood friend Pieropaolo Sirch began training their vineyard crews in the eponymous Simonit&Sirch Method of branch-pruning. In their method, the key is to respect the sap flow. This method prioritises small cuts on young wood and the uninterrupted flow of plant sap. Large wounds cause dry wood to deepen at the expense of the living wood. The combination of these dry wood areas creates disturbances to the sap flow leading to the development of trunk diseases.
The four fundamental principals in Simonit&Sirch Method are:
1. BRANCHING - Shaping the structure

2. RESPECTING VASCULAR FLOW – through the structure of the plant and separating desiccated areas from the main vascular flow

3. CUTS AND CROWNS – reducing cutting surfaces and respecting the crowns

4. PROTECTIVE WOOD – leaving a portion of protective wood when cutting on two-year-old wood

I found this article to be very enlightening. Also, in that article was a reference to the Simonit&Sirch Academy where there are free courses on pruning methods. I will be checking out that site soon!
References:
1. Chris Boiling, The key to pruning: Respect, Canopy Vineyard, 12-14-2021.
2. Simonit&Sirch Academy.