The vineyard team has been hard at work pruning the vines over the past few weeks...getting them ready for new spring growth. After last week’s torrential rains and winds, we are enjoying some spring weather this week. I wouldn't be surprised if we start to see budbreak sometime soon.

Most of the vines in the Clos LaChance Estate Vineyard in San Martin are "spur" pruned. The technique our crews use is tried and true, originating in France at the end of the 19th century. The cordons (arms) are trained along a wire. The spurs arise along each cordon. Each spur is cut to include only two buds. Each bud on a two-bud spur typically produces one shoot. See my fancy doctored up picture for a visual example.

Cane pruning is another method developed by the French. Each vine is pruned to one cane with 6-8 buds and one spur with 2 buds. We use cane pruning in our Semillon block, cutting the canes a few weeks before harvest to create the dried-up grapes that make the delicious Nectar dessert wine (more on that later!).

In a nutshell, pruning is an important part of the grape-growing process. When vines are pruned correctly, most of the buds will burst successfully and the shoots will be vigorous. However, if a vine is pruned too lightly, too many buds will burst, causing an overabundance of shoots and berries. Because the plants energy is limited, the shoots will be shorter and the number of grapes and size will be smaller. However, the yield of the grapes will be larger--threatening the completion of ripening.