Vines Crave Attention: Pruning Yet Again!

The many facets of the life of a vine.

Just like children, the grapevines need to be looked after all the time. Otherwise they become unruly. Vines & children alike. This week, Bob and I learned another facet of growing and making wine. More pruning. It is almost miraculous how quickly nature does its thing. A few weeks ago the grapevines were bare of greenery and now they tend to have branches overcrowded with greenery.

When you see those vines, they tend to look a little gnarled and misshapen. Yet, out of this trunk grow the new branches ( cordons ), that are the hosts for plant shoots. These plant shoots are the holy grail of wine making. They bear the grapes, nourish them and make sure they get enough sunlight and air. Pruning makes the quality of the grape better although it is rather heartbreaking when you have to discard a mini - bunch of grape - lets. Nevertheless, seeing these gnarled old vines host such an abundance of greenery and mini grapes is simply awesome.

I know that I make it seem an easy task, but alas it is far from it. As you stand in front of each vine, you need to decide how to prune it. Which shoots to pluck, which to keep for next years growth, and how much foliage to discard. A bit of ruthlessness is needed when the motto is Quality over Quantity. Admittedly, as I snapped off each mini - bunch I thought:

oh darn, here goes another bottle of wine...

Biggi

My Mum showing us how to look after the grapevines. Isn't Burgenland fabulous? The sky is often a stunning and heartwarming blue and frames the green fields and vineyards to perfection.

Nature's perfection...

Oh yes, I did pruning. ( I was going to say that I pruned, but that could be misconstrued! )

Can you see the mini - grapes? Cute, aren't they...

Can you see how gnarled the stock or trunk looks? Out of these, the magic of wine starts to take shape. Before you know it, it is harvesting time and the results of this round of pruning can be tasted.