Disbudding, lifting and trellising
This consists in cutting some of the undesirable shoots. This method allows us to aerate the vine and so to low the risks of disease, to regulate the yield and to get vines easier to work after.
During this step, every vine stock is checked and non-fruitful shoots are removed by hand encouraging the vine to focus its energies on the fruitbearing shoots.
These operations consist in raising the trellis wires (lifting) and in passing through the twigs -small vine branches- separating them from each other between the wires (trellising) so as to keep them all vertical.
To better maintain the sprigs, we staple the wire to tighten them.
These tasks are done principally to:
- Protect the twigs from breakage due to the wind
- Give a better exposure of the leaves and the vine grapes to the sun
- Limit the risk of illnesses
- Make it easier for the machines to pass
Lifting and trellising are operations that are done several times and which require patience and which have as final objective to obtain a high quality harvest.
2021
June 21rst 2021: Disbudding have begun. Vegetation is growing very quickly after being very slow!
2020
May 20th 2020: Disbudding is now over after a sunny day! Will we harvest early?... Even earlier than the 2 previous years?
2019
June 21rst 2019: these important steps are now over! The shoots continue to grow throughout the summer, right up to harvest time, and must be regularly pinched back, to prevent the vine from producing foliage at the expense of fruit.
May 21rst 2019: Disbudding comes to the end. Before being tied up, the grass in our vines will be cut. We have indeed decided to let grass grow in our vines, in order to limit the use of chemical inputs. Grass allows in particular to stimulate the biological activity in the soil and to prevent its erosion.
Our vineyards on May 21rst 2019
April 24th 2019: The sun and the heat of the Easter holidays have increased the vegetation establishment for the Chardonnay vines, so that the disbudding was begun in these vines. In a few days, the Pinot Noir vines will be then disbudded and only after, the Meunier.