We are all very glad to say that this year’s pruning is now complete and all 11,066 vines (plus the new arrivals in the top vineyard) are primed for season 2024! Pruning by hand, we have to consider each vine according to how well it grew the previous year and make the cuts accordingly, leaving behind just enough buds to produce the quality and yields we need on a healthy and stress-free vine. By the end of the last day, you certainly feel you’ve got to know them all individually!
While we might grumble about the seemingly incessant wet weather over the pruning season as we put on our waterproofs, it is also a boon that the copious rain is being diverted through our drainage system into the underground tank that powers the water-based frost protection system. It never ceases to amaze that such a volume of water (up to 2 million litres a month) can flow through just one single field.
