Three weeks ago, in “From Vine to Wine”, we talked about the opening weather for the season and made mention of the detailed work that Pascale had put into pruning the vines and making them ready for season 2012. This week we are proud to release our latest “In the Vines” video which gets up close and personal with one of our Cabernet Franc vines in Hourcat Sud, the home of beautiful #Cloud9.
There is no perfect human being in this world and similarly there is no such thing as a perfect vine! But we did select this one as it superbly illustrates Pascale’s skillful work and allows us to explain a little more about the pruning process. David Clingin’s new found skill as a video producer has allowed us to insert close up pictures, which better illustrate the details.
In Bordeaux, the single or double Guyot system of training vines is predominant. Named after Jules Guyot, the mid 19th century French pioneer in viticulture, a vine typically has either one or two main cordons from which a horizontal branch is grown. The buds on each branch burst to provide a vertical stem and at their base a grape bunch at harvest time.
In the video, you can see the trunk of the vine dividing into the two cordons with their horizontal branches, which provide this season’s fruit. You will also be able to see the “short stem with single bud” (there must be a technical name for that!) which will grow a shoot this year which, when pruned back and pulled down horizontally next winter, will serve as the main branch for the 2013 season. We also show a bud or two starting to emerge from the old wood at the top of the main trunk. There is a good possibility that this may create a shoot this year that will be cut back next winter to make the next “short stem with a single stem” from which the 2014 horizontal branch will be grown. This explains why the pruning process is so detailed and needs to be carried out very carefully. One wrong cut and two years of harvest could be put at risk. When done correctly, the pruning sets up that (nearly) perfect vine. Attention to detail is critical at every step when producing a great wine.
We hope you enjoy the video clip. And if you want to see what the vine looked like before it was pruned, have a look at this previous “In the Vines” video! Enjoy.
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In the Vines #3 Video still shot