Pruning our vines

Pruning starts in December at Tour de Belfort when our vines are dormant.

We start well ahead of the "official" historical start on 22nd January.

This date was chosen as it's Saint Vincent of Saragossa's feast day. Saint Vincent of Saragossa is patron Saint of winegrowers and winemakers.

We have worked through sunny and rainy days and have finally clipped our last vine early March.

Pruning is the first fundamental task of the year it decides the shape and size of the growing vine and yields of the harvest we aim for. We use the single Guyot method and cut the main shoot short to limit the numbers of shoots and grapes the vine will grow.

Later in the year with budding in spring and green harvest early summer, we will try to maintain our yield objectives decided at pruning.

Our low yields contribute to the quality of our award winning wines. An aim of 50 hectolitres per hectare is good for quality wines but we go one step further and aim for even lower yields around 35 hectolitres per hectare similar to many Grands Chateaux in Bordeaux.