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Pruning of Wine Grape Vines in the Hunter Valley

Posted : 16-Jul-2015
Category : In General

About Pruning

We, at Adina Vineyard, prune for several reasons:

  • to eliminate dead, broken and diseased wood
  • to get rid of unproductive wood
  • encourage new wood for future crops
  • open the canopy to sunlight and air
  • to facilitate management and development of the crop for the resultant wine

 

There are two common types of pruning: cane pruning or spur pruning.

There is much discussion, by some, as to what is correct. Some believe that young to middle-aged vines should be cane pruned, that certain grape varieties should be cane pruned and that it just may be that cane pruned vines live longer and are more productive. At Adina Vineyard we have made the choice to spur prune. 

Pruning our vines is a long process especially as we do them by hand. This process, however, is critical to the maintenance, development and the optimisation of our crop for the resulting wines. Pruning is done in winter when the plants are dormant, after leaf fall and before bud burst. If pruned too early or too late the sap will flow along the framework of the canes and drown the buds, preventing them from opening, prevention of this can also be aided by the cutting of the wood on a slight angle creating a spillover spot.

Terminology

Trunk: the main stem of the vine that supports above ground vegetation and structure

Cordon: is a permanent vine arm. That is, the lateral branches that extend out as the 'arms' of the grape vine, horizontally along from the trunk.

Spur: a spur is a cane pruned back to one, two or three buds

Canopy: the canopy of the vines provides a micro-climate for the grapes, protecting them from direct sunlight, improves the airflow and improves light interception which aids in the quality of the grape flavours.

vineyard pruning hunter valey    

   

After Pruning