Not quite, but this is a very busy time with planting in the garden and starting “green pruning” in the vineyard.

Green pruning is the removal of unwanted shoots during the growing season. We spend a lot of hours on it in May and June.

Grapes send out a lot of shoots from latent buds, and each bud we save at pruning can produce three shoots where we want just one.

Too many shoots mean crowded, shady canopies, which is great for Powdery Mildew and Grape Leafhopper, but not for fruit for top-notch wine.

Each of our 15 cultivars has its own characteristics that determine how many shoots per meter of cordon is appropriate. Xarel•lo, which has the largest leaves, clusters, and berries, we strive for 7-9 shoots per meter. For the smaller-leafed varieties, like Cabernet Sauvignon and Riesling, we want a max of 15 shoots per meter.

For most varieties, we are removing 1/2 to 2/3 of the baby shoots. With Chenin Blanc, I think we only leave about 1/5!

We do this as early as we can. Keeping all vegetation exposed to high-intensity sunlight prevents pests from having a favorable habitat. This means no need for pesticides, which is one of our major goals at our winery.

For some of the more susceptible-to-mildew varieties, we come back later and remove several lower leaves from the shoots to ensure plenty of light on the fruit.