In January the hill is quiet and the vines look dead. It is the most important month of the year. Every cut we make now decides how many bunches each plant will carry, and how well it will ripen them.
Two canes, no more
We use a double Guyot system. On each vine we keep two healthy canes from last year, tie them along the wire and cut away everything else. A strong vine might have twenty shoots; we leave around twelve buds.
Why not a machine
A machine cuts every vine the same way. A person can see which cane is thicker, which bud is damaged, and which plant had a hard year and needs a lighter load. On old vines that difference is everything.
You prune for the vine you will have in ten years, not only for next autumn.Marta Vale, vineyard manager (template)
