Work done in Spring :

Preparation and cleaning of vines and supporting stakes.

March :

Caraçonnage (repair) and “pliage” (folding of previous year’s un-pruned vine-shoots).
Caraçonnage : this consists in checking - replacing when necessary - the acacia stakes, particularly those at the row-ends, and tightening the wires which are to support the new vine growth. Special wires, called “leveuses” are placed on each side of the rows. These will be lifted twice during growth in order to keep the branches alongside the row.
The folding of vine-shoots is often carried out by women, as their dexterity is a major advantage for bending the shoot without breaking it, then fixing it to the horizontal wire. This essential work ensures that the flow of sap benefits the whole vine.

April :

Disbudding.
Budbreak : This is when the buds swell and the first leaves start to become visible. The vine awakens when the ground temperature reaches 10°C. The buds form and the branches grow. When the branches have five leaves, we carry out disbudding which means removing the suckers, unproductive branches which grow on the trunk at the base of the vine before flowering and which could weaken the vine.

May :

Lifting and scraping
Leafing: the leaves appear.
The shoots grow and have to be supported. Tying-in means the branches can be lifted. This is done using the the “leveuses”, wires on each side of the row which are fixed to one another and lifted regularly.
After scraping the ground, a soil dressing or amendment is applied.
In May, the grower’s major concern is late frosts, as these would cause substantial loss of harvest.

Free tasting in the winery !

New 2006 vintage: Try our red wine in May

You can also find us at Bordeaux’s “Capucin” market, every Saturday morning.