We start leafing when the folliage begins to shade the young grapes. Crews go through the vineyard hand-pulling leaves. The bottom photo shows a vine that has been ‘leafed’. The large quantity of leaves pulled off can be seen on the ground. This process is repeated at least twice during the summer and sometimes three or four times.
By opening the canopy the grapes are less susceptible to mildew and benefit from the natural air currents. Leaves, of course, are responsible for photosynthesis and a canopy must be maintained. In order to expose the grapes and yet maintain photosynthesis the canes are trained upwards and restrained by pairs of wires. The fruit lives on the bottom wire.
This process of training begins during pruning by selecting new spurs that are positioned to grow upwards. These are the fruit bearing canes.
The workers are busy seeding the blocks and erecting catch fences which allow the water to go through while retaining the soil. The rest of our vineyard has been seeded sometime ago and there is already some growth. If the rains are too heavy the danger is that the seeds will wash away. We are optimistic that they will be light enough to permit the soil to absorb this very much needed rain.
Meanwhile, pruning continues. The image is of grenache vines. They are cordon pruned with two permanent canes extended on both sides and 4 or 5 spurs on each side which will grow the new fruit canes. Not all our vines are pruned this way — each variety is pruned slightly differently.
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