{"id":466,"date":"2016-04-01T12:28:21","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T10:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brunorocca.it\/en\/uncategorized\/vigne-pratiche-inverno\/"},"modified":"2016-05-02T16:26:53","modified_gmt":"2016-05-02T14:26:53","slug":"winter-vineyard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brunorocca.it\/en\/vigna-en\/winter-vineyard\/","title":{"rendered":"An unusual winter"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has certainly been an unusual<\/strong> winter<\/strong>, climatically speaking, with beautiful, sunny days and scarce precipitation in December and January that left the soil dry and compact; and snow in late March. But the vines did not suffer from stress or damage. On the contrary, the sunshine-y days allowed us to carry out work in the vineyards that normally we don\u2019t do due to cold temperatures or snow, such as installing new stakes and substituting old wires, especially in the older vineyards. These are all jobs that we try to avoid once the vines begin vegetative development in March and April, so as not to damage the trunks and branches that have already begun to grow into a \u201csupporting structure\u201d for the vines.<\/p>\n

The overall outcome from this winter has therefore been positive<\/strong>. Operations like pruning and tying have begun on time.<\/p>\n

PRUNING<\/strong><\/p>\n

We pruned during the sunniest days of January<\/strong> and with the utmost care, in full respect of the plants and their future production. Pruning is a fundamental process that helps the vines adapt to the training system and to facilitate cultivation; relegates plant growth to the physical space assigned to it; and, above all, helps the vines maintain constant production over the years by regulating the number of buds and optimizing its vigor.<\/p>\n

Because of how important the pruning operations are<\/strong>, we take every trunk into consideration, almost as though it was a person. For a less vigorous plant, we reduce the number of buds so that it doesn\u2019t weaken further. And a stronger plant can support the weight of grapes better, so we let more buds grow.<\/p>\n

To summarize the work that we did<\/strong>, you could say that we pruned the vines with the aim of never cutting too closely and of respecting the surrounding buds; avoiding deep cuts into the trunk (which causes the plant to stay shorter) that can damage or weaken the vine; and to favor the flow of nutrients in the vines, which are already beginning to awaken this season.<\/p>\n

BENDING AND TYING<\/strong><\/p>\n

As opposed to pruning in the sunshine<\/strong>, bending and tying the branches is done during the foggiest and most humid days. Humidity keeps the branches soft and flexible. Bending and tying is done to help the plant adapt to the chosen pruning type and to contain and\/or support the vegetative development of the vine. Tying the branches in arches, for example, creates small bottlenecks for the flow of nutrients through the vines. This helps the plant distribute these substances uniformly and never excessively, and to grow similar-sized grapes that never swell too large.<\/p>\n

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