Our wines are 100% estate-grown here in Murrumbateman and 80% of the effort in making award-winning wines starts in the vineyard.
This year’s season was a challenge with the rain and the cooler conditions and unfortunately, we lost most of our Shiraz grapes to powdery mildew. With harvest now over for this year, vineyard operations continue. There is always something that needs to be done including maintenance and nurturing of the vines.
Winter is an important time in the vineyard. The vines are now entering into their winter dormancy phase, losing the last of their leaves and leaving only bare cane shoots in their canopies. During this phase, the woody trunks and roots of the vines conserve energy and hoard valuable carbohydrate reserves, which are vital in the spring when the vines wake from their winter sleep and begin producing fruit.
This dormant period is the ideal time for the vines to be pruned of their old wood. Firstly we cut back last year’s growth using our mechanical pruner. This cuts each cane to about 30 to 40cm. Later in the season, a skilled team of pruners will come through to finish the pruning, where we leave only shoots that will produce fruit in the coming season. All prunings are then mulched and left in the vineyard to enrich the soils under the vines.
Pruning is important for maintaining the structural integrity, consistency, and predictability of the vineyard. Click here to watch the machine pruning.