by Werner Els

We can all agree that this winter was a terribly wet and cold one. In the vineyards there weren’t much activity as the vines were in their dormant stage, resting and preparing for the coming season.

Now that winter’s wrath has passed and spring has finally arrived, everything is fresh and new and it is time to do some spring cleaning in the vineyard.

Pruning is an important part of vineyard management and will determine the size and the quality of the coming seasons yield.
On Haskell Vineyards we use a spur pruning method. The old wood remains trellised on the wires and the spurs on these arms form the fruiting wood that produces the new shoots. The previous year’s shoots are pruned down to two buds which will break later this month and form the new shoots on which the next vintages grapes will grow.