Vines, summary of spring work

In spring, the vines enter a phase of active growth and require a series of cultivation operations to encourage their development and ensure a harvest of quality grapes. Here are the most common springtime vineyard operations:

• Walls : The “chaillets” on the Condrieu and Côte Rôtie hillsides are held up by dry stone walls that need to be maintained every year. Dismantling, sorting stones, trimming, levelling and reassembling – it all takes time!

• New plantings : In the Condrieu plain, we are planting a few new vines on our Collines Rhodaniennes plots.

• Folding the rods : Baguettes pruned during the winter are often folded and attached to the trellising system’s wires to orientate them correctly and facilitate shoot growth.

• Soil cultivation : grassing with clover or sedum under the row, ploughing with a rotovator, a hoe and a pickaxe. The soil is worked to prevent undesirable plants from competing with the vines or bringing disease.

This spring cultivation work is essential to ensure healthy vine growth and a harvest of quality grapes at the end of the summer.