What is winter pruning?

The vines are like us: they work very hard for much of the year and when they have produced the grapes, their rest period arrives.

After the harvest we have to wait for the plants’ vegetative cycle to end in autumn. Slowly the sap returns from the leaves to the roots to prepare for winter. The leaves lose their color and fall off. That’s when we start winter pruning. Depending on many factors, this pruning begins in late December or early January. And if we follow biodynamic practices in our vineyards, we will prune when the moon is in its waning phase.

This winter pruning is very important. Each plant system has its pruning style. A goblet vine is pruned differently than a trellis vine. It also changes the pruning style according to the grape variety offered by the vine. And finally, it also varies if we are going to use a tractor to work in the vineyard or we will do it manually, that is, we will prune in a way that helps us in the tillage of the vineyard.

As you can see, pruning is not something that is done lightly. A bad pruning can cause the plant to die earlier than it should because it ages and has less resistance to diseases. A good pruning will help the plant produce higher quality, healthier, more balanced grapes, which will result in the quality of our wines.