News

Vineyards: the quietness of winter

March 11th : One more snowstorm ! This winter is definitely long...                                        

Life seems to have left our vineyard since the leaf-fall in October and November...                                                                                                       

The vines are in dormancy: a vegetative rest. During the four winter months, the sap does not run any more into the shoots and the plant recovers from its summer life cycle. This quiet and cold period is very important for the vine. It will allow a good vegetative start in the spring.

We are not out of the winter yet, but we can already notice that it has been a severe one. The average temperatures have been cold (-18°C end of December!) and the vineyards covered with snow several times. Fortunately our Alsatian vine stocks stand up to these severe conditions, even if very cold winters are not common any more these last years.

Although the vines take a rest during this cold period, the vinegrowers have to work... One of the longest and hardest tasks of the year starts in December: the pruning. The quality of next vintage depends on this operation, but also the future of the vine stock. We need three months to prune our whole vineyard. Before the springtime, we will still have to take down and shred the pruned shoots, and lastly repair the trellising (trellis posts and the wires).  

5th February 2010