Waiting for the pruners

The pruning process is under way. More and more vine parcels are getting cut back as the weeks go by, although I think the rains we've recently had may have slowed things down a little. There hasn't been much activity in the parcels directly adjacent to our house yet, but it won't be long, I'm sure.

A parcel of young sauvignon blanc vines (planted in 2005, if I remember correctly) waits to be pruned.

I'm not knowledgeable enough to know how the growers decide when to prune each parcel, or if it even matters. I do notice that some parcels are pruned to one long cane (which is then tied horizontally to a guide wire) while others are pruned down to two or three small stubs; I assume that has to do with the varietal and how it grows.

The pruners line up the cut canes neatly between the rows of vine trunks. Later, in spring, the growers will pass through the parcels with mulchers attached to their tractors to grind them up.