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After
the works from winter,
comes the time for the tough work "in the green",
meaning in the growing vineyard.
We have to disbud, which means removing the undesired green
shoots at the foot of the vine stock.
    
Next, we tie up the growing branches since we do not want the
vineyard to look like a jungle... after all, the vine is related
to the creeper!!! And when we're ready with all the vineyards,
we must start again with the first one, 2 to 4 times each season.
Another
physically hard job is maintaining the soil. This is partly
done mechanically, but on newer parcels, the work has to be
done by hand to avoid damage to the young and vulnerable vine
stocks.
 
Ce
travail de la terre est bon pour le sol et pour la vigne, mais
il est aussi beau pour les yeux : ci dessous notre parcelle
"La Montagnère" vue du haut de la colline.
Il est facile de reconnaître nos parcelles au printemps
à leur aspect zébré: une rangée
verte (herbe tondue), l'autre marron (labourée).
 
Phytosanitary
processing is, even in organic wining, inevitable. The vineyard
needs to be protected against cryptogamic diseases like mildew.
Since nightfall brings less wind to disturb the spraying product,
processing is done overnight to ensure good and equal distribution
of the fungicide on the vines. Every self respecting vine grower
tries to limit the use of these fungicides as much as possible.
We have gone farther in our commitment to the environment. For
fifteen years, we have banished the use of all insecticides
and anti-botrytis. Because of our small yield we are sure that
all clusters are open to the air, and thus are better protected
from insect bites and are less susceptible to rot.
We detail our dedication to environmentally responsible practices
on the webpage "Environmental
Information".
 
Often
the "inflorescence" (the quantity of flowers that
come out of the buds in spring and develop into clusters) is
too poor and the harvest too small.
Sometimes however, particularly with vine stocks younger than
six years old, the berry set is too heavy for the vigour of
the young vine. We then start to "green drop", meaning
we eliminate the overabundant clusters. A time-demanding practice
that is very important for the health of the vines and the quality
of the wine.
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D'avril
à juillet, les branches poussent chaque jour.
Elles doivent être arrangées et relevées
à la main, c'est le travail de relevage.
Puis, au fur et à mesure, les fils de fer sont remontés
à la main pour maintenir en ordre les branches arrangées,
afin que le Mistral ne les disperse pas et ne les casse pas.
Ensuite, la pointe des branches est coupée par une machine
montée sur le tracteur, l'écimeuse : c'est l'écimage
(pas de photos... nous y penserons au printemps !). Tout comme
l'épamprage, c'est une opération qui doit être
renouvelée de 3 à 5 fois par parcelle entre avril
et juillet.
Ci dessous,
notre apprenti Aurélien, en 2008.
  
A
partir de juin, si jamais le temps est trop humide
(comme par exemple en 2008), il faut aérer les grappes
par un effeuillage manuel qui les expose mieux
au soleil et permet au Mistral de mieux les sécher.
  
Finally,
end august, vintage season arrives...
Harvesting, whether it happens manually or mechanically, is
synonymous for “an intense period of hard work”.
It is absolutely the most pleasant time of year for us, for
it is the evidence of the “fruit of our labour”.
But
before it is time to harvest, the maturation
of the grapes is observed very closely.
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