First they did a radical pruning of the vines, removing every old cane instead of just most of them. Then one day they took down all wires that support the vines and grapes as they grow. This is a parcel in the Renaudière vineyard just a couple of hundred meters (yards) from our house.
And finally, one day they started taking out posts and leaning them up against the grape trunks. As you can see, they're stacked very neatly. What will happen next, we don't know. Neither one of us has been out walking when the work was actually going on, so we haven't been able to ask anybody. We are not even sure which vigneron owns and works this parcel.
Maybe they are going to take out these old grape stumps — though they are obviously not dead, because they're sprouting new growth — and put in new vines. Or maybe they are just going to put the support posts and wires back in place, refurbishing the parcel.
For comparison, here's a parcel of vines on the other side of the gravel road, with a view out to a separate vineyard called Les Bas Bonneaux. Again, look how green it is. We had sun yesterday, and we are having sun today, but tomorrow the rains return.
My guess is the parcel has esca and the vines will be grubbed up. But it could be they are simply planning to refurbish the supports. I suspect the first though.
ReplyDeleteTime will tell....some suspense.
ReplyDeleteAnother mystery...what do your neighbors think?
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see what they do. They left the posts, so maybe they're going to do as you suggested.
ReplyDelete