Pruning Time - A peaceful time in the Barossa Valley
After a short break post vintage, most vineyard managers and workers re-enter the vineyards around June for pruning. Depending on the size of the property and density of the plantings, weather and many other factors pruning normally runs till early September. For us at Hayes Family Wines, with our small patch of vines, we typically start in mid to late July with pruning normally running for 4 - 5 weeks. At this time of year the vines are resting up for another season to awake in September to hopefully fine weather and moist soils around there feat.
Pruning is probably the most important vineyard activity for the year. Pruning sets up the crop for the next two years and is one of the biggest influencers on grape quality and quantity. All done by hand. At Hayes Family Wines the majority of our vines are rod and spur pruned, with 2-3 rods and a few spurs, but we also have a small amount of Grenache on permanent arm, and some Bush Vine Mataro.
So if you are planning to visit the Barossa, do not forget winter, a great time to visit.