Tough Love - Reworking our Old Blocks
Reworking Can be Brutal
Reworking our old block
vines are incredibly resilient
Vines have an incredible capacity to live and produce year on year for decades and even centuries when grown on their own roots. They face all the elements, rain, wind, drought, heat, cold, and pests and disease. Often human inputs are the biggest threat. Our old Estate Vineyard in Stone Well has been repeating the annual cycle for more than 70 years. We expect it to continue doing so for at least that time again.
But like all living things, the seasons can have an impact on their health and well being. The drought years, like we saw in 2018 thru 2020, were tough on our block and many other blocks across the valley. Some vines died and many vines that had been soldiering on saw the consequences of eutypa (dieback) become more apparent.
With predictions of a series of hot years ahead, we decided it was time to take some action and rework our vineyard, take out some dead wood and prune the vineyard hard. These actions are expected to provide the vines with a new lease on life and better prepare them for the tough conditions ahead.
PRUNING with a CHaINSAW
Pruning is a very special skill. Each vine has its own personality. The ability to make timely decisions on the fly about each individual vine is only learnt through experience. Small cuts are one thing, the big cuts are even more critical.
A Dead Branch Removed, Organic Paint Applied
The team spent a week assessing the vines, cutting off dead branches, and in some cases, fortunately very few, removing the remnants of what was once a thriving old vine.
Some Vines Did not Survive the Tough Years
THE RESULT
The vines have rarely looked happier. With the dead wood removed, the energy goes into the healthy vine tissue, growing new canes, new leaves and new and fresh grapes. Our vineyard is now ready for the dry hot conditions that are likely to follow
Our Old Vines Looking Glamorous Once More
what next
Unfortunately we have some gaps, these gaps will be filled via layering next winter. A rod from the neighbouring vine will be let grow into the ground into a gap, it will drop roots, in a few years will be trimmed from the mothervine and will start the process again. We are excited about the next 50 years for our old block in Mattiske Road, Stone Well.