The vineyard at the right was partly pruned before the rain came. See all the little green plastic ties. Each winter we do the pruning by cutting off most all of the vine shoots and tying back the remaining shoots to the fruiting wire.

This Cabernet Franc zone with it's lyre shaped canopy is waiting to be pruned. You see all the upright shoots which will be cut off and then disced into the soil, a form of "renewable" farming. The remaining shoots are tied back to the fruiting bar which is about 3 feet above the ground, just high enough so we can manually pick without stoop labor. In the background looms a wind machine which will come into play in April and May. to prevent the freezing of our new budding vines.

At the right is an interesting Cabernet Sauvignon zone. It uses a GDC canopy which has a fruiting wire about 5 feet above the ground, considerably higher than the Cabernet Franc zone shown on page 1. You notice the shoots are mostly pointing downward or to the side. We grow the fruit on the de-energized downward pointing vines and hence, get smaller grapes which are more flavorful.