Making the Cut: The Art and Science of Pruning Grapevines

Understanding How Pruning Shapes Sap Flow, Yield, and Vine Health

As the calendar turns to a new year, the vines are laid bare, their leaves gone, exposing the new wood grown over the previous vintage. It is an unruly sight but one that reveals a lot about the health and quality of the vine, the land, and, importantly, the management practices employed in years gone by. We talk a lot about nature, particularly in the realm of biodynamic and low-intervention viticulture, but seeing row upon row of untidy vines is a good reminder of how far from their natural state these vines are. That our impulse as curators of the vine is to prune, shape, and tidy up what, after all, is a result of the vine's natural tendencies is also telling. Vineyards are far from natural, and that is OK. We are, after all, looking to coax the vine into creating a product it has neither any knowledge of nor particular interest in. The vine does after all not produce grapes to make wine, but rather as an enticing vehicle through which its seeds can be distributed beyond the immed…