2019 Springtime Work in the Vineyard

Tying up at The Clous I’m setting up the wires here. We're in Clous at Vosne-Romanée. I’m setting up the wires... to raise the vines for the first time in 2019. Raise and tie as they say... It’s looking really good, it’s growing nicely, slower than last year. It will blossom, if all goes well, around the 15th of June... For now, we’ll only put one staple on the stake. We tie the grafts up to protect them... so when the tractor passes with its discs or hearts... don't break the branches. This year we are doing well. The vines are clean, there will be a good amount of grapes... we're waiting for it to flower... to see how the flowering goes. I hope there’s no coulure so we have a good harvest. We're at the Clos de Bèze, in Gevrey, tying up the vines. We need to hurry as Laurent treats it this Thursday or Friday... and he has to be able to get through. They’ve predicted rain for Friday so we have to move fast... It's going to be a good year, a beautiful harvest, it just has to keep like this until harvest... There’s always a good harvest in years with the number nine in them! Do you know why? Look at me: I was born in ‘79 and I'm handsome! Bigoude was born in ‘69 but there was a problem... No, no, no in 66! That's why he’s got a few screws loose... - right Joel? -It's true. Using the Hearts I rake with springs spreading the rows a little under the vines... and remove the grass. Finding a balance between digging in deep enough and speed. To remove as many weeds as possible. That way you avoid using weed killer? We use none at all. They're not for us. What are the things you call hearts? It's because the point, the blades, are heart-shaped. The fitting is straight so the heart cuts a wider path between the rows. Doesn't it hit the vines? That’s what the spring you see here is for. The spring here reacts... by directing the point when it touches the offshoots. - It's pushed away like this... -I see. It has to be adjusted really carefully... otherwise if it’s too tight it'll rip out the vines, and if too loose, it won't remove the weeds... Thank you.