Thinning

Thinning is an extremely important step... for the final development of fruit quality. This is where we cut out double or triple buds, as a bud can sprout two or three branches. So we cut these out in order to avoid overproduction, and also tangled vegetation, because this can limit air circulation which would encourage rot. So it's better in the first place to prune the canes a bit longer, to allow a better spread of growth, rather than prune short and risk entanglement. Better to prune long and cut out one bud out of two, to leave space for the foliage and grapes to grow. From here on the canes are going to really grow... so they'll need to be hitched up between the wires, this is called wire lifting. Next we will limit the height of the foliage by topping, and that's done until the end of the vegetative cycle.