May is an eventful time in any winery. The vines have already developed their first shoots and they now grow for several centimeters a day when the weather suits them. For us the time of intensive work in and with our vineyards begins and we spend a lot of time outdoors.
Shoots that grow from the vines stems instead of their head have to be removed now, the grass between the vineyard-rows has to be mown and vines that have failed to grow again after the last winter have to be replaced. To do this the old vines are dug out and substituted by young ones that are planted in their place. The young vines will then yield their first grapes after three years time but the replacement is necessary to prevent the formation of more and more gaps in the vineyards. To this we have some pictures for you to see how the work is done. The picutre above shows Renate while digging out an old vine, below you see how the young vine is planted and the last one shows the young wine in place to hopefully develop into a healthy and strong plant.
Young vine in planting hole
Young grapevine ready to grow (with support rod)