The elegance of words…

Huge excitement across our small #barrelandvine vineyard team because… ALL of our vines have started to show signs of growth. For those new to vines, the #greenstuff is wax. Our wholesaler, grafts specific clones of successful vines (Pinot Gris 457 and 514) onto S04 rootstock. This then gets covered in wax which acts as a seal to prevent infection and disease.

As the earth warms up and welcome gentle rain hydrates the terrain, our wonderful and little (currently 30–50cm) vines wake up and start to settle in their new homes. Over the coming season, we are expecting these vines to put on between 1m and 1.8 metres of growth and throughout this time, we must be extremely vigilant in their care. Firstly, we cannot let any flowers appear, this is the case for next year too. Lots of reasons why, but I like the thought that this encourages them to send their roots deep into the ground.

Next up, we have to finish bagging each vine. This is back breaking, whilst we were on our knees marrying the vines to the earth (aka planting), we must do the same to protect them. Each bag needs to have a turnup (imagine turnups on 80’s jeans), which then gets filled with pebbles and earth to keep them weighted and secure. Then my role as CEO of slug pellets restarts, with a fresh dose being required on all vines.

We can now turn our attention to pests and diseases and implementing a spray programme that acknowledges our commitment to BIO-viticulture. The more we read, the more we learn, the more we appreciate the talent and gifts of French vignerons. Some say, vines and viticulture arrived with the Romans, but who really knows. What I do know is that the French wine industry has seen it all. It is simply inspirational to hear how much they know. I wholeheartedly recommend Shadows in the Vineyard by Maximillian Potter which traces some of this history with an elegance and turn of phrase that echoes the joy and beauty of the vines themselves.

Over the coming month our muscles will be given an extreme work out as we construct all of the trellising (280 picquet en bois). Wish us luck and watch out for some exhausted looking vignerons in the photos.

Please do click subscribe (every subscriber helps us claim a tiny portion of advertising revenue) and feel free to share or reach out to us for chats. We welcome visits to the vineyard all year round. Follow us on www.facebook.com/langonan #uncoindeparadis