Spring Update & New Tools
Fiona Shiner, Founder
With March 2025 being a record breaking month for sunshine and with lower than average rainfall, it was great to have some respite from the dull and overcast winter months. April has been more mixed with some light frosts at Woodchester when the vines were still at woolly bud stage and not too vulnerable to frost damage.
Pruning, the longest task in the vineyard, finished in good time with our new tying down machines in action for the first time. Tying down is the process of securing the fruiting cane to the fruiting wire. The fruiting cane is a cane from last year's growth which will bear the fruit of this year's harvest. It is an important cane and the selection process is done by our most experienced pruners. After pulling out all the dead wood from the 2024 season, we are left with this one vertical cane which needs to be bent down horizontally and secured to the fruiting wire.
Tying down is the final part of the pruning process and we usually do this in March as the canes can be brittle in cold winter temperatures and can snap when bent down into a horizontal position. In warmer temperatures and wetter conditions the canes are more supple and can be manipulated more easily by the vineyard team without damage. The canes are secured to the fruiting wire with a bio-degradable paper tie and with 85,000 vines, we need a lot of paper ties.
Pruning is a very important but long, manual process so any help for the vineyard team in the form of mechanical or electronic tools is welcomed. This year we trialled some Infaco tying down machines. These are hand held electronic devices that have a trigger and carry a reel of paper ties. When the trigger is pulled the machine applies a paper tie to the fruiting cane, and twists it 3 or 4 times to secure it to the wire in a much shorter time than a manual application allows. This is not only quicker but also less onerous for the vineyard team who are never slow to give their feedback on any new machinery or 'gadgets'. In gladiatorial fashion, the last tying down machine trial got a severe thumbs down 
. It was a mechanical device and the reel of paper ties would often jam the machine and valuable time was lost to undoing the jams. I am pleased to report that this year's trial was a resounding success.
. It was a mechanical device and the reel of paper ties would often jam the machine and valuable time was lost to undoing the jams. I am pleased to report that this year's trial was a resounding success.
