Spring work in the vineyard

Spring work has begun in the Podere Conca vineyards

With the arrival of spring, many jobs have begun in the vineyards of Podere Conca. Between January and February we carried out the winter pruning of the vines , done by hand to be able to evaluate each individual vine and give it a development suited to its vigour and shape.

Pruning

The goal is to develop fruit-bearing shoots that produce the desired quantity of grapes, that is, very low so that it is qualitatively better. The balance between the leaf wall and the quantity of bunches is important to guarantee the sweetness of the grapes and at the same time the shading of the fruits, necessary to maintain the natural acidity of the musts and therefore the freshness of our wines.

Bending of the shoots

We then performed the bending of the shoots left by pruning so that they produce fruit: now the plants are preparing to sprout, swelling their buds and slowly stretching out the new leaves. In this period we are therefore preparing to take care of them in the best possible way and to prevent pathogenic attacks.

Fight against moth

We started by placing pheromone diffusers in the field to fight the grapevine moth.

.

There moth it is an insect and this method, widely used in organic farming , causes the males to be "confused" by the artificial pheromone trails released by the diffusers and therefore unable to mate with females of their species or in any case mate less.

Egg laying is significantly reduced and consequently also the subsequent generations of the insect. The most dangerous generation for the vine is the one that develops at the end of summer and that could damage the bunches of grapes that are now ripe and ready for harvest.

In fact, when the insect is in the larval stage, it makes small holes in the skin of the grapes through which diseases could develop, especially botrytis or gray mold, which is very harmful to the quality of the wine. This method, precisely because of its functioning, is known as "sexual confusion", it leaves no residue in the plant and is very effective.

Under-row processing

 

We then worked the soil on the row, that is, we removed the weeds closest to the vines so that there is less competition with the plants for water and nutrients. For this operation we used a tractor equipped with a special tool that moves the soil near the vines , where the plants are larger.

However, we also had to work manually with the hoe, where the plants are smaller and more fragile, so greater accuracy is required in the work and above all great attention in not damaging the plant which, being young, is very delicate.

The “crying” of the vine

These are tiring jobs, but the effort is also compensated by great emotions such as seeing the vine “ crying ” in spring: it is the sap that awakens and begins to flow to bring strength to the plant that must first produce and then bring its fruits to maturity.

A miracle which happens every year.

by Linda Franceschi, Paola Cioni and Simonetta Cerboneschi