Pruning Merlot @ Vineyard
Channel: Ryan O'Connell
Date: 2009-01-12

http://www.ovineyards.com/public_html/blog/blog.html

Another vineyard video about pruning vines http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT-pO44msVI is like the prequel to this little pruning video.  In fact, all this video shows is tearing down vines.  After my dad cuts the vines down with his electric cutting shears (seen in aforementioned video), I run up and down the aisles of the vineyard tearing out all the branches that he cut.  They cling to the wire trellis system and so we need to manually rip them down and this process (referred to in French as "faire tomber" or "to make fall") is pretty fast compared to the actual pruning.

When we get sick of the tedium of pruning vines in the wintry weather, we go berserk and tear down for a while.  This video was taken on an uncharacteristically foggy morning and you can actually see ice breaking off of the vines as I rip down the pruned branches.  The things I do for good grapes and great wine!