Pruning the Vines as the Weather Heats Up

     Today we worked in the vineyard to get the Cabernet Franc vines pruned and ready for the hot Summer weather.  The top picture shows the vines before we went through and put the top and bottom shoots behind their catch wires.  We train our Cabernet Franc vines using the Scott-Henry (a.k.a. Smart-Dyson) technique.  This technique forces the vines to grow downward in a direction it would rather not grow.  The vines react to the stress of the shoot placement by putting more energy into the fruit production.        
      The picture at the bottom shows the vines after the catch wire on the bottom has been pulled down to trap the lower shoots and force them to grow downward. 
      Now as the hot weather adds more stress to the vines, the growth of green shoots, leaves and stems will cease and the plant will shift into fruit productions mode.  As we complete the pruning and work to refine the taste of the fruit you will get a chance to judge for yourself if the work we put into the vines and ultimately the wine is worth our efforts.  We believe you will think they are.