Pruning is the least glamorous job in wine, and the most important. Done wrong, you ruin next year before it starts.

Cut for concentration

We prune to about two buds per spur, on purpose. Less fruit means more concentrated fruit — the oldest trade in the book, and the one that actually works.

The hands remember

The same six people prune the same rows every winter. After a few years your hands know the vine better than your eyes do. That's when the vineyard really becomes yours.