Off goes the surplus buds

Monday morning we began the ebourgeonnage in our plots in Loisy-en-Brie.

A grey morning, but that's fine with us. Rainy days equal not too cold weather equal no frost.

And as this job moves forward we see the damage of the frost of late April. And it may not even be over yet.


Many buds are frozen
Many of the buds in the low part of the vines are frozen.

The final result we will not really know before the time of grapeharvest.

So what are we doing with buds then anyway?

Well, they are not all frozen.


Pink spots on old wood
There are still buds, that develop into branches where we will get grapes at the end of the cycle.


But there are also buds that grow on the old parts of the plant. Buds that develop on wood, that is two years old or more, are not very fertile. We want the plants to deal with important matters, buds that will provide grapes, and thus we just remove the rest.

And those ones, those that create manual work right now. Well, of course they have not frozen. They show like little pink spots on the wood. They are easy to remove. It is just a long job, because you have to check all plants in all lines in all plots.


More trouble
As you work, you get depressed about number of frozen buds.

Plus those that have been eaten by a little insect that lives in the soils under the vineyard. It is called the mange-bourgeon which means the one that eats buds.

This insect bothers us every year, we can see some lines give less grapes, and it is also linked to this.

As long as we can fill our boxes at harvesttime, we live with it.

Frost is worse. And it may not be over yet. More is announced on sunday morning.