Flaherty Wines

One of our few winter chores is pruning the vines. The main goal of pruning is canopy management, in the sense of controlling yields and achieving a good distribution of the next season’s clusters along the canopy wire. The clusters should hang freely and not overlap or bunch up, which would limit air flow around the fruit and lead to mold growth. Tempranillo is a medium- to high-yielding variety, and our clone tends to be on the high side. Controlling yields is therefore crucial for promoting quality.

Our vines are planted with one meter (just over three feet) between the rows and one and a half meters between each plant along the row. The latter gives a long cordon (the main “branch” that runs along the wire), so we leave more spurs per cordon than you would see with a closer planting. Moreover, the vineyard is set up with a double cordon system, meaning that the vines are trained to have a total of two cordons—to the right and left along the lowest (or fruiting) wire. If we leave four or five one-bud spurs per cordon, that gives us up to ten spurs per plant. The buds on the spurs produce shoots in the spring, so this is our first chance to control yields. In the spring, we follow up with a shoot thinning to contain the canopy and prevent crowding. Finally, after fruit set, we’ll thin the grapes to one cluster per shoot.