At Colemere Vineyard, we believe that creating exceptional wine begins with careful attention to the health and vitality of our vines. While winter pruning is essential for shaping the vines, cutting back during the summer months is equally crucial. Summer cutting, or “summer pruning,” helps to manage vine growth, improve grape quality, and ensure the vines are in optimal health for the upcoming harvest.
In this blog, we’ll explore why cutting back in the summer months is so important for the success of your vineyard, how it benefits the vine, and how Colemere Vineyard implements this technique to produce the best possible wines.
What Does Cutting Back in the Summer Mean?
Cutting back in the summer refers to the selective removal of excess growth on the vine after it has already started its active growing phase. This typically involves trimming away unwanted shoots, leaves, and tendrils that can inhibit airflow, sunlight exposure, and energy distribution. Unlike winter pruning, which is focused on the structure of the vine and preparing it for the next season, summer cutting is all about managing the vine’s current growth to promote healthier, more productive vines during the growing season.
At Colemere Vineyard, we carefully assess each vine throughout the growing season and perform cutting back as needed, ensuring that the vine remains strong and healthy, with balanced growth and fruit production.
Why is Cutting Back in the Summer So Important?
1. Improving Sunlight Exposure and Photosynthesis
One of the key goals of cutting back in the summer is to ensure that the vine’s fruiting zone receives adequate sunlight. Grapes need sunlight to ripen properly, and a thick canopy of leaves can block light from reaching the grapes. By removing excess leaves and shoots, we allow more sunlight to penetrate the canopy, ensuring the grapes receive the energy they need for optimal ripening.
At Colemere Vineyard, we focus on cutting back the areas around the bunches of grapes to allow sunlight to reach the fruit, which in turn helps to develop richer flavours, better sugar content, and balanced acidity—key characteristics in high-quality wine.
2. Promoting Better Air Circulation and Reducing Disease Risks
A dense canopy of leaves and shoots can create a humid environment, especially in Shropshire’s damp summer months. This can lead to fungal diseases such as mildew and botrytis, which thrive in stagnant air. By cutting back excess growth, we improve air circulation within the vine’s canopy, reducing the likelihood of disease.
Improved airflow helps the vines stay dry and healthy, reducing the risk of fungal infections that could negatively affect grape quality and yield. At Colemere Vineyard, we ensure that every vine is carefully managed, allowing sufficient space for air to flow through the canopy, promoting healthier vines and a cleaner vineyard.
3. Encouraging Energy to Focus on Grape Development
Vines are living organisms that use their energy to grow and produce fruit. When vines are left unchecked, they may allocate too much energy to producing excess growth, such as shoots and leaves, rather than focusing on developing the grapes. By cutting back in the summer, we help direct the vine’s energy toward grape production, ensuring that the grapes ripen to their full potential.
Cutting back the non-fruit-bearing shoots allows the vine to concentrate its energy on the shoots that will bear the grapes, leading to better-quality fruit and ultimately, higher-quality wine.
4. Maintaining a Manageable Canopy Size
As the growing season progresses, vines can quickly become unruly, with excessive growth leading to a tangled mess of shoots and leaves. Overcrowded canopies can make it difficult to manage the vines, harvest the grapes, and even monitor for pests and diseases. Cutting back in the summer helps to maintain a manageable canopy size, making it easier for vineyard workers to move through the vines and perform necessary tasks like monitoring ripeness or controlling pests.
A controlled canopy also ensures that there’s enough space between the vines to allow for proper air circulation and sunlight exposure, improving overall vine health and the quality of the fruit.
5. Reducing Risk of Overcrowding and Ensuring Optimal Spacing
In addition to reducing excessive growth, cutting back in the summer helps maintain optimal vine spacing. Overcrowding can lead to competition for nutrients, sunlight, and water, which can result in weaker vines and lower-quality grapes. By cutting back and ensuring that each vine has adequate space, we ensure that each plant has access to the resources it needs to thrive.
At Colemere Vineyard, we carefully monitor the spacing of our vines, cutting back where necessary to maintain a balanced and sustainable vineyard ecosystem.
How We Cut Back at Colemere Vineyard
At Colemere Vineyard, cutting back is a highly strategic process. We don’t just cut for the sake of it; every vine is assessed individually to determine which areas need attention. Here’s how we approach summer cutting:
- Selective Removal of Excess Shoots: We focus on removing shoots that don’t contribute to grape production or that are growing in unproductive areas of the vine. This helps direct the vine’s energy toward more fruitful growth.
- Leaf Thinning Around Grape Clusters: We carefully remove leaves and tendrils around the grape clusters to allow more sunlight to reach the fruit. This also improves airflow, helping to reduce the risk of mildew.
- Trellis and Canopy Management: If necessary, we adjust the position of the vines on the trellis system, ensuring the canopy remains manageable and properly spaced. This ensures that the vine’s structure remains optimal for grape production.
- Checking for Pests and Diseases: Cutting back allows us to more easily inspect the vines for any signs of pests or disease, so we can take early action if needed.
The Timing of Summer Cutting
Timing is crucial when it comes to summer cutting. We wait until the vines have fully developed their canopy and are in active growth before we begin cutting. The best time to cut back is during the early to mid-summer months when the vines are strong but not yet fully stressed by ripening fruit. This ensures that we’re not cutting too early, which could affect the vine’s energy production, or too late, when the grapes have already begun ripening and we risk affecting their flavour development.
Conclusion: Cutting Back for Healthy Vines and Exceptional Wines
Summer cutting is a vital practice for ensuring the long-term health of the vines and the quality of the grapes. By carefully managing the growth of the vines, we help them focus on grape production, reduce disease risks, and optimise sunlight exposure—all of which contribute to producing high-quality wines at Colemere Vineyard.