Hard to believe with all this warm weather in November but yes, growers are already starting to prune their vines. In an ideal world they would wait for a decent cold snap to make sure the vines have had a dormant phase and viruses and diseases have been knocked on the head.
Practically speaking however, in many cases it's a question of the number of vines to prune, the manpower available and the deadline for finishing. So, pruning has commenced.
These pictures show the process known as pre-pruning. These blades sweep through the vineyard and make the 'first cut'. This allows the hand pruners to follow on with their secateurs (either electric or conventional). This second manual pass is the important one, where the pruner chooses the cane or canes (according to local tradition, appellation etc) that will bear the vine's fruit the following year.
There are two sets of circular blades that straddle the row of vines at the level of the top wire. The tractor passes slowly through the rows and the blades move out and around the posts. It's clever and saves a lot of time pulling and tugging canes that are stubbornly clinging on to the wires.
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