This time of year is when we remember that “wine is made in the vineyard”… and, in all candor: Wine is NOT Nature. VINEGAR is Nature. Wine is Culture. As in Agriculture. And specifically, Viticulture. It is the intentional work of careful, time-honored farming and vineyard management that allows every winemaker the opportunity to practice their craft. Left to its own Nature, a grapevine will sprawl, grow and survive for decades, producing grapes in order to perpetuate. But this is a far cry from growing and harvesting what is needed to make wine. The best winemakers understand this, and spend time in vineyards working alongside farmers, viticulturists and vineyard managers. Not even the pickiest, most exalted “Natural” winemaker is so privileged as to be exempt from working with vines that have been pruned and prepared for growth, yield and harvest. Wine is Culture.

I realize why I am standing on a soapbox. To have a better view of the winemaking team working the Merlot estate vineyard on Wednesday, after a hellacious windy and fire-warning Tuesday. It is time for Spur Pruning, or Final Pruning, to set up the vines for Renewal. A couple of questions from visitors and members are addressed here… Read on!

Q. Can we walk in the vineyard and see the vines?

A. Absolutely. Our vineyard is both working space and public space. It is the highlight of our “Best of Siboney” Premium Tour, available on our website. We have cut a path down into the heart of the estate Merlot vineyard, and preserved a set of live oak trees, where you can have your own picnic, tasting or relax with a bottle and a cigar. We even have a scavenger hunt for kids. We love it when our guests and members express an interest in the vineyard — the heart and soul of the Siboney experience.

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Q. Did the recent freezes hurt the vines? Did the spikes of heat in January cause any early buds to emerge?

A. Both of these questions were on our minds too, and now we can see the vines themselves are answering. Review the video we posted… Barbara tells us that the vines are alive and well, the canes from spur pruning are green and vibrant. And, tellingly, there is not yet any “sap flow”. This tells us the vines did shut down into dormancy, their current state. And the coming weeks should start their normal vascular activity, and buds beginning to swell. In other words, “We’re good, we’re on schedule!”

Q. When is bud break?

A. While we will see bud swelling in the coming weeks, the very short history of our site puts us into Bud Break around the first day of Spring, when more than 50% of the vines are emerging and budding out.

Q. Is the drought still on?

A. Sadly yes. It is dry in the hill country, as you can tell from the dry low-water spillways, and Tuesday’s fire-warning, where a 120 acre fire was spotted just a couple miles away, on Klett Ranch Road. We are vigilant on our own site, and grateful to all first responders and fire fighters in the area. There is no rain in the immediate forecast, and we do like to see a higher water table going into the growing season. Of course, the weatherman is not infallible so we will hope for the best!

Q. How long does it take to prune the vineyard?

A. OK nobody’s really asking this question but it’s worth answering! As you can tell from the video and images, this is exacting, tedious and skillful work… One Vine At A Time. As such, you cannot simply hack your way up the rows, you have to consider each position on every vine. (This is why we don’t request volunteers… it’s a bit much!). The winery team is directly engaged in this activity, and we also have a service contract for skilled pruning experts to move things along. We are not in a hurry, given the current forecast and conditions. Today and Friday will take the bulk of pruning activity, so we will see whether we are out before the weekend.

Q. How does the vine respond to pruning? Is this a “natural” process?

A. We talk about this on our Premium Tours… left to its own, a vine definitely knows how to grow! But it needs direction. It will spread and sprawl, laying out grapes on many new buds across a vast number of canes. Every vineyard in the world undergoes some form of extensive pruning, after the growing season, to remove sprawling bull canes, reduce the overall fruit load that a vine would naturally love to have, and organize it for cultivation. That’s why we say, to repeat… in all seriousness: Wine is NOT Nature. VINEGAR is Nature. Wine is Culture. Whether they are Natural, Organic, Traditional, Sustainable, Professional, Consulting, or even in some cases, Ceremonial…, winemakers are working with fruit from vineyards that have undergone extensive viticultural management to tame the very nature of their growing tendencies. Left to their own, unpruned, untamed and growing “Naturally”, winemaking from such a vineyard would be an interesting hobby, but in reality a pleasant fiction, to produce wine for sale.

Q. How much wine will come from each vine?

A. Now you ask the question we all want answered! Barbara gives us a little insight into this from a perspective of goals for each vine. “Spur Pruning” is intended to leave fruitful positions and buds on both sides of the vine trunk, down the cordon branch, about the width of a fist apart from the next. It is possible to leave too many positions if you’re not disciplined (or too optimistic?) about your pruning, and sometimes you’re left with too few if the vine is not entirely healthy. Our vineyard is young, this is starting the 5th growing season, and as we have learned, our small 4 acre site is quite diverse in soil type, aspect, drainage and nutrition. Barbara is working on 2 goals for these particular vines… First by extending the length and strength of that cordon to support a greater load of healthy Merlot… you can see the “original wood” from 2021, and the extension wood from 2023/2024 now firm and strong enough to bear fruit. And second, identifying cluster positions along those spurs, which she then trims to proper length, while eliminating redundant or weak wood. You do not want the vine to waste precious energy on tasks that don’t bear fruit. The result is a finely sculpted vine, ready to support 4-6 fruiting positions per cordon (per side), ideally 2 clusters per position.

So to answer the question, if we get the yield we expect, and the total harvest in the range of what we intend, we should end up with somewhere between 1 and 2 bottles per vine. This is considered “low yield”. Indeed!

Q. What do you do with the cuttings?

A. At this stage, their best and highest use would be as hi-heat kindling for searing lamb chops. If you want to make a bundle and age them, you’ll be pleasantly surprised how well they work on the grill! I will ask Barbara to set aside a bin and see if there’s interest. It is also possible to work with them in a nursery setting for future grafting and vineyard application, but we are a ways off from that. Just You Wait!

This is way too long, but I don’t mind spending the time here…, When a winemaker asserts herself in the vineyard, working with the vineyard management and winemaking teams, the least we can do is recognize the work!

www.SiboneyCellars.com to reserve a tour.

Abrazos, Miguel