The previous vintage is maturing in the cellar, but the lightest, fruitiest wines are filled already.

In France, 22 January is the feast of St. Vincent, during which the young wines are tasted, and praised in song and dance. Early the next day, the wine producers go out into the cold and begin cutting back the vines.

At the Bründlmayer winery, the cutting back of the vines is an opportunity to find the best spatial arrangement, allowing all shoots and leaves to benefit from sun and air.

The vine is a climber, which naturally climbs up trees and therefore puts its energy into growth, pushing the tips of the shoots further as long as it remains in the shadow of the tree’s crown.

As soon as it has reached light and sun, the vine stops to grow and looks after grape quality so that birds will eat the ripe berries and distribute the seeds (the pips) throughout the surrounding area. The viticulturist must ensure that the leaves receive plenty of light from the start, tricking the plant into believing that it has already reached the top. This is when the plant invests all its energy into the berries and not into producing thicker stems or longer shoots – at the end of the year, we want to harvest thousands of ripe berries, not wood to fire the grill! Complicated trellising systems like the Lyra-training ensure first and foremost that shoots and leaves are distributed evenly, in such a way that light and air can reach everywhere.