Early March is usually seen as an uneventful time in a vineyard’s year. Winter’s fury is past, vines are still asleep, and most days’ work is basically the same… in a normal year, that is. Not this year.
Perhaps the scene is best set by a GTA weather report heard on radio a couple of mornings ago, when the forecaster (paraphrasing here) said, “We’re about to get all four seasons in one day.” If you work in a vineyard, this has been a winter when a change in plans is just a weather forecast away.
Pruning remains the priority, but there remain three weather conditions that can force it on hold. They are rain, wet snow, and severe cold (-12 or colder, when the risk of damage to brittle vines is high).
Still, despite “roller coaster” highs and lows, the vines are still slumbering, which protects them from the risk of cold damage, a risk that diminishes every passing day. Gamay rows will be the last to be pruned and by the end of this month, the focus will shift to gathering cut canes and mending trellises before spring bud break.
Finally, there’s this: no matter the weather, a new vintage of Old Vines Foch (an enduring, steady rock of Malivoire!) will be in the bottle before Easter.