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VIGNERONS ET MAISONS
Skip Navigation LinksHome ALL ABOUT CHAMPAGNE Vine Summer Maintenance


SUMMER MAINTENANCE

 

 

Budburst marks the start of seasonal growth and with it a series of tasks aimed at limiting yields and promoting good-quality fruit.

 

Desuckering usually takes place in mid-May and refers to the manual removal of non-fruitful shoots, encouraging the vine to focus its energies on the fruit-bearing shoots.

 

At the pre-bunch closure stage when the shoots are 50 centimetres long, they must be lifted and attached to wires running some 30 centimetres above the support wires. Known as lifting, this operation is still done by hand but could become mechanized as vineyards opt to install vine spacers.

The next task, also manual, is trellising: separating the shoots and stapling them to wires. This improves leaf distribution, allowing maximum light penetration and also encouraging air circulation that prevents rots. Trellising is essential for Champagne vines since high-density planting significantly increases the leaf area index. The dense leaf canopy must be evenly distributed between the vines, and along the full length and height of each plant (maximum standing height, 1.30 metres).
The shoots continue to grow throughout the summer, right up to harvest time, and must be regularly pinched back, either by hand or machine, to prevent the vine from producing foliage at the expense of fruit..

 

 List of main vineyard tasks (known locally as ‘roies’) in hours per hectare:
 

  Chablis pruned vines Cordon de Royat pruned vines
Total pruning 210 170
Tying up 90 60
Desuckering 40 40
Trellising    70 80
Pinching-back 110 120

 

 

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THE COMITE CHAMPAGNE (CIVC)

"The Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne" is the trade organisation established by statute to administer the common interests of everyone within the Champagne industry [...]

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The abuse of alcohol is dangerous for health - to consumed with moderation