It looks like the weather is set to be warm and sunny for the next two weeks so growers are getting a little more sleep as the risk of frost diminishes.
Out in the vineyards, growers are ‘tying down’ – known as pliage in French. Only vines that have a long cane left after pruning (such as in the Single Guyot system), can be tied down to the wire.
Tying down involves very gently bending the cane along the wire and securing it with a small wire or piece of tape. It ensures the cane is horizontal and the shoots will then grow vertically creating a nice even hedge style canopy that exposes the foliage to the sun and has enough air flow to limit diseases.
In Vouvray growers won’t be tying down as here we use a spur pruning system that leaves 6 or 7 arms with just 2 buds each (maybe three if you count the basal bud which is not normally fruitful).
In Anjou the Chenin blanc is pruned to leave 2 shorter canes so again these won’t be tied down.
It’s in red wine country, where the Cabernet Franc is pruned to this Single Guyot system that you’ll see growers out in the sunshine at the moment gently securing the canes that are now flexible (as the sap has risen). So, in Saumur Champigny, Chinon, Bourgueil, St Nicolas de Bourgueil and here in Touraine, it’s action stations.
The word pliage comes from the French verb, to fold. The canes are ‘folded down’ and attached to the wire. In English we use the term tying down.
