Winemaker David Parrish talks about our head-trained Zinfandel vines
We needed a break and ventured outside to catch up with Winemaker David Parrish on what's happening in the vineyard.
Right now, crews are going through the vineyard manually hand cutting each vine to remove last year’s growth and make way for this year’s new buds. It’s an exciting time as we say goodbye to last year’s harvest and prepare for what’s to come in the 2020 vintage.
Hand pruning takes a lot of time, but like most things, the effort is worth it.
For all other varieties, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Petite Sirah, etc. the crew hand selects two of last year’s arms to stay into this new harvest. Everything else is cut away. The two arms are then tied down onto the wire to establish a grounding for new growth.
But, our dear Zinfandel, is a little different. Like you can see in the video, everything is cut back and creates a circular form around the trunk of the vine. Nothing is left on it. This is to keep all of the growth as close to the vine as possible for water and also to leave room for where the new growth will take place. Ideally, the crew is creating an outline for where they want this year’s growth to set based on how close each vine is to each other and where the sun will eventually hit the fruit on the vine.
If you’ve had our Parrish Zinfandel, you know that it is a much lighter style and body than a traditional Paso Zin. Winemaker David Parrish likes this style because it’s easier to drink and pairs well with a wide range of foods. The way it gets there is based on where the crews are selecting next year’s vines to grow and that happens right now.
We hope you enjoy this short video on Zinfandel pruning!