Geneva Lunch - Editor's note: This is the fourth in a year-long series on the life of a Vaudois winemaker, or vigneron, in the Lake Geneva region. GL follows Raymond Paccot and the Domaine La Colombe in Féchy from the 2006 harvest to the next one in 2007.
In the vineyards: "where it's happening"
Christophe Bernot examines the as-yet unpruned collection of Swiss vines planted for show by the Paccot team along the edge of the Féchy road.
Raymond and Violaine Paccot are on the telephone and staring at computer screens: much of the business side of a winemaker's year begins to gear up now. The real start to the next great wine from Féchy is happening outdoors, however. Paccot waves towards the vineyards - with a touch of envy, for he is staying in while two of us head into the fine warm weather above Lake Geneva. "That's where it's happening - that's where everything really important is going on."
Christophe Bernot, responsible for La Colombe's vines, shows trainee Andrea Schubauer how to prune correctly to ensure good growth and a healthy plant.
The sap is running. Plants are swelling with tiny buds, the start to the branches that will carry the grapes of 2007. "Important" means pruning. This is the time of year, February and March, when growers cut back the vines to help the new growth move in the right direction. If it is done well and at the right time the grapes will do their part to make excellent wine.
Weekend hikers, walkers and cyclists who clamber around the hills near Féchy and Aubonne have seen the hills gradually look cleaner and more streamlined as old growth is cut away, leaving stark brown, woody stalks. Peer closely and you'll see the buds. In a few short weeks they will burst open and the hillsides will quickly turn to green as they leaf out.
Pruning La Colombe's own 10ha plus another 5 that the vineyard manages takes several weeks, even for old hands such as Christophe, working with a small team.
"The goal is to find the right balance between vegetation and fruit," says Christophe Bernot, who is Paccot's man in the vines. He has responsibility for the grape-growing side of the business. He snips about 5cm above a bud with his secateurs. "If you do nothing the fruit will be too small because the plant's energy goes into the leaves. Pruning forces a plant to calm down."
The yield, the workload, the plant
Winegrowers prune for three reasons: to get the desired yield of grapes, to train the vines to grow in a particular direction in order to reduce the workload, and to ensure the plant's longevity. The best wines come from vineyards such as Raymond Paccot's La Colombe, which seek lower yields.
Even on a sunny day, pruning is cold, backbreaking work, with the vines cut back to the lower wires.
Twenty years ago many winemakers in Switzerland several regions in France sought higher yields - more grapes, more wine, more money. The result was over-production and mediocre quality. To some extent this is regulated by law but when the more money part of the equation becomes less money, market forces drive also change. There have always been some excellent Swiss wines, but quality overall has improved greatly in recent years. Pruning for lower yields is part of the secret.
"Vines are your capital if you're a grower." - Christophe Bernot, La Colombe's vineyard manager.
"Older vines are valuable because they give the best grapes," Bernot says, explaining that the three-year-old vines he and trainee Andrea Schubauer have been cutting could well have a lifespan of 50 years. "Older vines also show that you haven't overworked the vineyard. Vines are your capital if you're a grower, and you have to know how to preserve it."
The many faces of pruning
The way in which vines are pruned in Switzerland varies depending on the microclimate and tradition. The method has an impact on the appearance of the vine-covered hillsides that the Swiss tourism office likes to promote. Older vineyards that are too narrowly planted for mechanization, or that belong to families who do not grow for commercial purposes sometimes use the gobelet, literally goblet method. It works best in dry climates, so these are found more often in parts of the Valais rather than Vaud. The vine has a short trunk with new growth coming out of the gnarled top. The plants are not trained and often resemble bushes.
Bernot says that growers often prefer to maintain tradition or they simply don't like to change their habits. "If you keep to traditions, though, it can be very costly."
Cuts are clean and close, but not too close to the vine to keep the plant from drying out. One branch is left when the single guyot pruning method is used.
La Colombe has been using the pruning method that is the most widespread in the Lake Geneva region today, Single Guyot. It is named after 19th century Frenchman Dr Jules Guyot who had a major influence on how vines are pruned. A single cane is kept each year, wrapped around a wire to train its growth, and on Paccot's vines a maximum of five spurs are left on the cane.
La Colombe's pruning method leaves 4-5 of the short stubs known as spurs on the vine.
In France the number of spurs varies by region and is regulated by law, but is generally higher than this. In Australia it can be 15 spurs - a difference is that in large, flatter vineyards the vines may be planted further apart and less is demanded of the soil.
Vineyards still need people
La Colombe's new pruning method leaves two canes, giving the vines an elegant shape.
Christophe is changing pruning methods starting this year, moving to the cordon de royat method, with two canes trained to run in opposite directions along wires. The change is part of the constant quest for better quality with reduced costs. "We experimented with it on some vines last year and tested carefully. There was no real difference in the quality of the grapes but financially it was better because we have less pruning."
In July, after the plants have flowered, Christophe would normally need other workers to help cut back exuberant growth by hand, but the new method makes it possible to use machines.
Swiss vineyards increasingly use machines, despite hilly landscapes that do not always make it easy. A good deal must still be done by hand and part of the charm of Swiss vineyards for observors is that they frequently have people on foot working in them. The winter pruning takes a practised eye and the pruner also pulls up some of the weeds around the base of the plant, too close for the machines to reach.
Nature insists on her share in the work
Raymond Paccot is a "biodynamics" grower. He does not use chemicals to kill plants growing around the vines. This means that when new vines are planted grass is also sown between the rows. Christophe points to the small daisies and clover growing between the rows and says they are keeping the soil from eroding. A quick check later of a nearby vineyard that uses chemicals shows a remarkable difference: bare soil and stones in the clay which has eroded to the point where trenches appear between the vines.
Last year's canes are left between the rows so the wood-mulching machine can come through to chop them more finely. They are then left for nature to restore to the soil.
Clay-like soil of the hills above Lake Geneva's eastern edge produces excellent wines, says winemaker Raymond Paccot, when its needs are respected.
For now, Christophe and his team will follow their pruning work with a tractor that mulches the branches, now neatly piled between the rows. The mulch and bits of branch are left to work their way back into the soil, helping it remain rich in nutrients and to keep its structure, important to avoid erosion. Twice during the season the tractor will return to mow the grass because if it grows too high it will create moisture problems for the grapes.
Older vines take on knobly appearance
Wednesday 14 March was a busy pruning day, but Thursday and Friday were suddenly calm. One of the other aspects of biodynamism is applying the knowledge of the movement of planets which previous generations of growers relied on. In the last four decades of the 20th century this became unfashionable and was nearly lost. In the past decade growers have been developing a new respect for ancient observations about the impact on plants of the alignment of moon and planets. Thursday and Friday, according to the growers' calendars, were days when the plants needed to be left alone.
Previous articles in the series: