Work in the vineyards Nurturing the vines Saint Vincent is the patron saint of winegrowers and his saint's day, the 22nd of January, is the date when work in the vineyard traditionally begins. The first job is the winter pruning (which in practice might already have been done in December) and the next job is tying-up: the vine is a climbing plant and most vine-growing methods involve tying the shoots to the supporting wires. When the vine starts to grow again it 'cries'; at the points where the shoots were cut off drops of sap appear for two or three days, until the scars have completely healed. During spring growth the soil is tilled and the clods of earth are broken up in order to allow air in to help root growth and reactivate the life of the soil as a whole. The first anti-parasite treatments are carried out in April. These will be regularly repeated (the tendency is to do them as seldom as possible) until August. May is the time for spring pruning when all the sterile buds are removed from the vine-trunk (spur-pruning) and the shoots (pruning buds) and pruning secondary buds) so that they do not waste the nutrients absorbed by the plant. During the same period the wires have to be checked and the shoots must be guided along the supporting wires in the way which will best help the vine to grow. In June the leaves are trimmed back (part of the foliage is removed in order to let more sun and air reach the bunches of grapes) and the growing tips of the shoots are cut off. July brings one of the heaviest jobs, but one which is essential for production of high-quality grapes - thinning out. This is done when there are too many bunches of grapes and involves removing some of them before they mature, so that the stronger ones can take in more nutrients. This brings us to the grape-harvest which, depending on the area, is carried out between the end of August and October. The annual cycle of work in the vineyard is brought to a close with a final manuring of the ground, fairly deep ploughing and earthing up of the vine-stocks to protect them from the cold and encourage the winter rains to run off.