Le champagne et sa région | La vigne | Les travaux de la vigne

The champagne and its region | Vine | The wine works

Planting

The first stage consists of removing old stumps and roots remaining from the previous planting. This might prove to be a very difficult task, since the vine roots are spread through the soil.

After this, a period of rest is observed in order to allow the soil to regenerate, and later the planting of new vines begins, usually in April.

Vine growers plant vines in accordance with a precise statutory procedure:

  • 1 metre x 1 metre for the Pinot Meuniers or 10,000 vines per hectare.
  • 1 metre x 1.20 metres for the Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs or 8,000 vines per hectare.

The vine will not be productive before its third year and in the meantime it is fragile and must be given the vine grower’s fullest possible attention.

Pruning

By definition, the vine is a liana (creeper) type plant and it is therefore its nature to spread as far as it can, particularly by means of high levels of wood production. Left to its own devices, it would tend to feed buds situated at the extremities of its wooden branches.
This means that there is a risk that the vine will produce a small number of grapes with irregular ripeness, so it should therefore be kept under control and pruned. Pruning allows it to maintain a good balance between vegetation and fertility, thus regulating the ripeness and quality of harvests.

Pruning begins in January and ends at the end of March, giving a certain number of vine stocks and increasing the lifetime of the vine.

There are different pruning systems allowing each one of the Champagne vine types to be adapted according to its individual vigour:

  • Chablis pruning for Chardonnay,
  • Cordon de Royat pruning for Pinot Noir,
  • Guyot and Vallée de Marne (Marne Valley) pruning for Pinot Meunier.

The cut wood left over from the pruning is then burnt in a wheel barrow, or gathered and tied in bunches to dry out.

Binding

Progressively, as pruning is completed, binding or tying up, called “attaching” in the past, takes place.
This technique consists of binding the wooden branches and the longer vine shoots to supporting twines.

In the not too distant past, binding used to be done using wet canes, which the vine growers would intertwine around the wood.

Today, sisal twine and a clamp to hold it in place have replaced the cane.

The purpose of binding is to give shape to the vine as well as to ensure its support, facilitating its development and subsequent work.

Tying

Tying is done in June and July, the period when the vegetation is most active.

At this time, the grapes need aeration in order gain maximum benefit from the sunshine. In fact, the vine’s primary nature pushes it towards a chaotic and disorderly development, which risks being harmful during flowering.

Tying is made possible through the use of lifting twines situated on both sides of pegs (pickets) that keep the new shoots in place, and are even more efficient because they are attached to one another in various ways, i.e. using “S” clamps, hooks or staples.

Tying is, therefore, vital for the vine. It is also often said that good tying saves trimming work.

Trimming

This work is done about three times the year depending on the growth of the vine i.e. in June, just after the binding, in July and in August.

Trimming consists of shearing off the ends of the shoots, which are in full growth at this time.
Its purpose is to momentarily stop the vine growth and concentrate the sap in the vine productive parts.
This economy of sap will facilitate the further maintenance and development of the plant.

From aesthetic point of view, once this work completed, the vines should be able to compete with French style gardens.

Harvesting

Grape harvesting usually begins at the end of September or the beginning of October. The date of the beginning and end are set by a «Prefecture» decision every year, following the proposals of the I.N.A.O (National Institute of Appellations of Origin), the C.I.V.C. (Champagne Wines Inter-professional Committee) and the vine growers’ syndicate.

Grape harvesting has been carried out in the same way since the 17th century, a cutter in hand and a basket under the arm.
Various tasks are offered to the grape harvesters who come into the region in great numbers, and are almost certain to find work:

  • pickers cut off the grapes and put them into hand baskets
  • carriers empty the grapes into bigger crates, called «stampes». Once the crates are full, with a weight of about 50 kilos, they are tipped (loaded) onto the tractor, which will take them to the wine press the same day.

During harvesting, the region is therefore teeming with activity, as this work is so crucial and monopolizes a large number of workers.
At this time of the year grapes dictate the rhythm of every person’s day.