There are many forms of training and pruning. The main two types that are used in our vineyards are bilateral cordon also known as spur, and cane pruning from a crown or head. Both types are mostly trained to single vertically shoot positioned canopies. We use mostly cane pruning for two reasons. The first reason has to do with bud fertility. In general the lower buds on a cane or spur are less fertile. Cool foggy climates lead to low fertility as well. Spur pruning leaves only the lower 2-3 buds so on average your cluster counts based on bud fertility are lower. Thus spur pruning has in cold climates lower average crops and greater variation year to year. It is why it is a bad idea in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay where cluster size is small. On larger clustered varieties such as Syrah and Grenache there is less risk as you can get a decent crop from relatively lower cluster counts per vine. The second reason that cane pruning is desirable is that the permanent part of the vine above the ground is smaller than in a cordon pruned vine. More of the vines storage in a cane pruned vine is thus below ground in the roots which makes for a stronger vine. There’s also some rational from a disease prevention point of view to use cane pruning.
-Larry Brooks, Winemaker
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