When vines grow too old

The grape vine is a perennial, producing fruit every year. In Champagne these vines can be up to 70 years old or more. As they age their fruit becomes rich and concentrated, but there is also much less of it, so the vines may be producing quality grapes, but not enough of them to be economical, so it becomes necessary to replace the vines.

It begins with ‘grubbing up’, where the vines are literally dug out of the ground with a digger, and piled up for removal. This usually happens at the beginning of the year, before the vines begin to bud and leaf. The naked land then needs to be prepared and rested before planting can begin, which generally happens a year later. When that time comes, the vigneron will plant up to 8,000 plants per hectare, which they will have bought from a regulated provider. After planting, it will take three years before the roots have developed properly and the vine starts to produce useable grapes. So it’s a total of four years that are lost to replanting before the first harvestable fruit appears.

It’s a long and expensive process, one that can cost tens of thousands of euros, but it’s an investment that will hopefully give returns for another 70 years.