Vineyard Tractors

Some of the vines in the valleys are around 60–70 years old, the care and attention that they receive all year round continues to impress me, it really is a labour of love to keep getting the most out of them. The season for pruning is coming to an end, and what follows is a series of maintenance operations to try and ensure all is good for when harvest returns in August or September. The pruning is a completely manual operation, and one that’s frankly staggering in scale. There are just rows and rows and rows of vines, all needing a little bit of personal attention. Many of the other tasks however can be mechanised, and that’s where Brian’s favourite piece of machinery comes in – the vineyard tractor.

These insect-like machines are designed to stand above the vines, and are adjustable to fit the different spacing widths of vine rows that are found in AOCs all over France. They also have a multitude of uses, aided by more machinery that can be attached to the main tractor. At this time of year they can be used for ploughing between the vines, to help reduce the growth of unwanted weeds. As the year progresses though they will be used for spraying, trimming, canopy control and, finally, harvest. In Champagne though they will only be used to transport the grapes collected in boxes, as the AOC of Champagne doesn’t allow for machine picking.