Vine not

Whilst visiting a Champagne producer last year we were shown some vines, prior to being planted. They looked quite odd with their red wax protective coating. It was the first time we had seen them like that, and were so interested to learn about the care and planting of new vines.

When we returned recently he gave me one as a present. I was so surprised, and thought it terribly kind of him to give me something so valued. I was really excited to get it planted and see how well my vine could grow — we decided that we’d like it to look like a proper Champagne vine would, and not to have it growing up a wall.

He explained to me how I needed to plant it — that it needed to be buried up to the graft, which is the lumpy, red part. He cut the roots ready for planting, just leaving about 5 cm.

We decided to put it in a part of the garden where our guests could see it clearly, and it would have a similar exposure to the vines in our local vineyards. We chose a little spot just at the side of the pool area.

Brian cleared a rough patch to plant it.

He then used a metal rod to clear a hole deep enough to drop it in. Our soils are clay with a limestone bedrock, so it takes some effort to dig a hole deep enough.

Once the hole was big enough to take the vine we popped it in and covered it over. Oh my gosh, I wonder if it will grow.

We put a few stones around it, to protect it from clumsy feet or the mower, and now it’s just a waiting game to see if our own little Pinot Noir vine will take off. If it starts to grow then we will need to put up a support for it, let’s see what happens.