We are thinking there must be some vineyard farming practices that translate to what people do in their gardens at home. Do you garden at home?
I have a lot of roses; you know, I love growing roses.
Is gardening roses similar to growing vineyards?
No, not at all. Roses are very challenging because their roots are more susceptible to mildew. I'm sure you have seen some vineyards that plant rose bushes at the end of the row, and some farmers used to say they put it there so when they see mildew on the rose bush, it's an indicator. The thing is the mildew strain that hits the roses is something completely different than the mildew strain that hits the vines.
Pruning over the wintertime, does that relate to home gardening? Does pruning determine how many shoots you're getting?
Pretty much. But note that when we prune the vines, we remove about 90% of the previous growth. Shrinking it down to bare bones basically. It's like when you prune roses, you come down to about 4-6 inches, the heavier you prune a rose bush, the bigger the roses will blossom because it doesn't have a lot of buds to compete with. The roses usually have 5-7 crops, the first one is the most beautiful in the springtime. They're bigger, the rose itself and then they become smaller and smaller as the bushes grow.