What a privilege and honour to be able to work with these beasts. Muscat d’Alexandrie planted in 1973 – 13 years my senior. As I showed David how to carefully prune these old vines, he made a comment that more owners of old vines should consider when sending a pruning team into their piece of heritage. David: “Jaco, this is not pruning. This is more like sculpting, an art form”.
It was the first time I heard it like that. And it is true. Someone like Rosa Kruger would agree.”Tending to old vineyards are like tending to old people” she would always say. “You have to work soft with them, caress them and nurse them”. That is what pruning is like as well. It is an art form. It is what helps these giants survive.
