After the harvest, the grapevines lose their leaves, making room for maintenance of the plants. Winter will mainly be devoted to the modelling the vines, which is called 'la taille'. In the Champagne region 'la taille' is regulated. It starts as soon as the leaves have fallen, it is interrupted from mid-December to mid-January in order to respect the winter rest period of the plants, and afterwards it starts again until the end of March. Modelling ensures a smooth sap flow to the fruit buds. It gives shape to the grapevine and prepares subsequent work when the leaves begin to grow, which is called "la taille en vert" (green modelling). The winemaker will keep the leaf growth under control, let the sunlight between the plants, and provide good airflow around the grapes. In early April, after the ‘taille’, the tying of branches starts. The fast-growing branches are placed around the load-bearing iron wires and tied up with small iron wires or threads of bio-degradable material. Around mid-May, when the plants begin to grow, various activities are planned in order to guarantee the yield and quality of the harvest. They are called "les travaux en vert”. We remove all non-fruiting buds growing on the old branches. It is manual labour, and we are going repeatedly through the vineyard.


Modelling the vines ("la taille")