Bud Rubbing

April/May 2025 Update

The quiet start to a big season.

Hello from the vines,

While most people were easing into spring, Chris was already deep in the rows — doing one of the most important jobs of the entire year: Bud Rubbing. If you ever spot him out there early in the season, you’ll see the same sight every time:
hood up, gloves on, Labradors in tow, and quietly working his way vine by vine, cane by cane.

What bud-rubbing actually is (and why Chris is obsessed with it).

Bud-rubbing is the careful removal of extra buds that the vine doesn’t need — the ones that would steal energy, crowd the plant, or lead to weaker growth later in the year.

It’s fiddly…It’s repetitive…and it’s the textbook definition of “nobody notices it unless you don’t do it.” It’s how we make sure every vine sends its strength where it matters — creating balanced plants and healthier fruit.

And Chris, in true Chris fashion, does it with near-surgical precision.

The vineyard in early spring — and why it matters.

May is when the vines wake properly. Tiny buds swell, shoots appear, rows start to fill out. It’s a hopeful time — quiet, yet brimming with potential. While the rest of the year has its chaos — harvest, bottling, events — this early season work is the calm foundation that makes everything else possible.

Bud-rubbing by hand: the long, slow details.

Every vine.
Every row.
Thousands of tiny decisions made by hand.

It’s the kind of work that doesn’t make headlines. And for us, it’s one of the reasons we’re proud of what we’re building here — because it’s done properly, not rushed.

Looking ahead to summer growth.

With the buds selected and the vines now focusing their energy in the right direction, the next few months are all about growth. Soon the rows will fill out, the canopy will climb, and the whole place will shift from empty canes to full summer abundance. This is the stage that makes those dramatic “before and after” videos make sense — from tiny shoots in May to towering vines by August.