Each season transforms the landscape and colours of the vineyards located in Mendoza, but the picture obtained is just a partial expression of everything that actually happens at our estates during winter. After leaves fall, during the pruning season, vines go through a crucial stage for their annual cycle: the dormancy or winter rest period.
As is the case of many fruit trees, the vine also needs a resting phase to build up energy in the trunk and roots and face the coldest days of the year. This cycle begins in autumn and ends in early spring, with the new outbreak of plants; therefore, the vines rest throughout winter to reach their maximum yield in the subsequent harvest.
Generally speaking, winter is a tough and complex season for vineyards, especially in high-altitude terroirs where nights are really cold, just like in our estates of Mendoza. However, this is also a crucial stage for the productive development of the vines and soil, which takes advantage of this moment to retrieve its water and nutrient reserves.
Finally, as a defence mechanism against frost, the plant tissues harden and, this way, the branches turn brown and “maderise”, giving rise to that landscape of austere beauty in the estates.
Furthermore, during the winter rest period, plants go through noticeable changes. To begin with, the buds, where shoots are later grown, are covered with a hard layer that serves as a protective shield against the cold weather. Simultaneously, the rest of the plant builds up juices that lower the freezing point of the water below 0 °C so that the cells can survive winter. Finally, as a defence mechanism against frost, the plant tissues harden and, this way, the branches turn brown and “maderise”, giving rise to that landscape of austere beauty in the estates.
Although it may seem that nothing happens in winter at the estates, stripped of their characteristic green foliage, each of the processes that the vine undergoes during its life cycle (including, of course, the winter rest) is decisive for the fruits’ development and the wines’ production, as plants have a natural thermometer that tells them the room temperature, both to readjust their defence mechanism against the cold and to be able to warn of the arrival of spring, prepare for sprouting and start the vegetative phase.
We always say that wines are born in the vineyard, so each of the phenological stages of the vine are closely followed up by our agronomists, as they have a direct influence on the quality of the wines of the subsequent vintage.
