Vines in modern California vineyards are typically pruned by either cane or cordon methods. For cane pruning, a vertical trunk is maintained, and during pruning, a new cane is chosen from the previous year's shoots near the top of the trunk and tied to a horizontal fruiting wire. It usually contains 10 to 12 buds that developed at different times in the preceding spring, with the weather affecting fruitfulness of each bud. In cordon-trained vines, the vertical trunk is extended horizontally permanently, with two bud spurs every six to eight inches. Cordon pruning is quicker, requires less skilled labor and is easy to prune mechanically. However, it has a drawback in cooler viticultural climates, as the earliest spring buds tend to have smaller clusters. This is particularly noticeable in Gewürztraminer, where the cluster size is unusually small and is influenced by the distance from the basal buds at the base of the cane. This is why we prefer an arced cane as it offers additional buds due to increased length; the final buds produce the largest clusters and the arc encourages mid-cane growth.

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