Good farming, especially during a drought, requires good timing and in the case of pruning, too early can be as big a problem as too late. We've seen vines, pruned in December, that sprouted green leaves in early February and were subsequently burned off in an early, hard frost. If a vine is pruned in late February or early March, budbreak can be delayed, which is beneficial in the event of a spring frost. Ideally we would like to prune all our vines a week before budbreak but, since Navarro has over 100,000 vines to prune by hand, we must start pruning in January in order to complete pruning by early March. When a vine starts growth in the spring, buds that are the furthest away from the trunk open first. We begin pruning season by pre-pruning our cordon-trained vineyards; last season's growth of long canes, sprouted from spur positions on the horizontal arms, are all trimmed to foot long sticks. When budbreak is close and the end buds have started to leaf, the final pruning can be performed quickly; the buds closest to the trunk remain closed and less likely to be damaged by frost.

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