Bud Break

The grape starts its annual growth cycle in the spring with bud break. In Sonoma Valley, this stage begins around March. Pruning usualy is done in late winter, when the vines are dorment. As the ground warms and the saps begin to raise in the vines we start to see the vines start to “bleed”. This bleeding occurs when the soil begins to warm and osmotic forces pushes water, containing a low concentration of organic acids, minerals and sugar, up from the root system of the vine and it is expelled from the cuts (or “wounds”) left over from pruning the vine.

Tiny buds on the vine start to swell and eventually shoots begin to grow from the buds. Buds are the small part of the vine that rest between the vine’s stem and the petiole (leaf stem). The energy to facilitate this growth comes from reserves of carbohydrates stored in roots and wood of the vine from the last growth cycle. Eventually the shoots sprout tiny leaves that can begin the process of photosynthesis, producing the energy to accelerate growth. After about 4 weeks the growth of the shoots starts to rapidly accelerate with the shoots grow up to 1 inch a day.