"The Diary of a Vine" describes the events in the vineyards from the perspective of a vine. This fascinating story was written by Helene Bellwald, who was a hotelier at the Nest and Bietschhorn in the beautiful Lötschental.
This wonderful story came to life after a walk through our vineyards and thanks to the insights Olivier Mounir shared about what goes on in our vineyard throughout the year.
Embark on a journey through our vineyard yourself.
A few days ago, Olivier and his team started pruning us. Everyone is doing their very best to make sure we turn out well. They’re deciding which branches to cut and which shoots should be left to bear fruit next year. It’s important that they prune us correctly so we don’t dry out and wither. The better they care for us, the longer we live. Still, we usually don’t make it past thirty years. Then we have to be replaced by young vines.
How wonderful—everyone has come to the vineyard again today. They are our friends because they support us with their kind thoughts and wishes. Olivier, in particular, thinks about us a great deal. He knows that we—and our Mother Earth—don’t like chemical pesticides and fertilizers at all. He built a worm composting system just for us, so he can fertilize us with worm compost. That way, in the spring, lush grass and lovely flowers sprout at our feet, caressed by countless insects and butterflies.
For weeks now, we’ve been enjoying the peace and quiet of the vineyard and recharging our batteries. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much snow this winter to cover our feet, so we were always afraid of freezing to death. But now we’re slowly starting to feel spring and the warming rays of the sun. The busy season of budding and blooming is approaching.
Today, Olivier and his team began tying our main shoot to the wires using special clips. It’s hard, monotonous work. But I sense that Olivier, in particular, is able to relax—even slip into a meditative state. That’s a good thing, because he doesn’t just have to deal with us. He’s also concerned with processing and selling our grapes. That takes a great deal of time and personal dedication.
Today, the Rhodan team begins work that we don’t particularly enjoy. They put us through our paces—that is, they thin out our grape clusters to reduce both quantity and quality. Actually, it’s a good thing that we’re focusing our energy on fewer grapes. That improves the quality of our fruit. And everyone knows their craft. They select the grapes primarily based on their intuition and experience.
Summer is slowly approaching. We’re growing and thriving. As part of our pruning work, we’re cutting back our excess side shoots. That’s a good thing, because these shoots don’t bear grapes and just drain our energy unnecessarily.
We're thriving, so we're being treated with a plant protection product—an organic mixture of copper and sulfur. It would be a shame if we got infested with that nasty powdery mildew. Every now and then we also get nettle tea, which does us good. Today they also mowed the grass between our rows.
It’s incredibly hot here on the slopes of the Rhône Valley. The sun beats down on us every single day. Fortunately, our vineyard is equipped with a drip irrigation system. The fresh water saves us from drying out. After all, we’re supposed to produce plump grapes so the barrels can be filled.
National Day. Once again, a few drops of our wine are flowing down the throats of the revelers. That’s a good thing, because our grapes will soon be ripe and there will be new wine. We’re now enjoying the calm before the storm, since Olivier’s team has finished all the work here in our vineyard.
Today is a busy day for us. The entire Mitdenker team, along with some extra helping hands, is starting to harvest our grapes. That’s a relief, because over the past few weeks they’ve been hanging heavy on our vines. The beautiful summer and the team’s excellent care have blessed us with an abundant harvest of grapes. We’re grateful—at last we can reward everyone for their hard work.
Our last grapes are being harvested. It already feels a little empty, but we wouldn’t have the strength left to carry and tend to them anyway. We soak up the last golden rays of sunshine and are happy to just do nothing for a change, except enjoy a spritzer of chamomile tea—a little thank-you from the Rhodan team!
