Professions in wine
The Chef of LafiteProfessions in wine : The vineyard
The vine-grower
The vine-growers learn their plot of vineyard by heart through years of working with the grapevines. They conduct pruning in the winter in order to bring out the best of the vines.
In the spring, de-budding must be performed carefully in order to leave enough wood for the vines to be renewed, which ensures the vineyards' sustainability.
The vine-grower is very closely tied to the grapevines, particularly to the vinestock. He has strong ties to the vines, often a lifelong relationship which only uprooting of the vines for renewal or the vine-grower’s retirement can break.
Changing a vine-grower from his plots means losing years of experience.
A vineyard manager is the team leader, responsible for supervising, planning, and organising the manual work in the vineyard. He is in charge of the physiological upkeep of the grapevines, and of planning projects for that purpose.
The assistant vineyard worker
The assistant vineyard workers (men or women) are the perfect counterparts for the vine-growers, and work the same plot of vines. They oversee the proper maintenance of the vines throughout the growing season in order to ensure good preparation of the canes for the next trimming.
Their winter work essentially involves untying, rolling vine shoots, and protecting pruning scars. In spring, they are responsible for trellising and de-suckering.
Just like the vine-grower, they participate in group efforts such as harvests in the autumn, and assist in the cellars when needed.
The machinery operator
The machinery operator performs mechanical work in the vineyards. Over the year, he conducts work on the soil (ploughing and de-earthing), protecting crops (sulphating, spraying), and fertilizing. The dates of these activities depend largely on the weather. The machinery operator is also responsible for the soil before new plantings.
He then participates in the collective work in autumn. A machine operator manager, the operator’s team leader, supervises planning and operations of mechanical work performed in the vineyard.
