One of the differences – there are many – between French and Swiss French terms in the vineyard: while the French vigneron, who makes wine from his own grapes (and is normally called a vigneron-encaveur in Switzerland) cuts back summertime exuberant growth and speaks of le rognage, his Swiss counterpart uses the verb cisailler. Both also use effeuillage more formally. The point of the exercise is to aerate the vines, for several reasons, to reduce disease, to allow more light to reach the grapes, to make sure treatments reach the parts of the plant they are meant to touch and, importantly, to improve the nourishment reaching the grape.
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