John and Fay Guman's wonderful backyard vineyard has been bearing less and less every year since 2004. It is an old vineyard, somewhat diseased, and though John farms it with the highest degree of care and devotion, it is bound to suffer some decline. We came up with a plan this winter to try to stem the decline and perhaps reverse some of it. The plan is based on simple principles that I have learned from many teachers and in many vineyards—in particular the ones that we have rehabilitated in Maury.

The simple plan was to prune radically, leaving 2-4 shoots per vine, unless the vines seemed especially vigorous. The simple idea is to ask less of the plants and allow them to grow under less pressure, with less work to do in order to bring their fruit to ripeness. The hope is that each remaining shoot will be healthier, and that the plants will produce no less fruit this year, and perhaps more next year. I only became convinced that it was the right thing to do after John had pruned, so Graeme and I went to see John and Fay one morning in late Spring. I offered them a new contract that guaranteed their compensation even if my pruning scheme failed, and assured them that I would be responsible for all of the work at my own cost, and that I would take similar responsibility for the shoot thinning and leafing.

As I write this, it is now mid-summer, and the vineyard has never looked better. Not clearly more fruit than last year, but certainly not less; and all of the shoots are taller, better balanced, and healthier than last year's. Very exciting.