Our viticultural practices

In a world that favours speed, productivity and mechanisation, at Vizinho Vinhateiro we have chosen a different path. Our approach to winegrowing focuses on manual labour, observation and precision. More than just a technical choice, it is a philosophy deeply rooted in respect for the land and the ideals of slow farming rhythms, letting the weather and seasons guide us through our lives.

Our viticultural practices

Manual labour: precision and attention

Every task carried out by hand in our vineyards has a specific purpose and unrivalled efficiency. Several fundamental stages punctuate our wine-growing year:

Pruning (December to March): this crucial operation regulates the vigour of the vines, promoting quality over quantity in the harvest. Each vine is pruned individually, according to its specific characteristics. Pruning has always been a fascination of mine, and I have been driven to study more and more for finer pruning practices.
This has led me to follow pretty closely the practices and teachings of the “Architectes du Vivant” group, led by Marceau Bourdarias. 

These teachings brought me to a better understanding of a vine’s physiology, needs, and intimate balance.
Productivity is strictly adjusted one vine at a time by careful analysis of it’s abilities, this is a crutial element when renovating very old co-planted vineyards, as each plant needs to be nurtured back to full health before being asked to produce more. 

Thinning and leaf removal (spring): these delicate tasks eliminate unnecessary shoots and allow the vine to concentrate its energy on the essential bunches, ensuring better aeration and reducing the risk of disease.

Trellising and tying (May to July): this practice protects fragile branches and ensures optimal sun exposure for the leaves.

These two make up for a huge amount of work in the vineyards, all of it aimed at better, and earlier phenolic ripeness while also securing an easier pruning season for next year.

Manual harvesting (late summer/autumn): manual harvesting allows for careful selection of grapes directly on the vine, ensuring optimal quality of the selected fruit.

Soils respect

In the past we have worked with my mare, Bonita rather than a tractor not simply as a matter of nostalgia, but a carefully considered approach with several major advantages:

Soil preservation: unlike heavy tractors, horses do not compact the soil. Aerated, living soil is essential to the long-term health of our vines.

Precision work: ideal in narrow or sloping plots, horses offer unrivalled manoeuvrability, not many tractor make it into the narrow rows of our old vineyards.

Reduced ecological footprint: without fuel, horses minimise our environmental impact.

Vine longevity: by limiting damage to the vines, we preserve their health and ageing potential.

However, as we have been observing our terroir more each year and learning from it, we have been ploughing and tilling less and less. Some plots’ soils have not been touched since 2022.

I want to care as deeply as possible for the mycorrhizal development in my soil. 

This minimalistic approach is meant to help funghi settle and thrive. 

Pesticides applied :

Copper & sulfur. 

Our main challenge in the vineyards, pestswise is downy mildew. 

Over ever since the start of our project, our copper use has been as low as possible, always living on the razor’s edge of using too little and losing grapes. 

This comes as a necessity to us. Mycorrhizal networks and root systems are highly sensible to copper toxicity, especially in our acidic soils. But these same networks are responsible for the degradation of copper in the soil. Therefore nurturing them is critical. 

Our copper use over the past few vintages :

2022 : 750g/ha

2023 : 900g/ha

2024 : 1300g/ha

2025 : 1000g/ha

Sulfur not being toxic, problematic or accumulating in the soils, I do not keep such precise numbers of it's use. Still I will post usage of it in the future for transparency’s sake. 

We have used every year some teas and fermentations to accompany these treatments and help the vines build some resistance. 

Nettles anaerobic fermentation is a must to me. Camomille tea also a staple of the summer applications. 

One or two applications of orange essential oil has been done since 2023, but I am not very comfortable with the use of this very powerful product, I do not think I will carry on with it. 

In 2026, I would like to start experimenting with whey. Some studies and some friends’ experiences have given great results. 

No herbicides or insecticide. 

Bought grapes are not farmed the same way, however the vintners try to get closer to my standards. 

More on the négoce side of our project here.