How to plant a vineyard in 7 days
After more than a year of climate and soil analysis, vineyard planning and design, the time finally came to turn our vision into reality. But first, I needed to check on the quality of our vines before they shipped out.
The majority of my Pinot Noir and Chardonnay were coming from Ningxia, a region in Northwest China that is rapidly growing in wine production. A viticulturalist friend living there was kind enough to help save me the flight out. He visited the nursery and facetimed me in, allowing me to see the vines myself.
I then traveled to Penglai in Shandong, with my friend and consultant Feng, to visit the nursery from which I was purchasing a portion of my Pinot Noir and all my Riesling.
I first came upon this nursery when I learned that the LVMH project in Yunnan, also facing the prospect of being unable to import vines, chose this nursery to source all their vines. Feng was on the opening viticultural team at the LVMH project, and was central to its vineyard establishment and worked through their first vintage. So Feng was quite familiar with the team behind this nursery, and vouched for their quality. All of their original source material, both scion and rootstock, came from nurseries in France (much of it from Mercier). We bought Pinot Noir 667 and Riesling, both grafted, from this nursery. Of all the plants we bought in China, these were the thickest and strongest looking, and we sorted through their stock to select those with the healthiest grafts.


On this same trip, we also visited Chateau Junding, the new Lafite project, and finished with a small gathering of winemakers over dinner and plenty of wine.


Dinner was delicious, and being winemakers, as the night went on, the more we drank. Soon, we all began to open up share in that candid way only wine can induce. I shared my hopes and dreams for the vineyard project, to make a wine truly representative of Yunnan, a wine that could change people’s minds about Chinese wine, one that would be made with care, love, and minimal intervention from the vineyard into the winery. What I said must have touched a nerve, as our group of winemakers began to share their thoughts on the state of their industry. They bemoaned the lack of a regional winemaking identity in Shandong, how the big players are making wine to fit perceived market gaps and price points, rather than making quality wines that would reflect a sense of place. They were clearly frustrated that no seemed brave enough to make wine seriously, nor truly passionate about trying to make the best wine, in the vineyard or in the winery. That no producer seemed to be striving for quality, trying to learn or to benchmark. This was my first experience hearing such candid and damning stories from local industry insiders, but none of it surprised me. If anything, it only reinforced my impression that winemaking in China mostly has its basis in a purely commercial outlook, exploiting the idea of wine as a status symbol, pandering to price point, margin, and consumer expectation rather than quality or sense of place.
My impression is that owners and winemakers have no faith in the Chinese consumer. Instead of striving for a quality driven product, they are afraid of failure, and instead opt to make a wine that won’t offend nor excite. They are imprisoned by the idea that the Chinese consumer can only accept certain tastes or profiles of wine (on which tastes they can’t even agree), and in turn make wine to fit those ideas. To me, that seems a horrible way to create a product, passively taking orders rather than actively trying to challenge, shape tastes and create change. I’m not surprised though — many winery owners in China don’t drink or care for wine at all.

On a side note — I did also get to try the “second wine” from LVMH’s Yunnan project which is yet unreleased. The wine is made from the same fruit and vineyards, just ‘declassified’ upon barrel tastings. This was quite good, and I was impressed by the concentration and depth, a sign of quality fruit. At the time I thought this wine was better than its big sister Ao Yun, but more importantly, a promising indicator for making good wine in Yunnan!
Having previously built and run my own restaurant, I knew the importance of doing things the right way, from the very beginning. I care about quality above anything else, and I knew enough to know that I couldn’t do it alone.
Outline of the planting process
My two lead consultants David, Simon and I gathered in Lijiang the night of May 30th, and after a quick catch up over dinner, we set out immediately to go over an outline of each day’s tasks. This is what we came up with:
Day 1–2
Marking out
Use tape measures and spray paint to mark out the beginning and end of each row. This will take a bit of time as the rows are angled, but once we have a system sorted it will speed things up.
Contouring
Once most of the marking is done, use a bulldozer to clear and level the intended planting land. This will include clearing surface rocks and clearing land around the edge of the terraces.
Day 3
Ripping
Attach the ripping arm to the bulldozer or tractor and rip each row to a depth of 600mm. As we won’t have a portable GPS we will need to create a way to keep the dozer on a straight path as much as we can. The straighter we can make the ripped line, the less work we will have to do come planting to create straight rows.
Block selection
Organise plants into block categories. This will streamline planting
Day 4–7
Planting
We will need a team of 8–10 people to plant the 13,000 vines. Each plant will need to be planted with the correct technique, ie. Roots down and the correct depth in the ground to ensure a healthy start.
Bamboo stakes
Once planted, each vine will need a bamboo stake. These can be pushed into the ground to provide enough support for each vine once they start growing. This is not intended as a permanent training structure, but more a frame to train the growing shoot on.
Trellising trial
Once planting is complete, we can experiment with different trellis solutions. Goal will be to complete 4 rows entirely with 2 possible types of trellis material, finalize process and solution, then train vineyard operations team on how to install/maintain.
Day 7
Marking out strainer (end post) spots
Initially each strainer (end post) location will be spot sprayed when we mark out the rows on day These spots will need to be pegged out semi-permanently with wooden stakes to ensure they aren’t lost when the spray paint fades, and all line up
The ultimate goal of this trip will be to plant each plot entirely and decide on the correct trellising material to use. Once we leave, the position of each post will need to be clearly obvious using the pegs at each strainer. The intermediate post location will be 7 plants.
Simon really emphasized the importance of marking out. It is the foundation for all other work, it ensures that the tractor while ripping has best chance of being straight. Only then will the rows in each block, and between blocks will all be oriented the same way.
Marking out not only relates to rows and their orientation, but also to the space around each vineyard block. Headland spacing is a problem throughout Chinese vineyards. Owners and vineyard managers want to maximise planted land and crop area, so they half ass the headland measurement, not leaving enough space for tractors and other equipment turn around as they go up and down each row. The end result is wasted space that can’t be used as headland nor produces any fruit.
What actually happened
First Simon and I circled off five meter headlands on each block with pegs and builders string, doing the job ourselves to ensure that this space was properly measured and respected. Then using compasses, we marked out a 20 degree line by hand (the reference row), pegging out intermediate points to avoid wind manipulation. Next, using 15, 20, 25 meter pythagorean triangles, we then ran two steel wires( with pegs at every 1.8m) perpendicular to the 20 degree line, then finally spray painted each 1.8 meter peg, as those would mark out our row spacing — intermediate points between each strainer, to ensure each row is straight.
Finding two strainer post points on the boundary line through lining up a steel wire through the two 1.8m marks (draw). It took us a few times to get the procedure right, but once the team had it down, I could move ahead to mark and peg out the headland and 20 degree lines for each block.


This was slow, physical, and repetitive work, and by the afternoon I could tell that the operations team were beginning to slow down. Yao Quan, my right hand guy, our de facto head of operations, suggested his own idea to streamline. Wanting to give him more ownership, I gave him the rest of afternoon to test it out on our largest block.
As it came time to check his work, it became clear that the margin of error on his method was larger than our previous method. Although intellectually it all made sense, it seemed that his method would not only have greater room for mistakes, but also be harder to double check. I could see the disappointment in his face as I asked him to continue the next day in our original, albeit more time consuming method. However, I was still impressed by his problem solving ability, and his confidence to speak up. I resolved to empower his problem solving and sense of ownership as much as I could.
The next day, we had finished marking out headland and 20 degree lines, so we brought in the tractor to test our custom ripping solution as the team continued to mark out the rows. We had sent Yao Quan a design for a ripping arm that could be attached to the back of a 70hp tractor, that would dig a narrow 600mm trench down each row. He then took the design to a local blacksmith to get two arms made. Although we had seen the system work abroad, we were worried that either the ripper, joint or tractor would break if it hit a large rock (although we kept this ourselves). As we had seen from our profiling, our soil was super hard and rocky, and we barely could get a shovel stuck in the ground, so ripping was crucial to planting quickly and correctly. Thankfully, our design held up and Yao Quan’s diligence paid off, and we soon saw large baby sized rocks pop out of the ground as if it were nothing.
Simon and I then began directing the tractor, with makeshift air traffic control like signals, down each row and block. As soon we the team finished marking out and saw the tractor going up and down each marked row, turning and maneuvering easily in the headland, they could immediately see why the repetitive and tiring work was so important. At that moment I think they realized how much preparation went into this project, and how much I cared about doing things properly. However, with sufficiently large rocks, we still found that the tractor could be pushed slightly off line, so this forced us to problem solve on the fly as we started planting vines.


We had steel wire lined with plastic pegs attached one meter apart made ahead of time to help ensure our vines were planted correctly. But as the rows were on an angle, the question was then how we would ensure that looking down the block from the side (and not from the top of each row), that each plant would also line up. Yao Quan suggested a brilliant idea to break up the planting team into two. A team of 5 would work ahead and take two of the steel wires, setting them 10 rows apart, then lining up each adjacent plastic square parallel to one another. Using a steel wire placed perpendicularly between the two wires, the team moved the wire up to
each meter mark, then spray painted the intersection at each row, which ensured that each plant would line up. Finally, to combat any tractor deviation and make sure each row was perfectly straight up and down, the advance team would mark and peg out the rows every 5–10 meters. The rest of the team would then follow their work and plant vines in each point they had so carefully lined up and marked out. As the plants went in, we brought in a water truck to irrigate the vines block by block. Although I plan on dry farming long term, watering the vines at this point is crucial to vine survival and establishment. If it sounds like a lot of work, it was. At the height of planting work, we brought in a team of village farm hands and had almost 30 people in the vineyard working and planting.



Planting was overall a great success. Our team worked furiously each day, designed and refined a repeatable system on the fly, and helped to create a beautiful, properly spaced, straight rowed vineyard. I couldn’t be more proud. Of course, this being China, there were a few incidents that I will look back at not so fondly (but maybe one day learn to laugh at). Once we had marked out the blocks, we brought in a bulldozer to fill in a few residual trenches used 40 years ago for irrigation, and to flatten the road we had marked out to drive through the vineyard. Things were going well, we explained we needed the driver to bulldoze a road around the vineyard with a width of five meters from the fence at any point. The driver seemed to know what he was doing, and so Yao Quan decided to let him go on to other blocks to continue his work. As I turn around to check what on his progress, I see him joyously dozing half way through a block, ripping right through marked out rows with a big smile on his face and mad glint in his eye, destroying hours of hard work (I can still clearly picture his face today). Furious, I started sprinting towards him, huffing and puffing, screaming profanities, frantically waving my arms trying to get him to stop. The team didn’t seem to be disconcerted at all, but knowing how much work everyone had put into marking out, I was livid. I just couldn’t believe he, clearly unsure of his mandate, didn’t bother to ask or clarify! Needless to say, after that, I put one person in charge of watching him for the rest of the day. This was certainly needed as there were a few other close calls where he almost ended up destroying more of our work. The man I put in charge of watching him joked that from watching the careless abandon in his approach, the driver so clearly loved moving earth, and was lucky to have found his life’s calling. In the end, I think everyone got such a good laugh out of seeing me run like a headless chicken, yelling and screaming, that maybe they didn’t mind marking out those rows again.
How did we choose what went where?
We measured out the row length of each block by hand to calculate the total number of vines per block. As aspect and soil conditions were generally quite similar across the vineyard, part of our decision making was fitting vine numbers to block size as I wanted to keep each block limited to a single clone and varietal for a truer expression. However, some blocks kind of fit my eye, and had an indescribable pull, especially those higher up on the slope, and closer to the mountain.

The gradient and aspect of our highest block reminded me of chambertin clos de beze, and I also loved the rows seemed to all point towards and draw energy from the mountain’s peak. There I decided to plant Pinot Noir 667, a Burgundian clone I’m most excited about.

On our L shaped block, we chose to mark out straight north south rows for our Riesling. By encouraging allowing greater sun exposure on one side of each row, and shading the other side slightly more, we hope to blend ripe fruit flavors with great acidity and a lime, citrus, mineral edge.
On another particular block, we found quartz deposits in many of the stones being dug up while ripping. I decided to plant Chardonnay there in honour of my friend Michael Dhillon of Bindi Wines who makes stunning wine on quartz riddled soils in the Macedon Ranges in Australia. He makes perhaps my favorite Chardonnay in the whole world — pure, lively, confident, with the perfect balance of mineral, acidity, and richness, I hope to make wine one day to match his in quality.

Trellis Tests

I bought 2 sets of trellising samples each from supposedly “the best” Chinese producer, and also a reputable French producer. My goal was to compare products, train staff on installation, and see if we could save money, if at all. The Chinese producer didn’t even come close. After banging their intermediate posts 80 centimetres into the ground, I could, with one hand, pull the entire post out of the ground with ease. If I could so easily dislodge the posts, a gust of wind would likely knock over or pull them out, breaking any vines attached to the fruiting wire. This was clearly not going to work. The French intermediate posts were of a much higher quality and design. With thoughtfully placed hooks on either side of the post, we would have much greater flexibility in lifting wire placement throughout the season. That they didn’t pull out of the ground easily also did much to convince me. However, the end posts, from the same French producer, would warp and bend as they hit big rocks in the ground as we had to insert them deeper for greater stability.
These french posts came with a very well designed anchor that we would ram 1 meter into the ground and could attach to the posts at two points, creating a powerful and stable base. We decided to keep the anchoring system, but in true Chinese fashion, we bought round galvanised steel pipes and drilled holes into them ourselves to create makeshift end posts. Thicker in material, these posts ended up being 10 times stronger than the French option, not bending or warping, and at one third the price! We trained the staff on how to properly space and install the posts, to line them up straight, and ensure their stability. My winemaker David, who has seen many of the best and worst wineries throughout China, says that when all is said and done, we will have one of only three properly planted vineyards in all of China (and China is the sixth largest wine producing nation by volume!).

What I learned and what’s next
Overall, planting was an exhilarating process. Though the work was constant and seemed unending at times, we saw so much tangible progress every day. I fell sideways into bed every night from exhaustion, falling asleep immediately. The kind of exhaustion that comes with an intense sense of accomplishment and pairs so well with a cold beer. At our final dinner with the team, David and Simon told everyone that the quantity and quality of work we had done over the past 7 days would’ve taken 6–8 weeks in New Zealand.
As I’m writing this, I’ve just come back from Yunnan to check on my babies. We’ve been really lucky, the rainy season in Lijiang began about 10 days after planting, and has barely stopped since. The rain stopped over the 5 days I was there, and as I first stepped into the vineyard, the ground was firm, maybe rock hard is a better descriptor, with no sign of puddling or muddiness. The topsoil did not clump as it does with clay type soils when wet, and if I didn’t know it, I would’ve thought that maybe we had just gotten a light drizzle that morning rather than being in the middle of the Lijiang rainy season. In China we talk a lot about balance, and I think in that way, nature has found its own balance in Lijiang. Even with the year’s rain concentrated in June and July, I believe that Lijiang is special for the reason that any extreme is balanced by a counteracting force. The rain is balanced with super free draining soil, the heat that should come with low latitude is made into a cool climate by the high altitude, and the intense high altitude sun is mitigated by the cool evenings, the the people are happy, and the place and its produce is stunning. I don’t pretend to know everything about Lijiang or what makes it what it is, but I know that is a magical place, a place that I feel a special connection to.

We’ve already found a few plants that have grown florets! That we have the potential for fruit this year is quite astonishing, but we will cut off the majority, maybe leaving a row of each varietal just to show my team how different vinifera grapes taste compared to table grapes.

We should even be able to have a small harvest next year. I don’t plan on selling the wine, as the vines won’t be mature, and the fruit will be of variable quality. Instead, I want to take the opportunity to trial varying fermentation and aging regimens, to get to know the fruit a little, and get a more winemaking practice in before the real deal. We’ll also plant another small block behind our house next year. The altitude is slightly higher, and the slope is steeper, so I’m excited to compare differences in the fruit and its ripening with our main vineyard further below.
Throughout the vineyard, we’ve found maybe 1% of vines have shown signs of insect damage. It seems that we have a small population of scarab beetles that have taken a liking to our leaves, but from our research this can be easily combatted with an organic spray program. Similarly we will begin a light organic sulfur spray program (no chemical pesticides or fungicides) to prevent downy or powdery mildew from entering next year’s buds. What’s also interesting is that we have a small portion of plants that have bloomed much later than the rest, just barely beginning to sprout small leaves as the rest have had 10–15 cm of new growth. I wonder if these are actually different varietals incorrectly labeled and shipped to us by the nurseries. Such is the reality of the wine business throughout the world, and only time will tell.

Even though we’ve been lucky and the majority of our plants are thriving, it was hard to see individual vine deaths here and there. I know as time goes on I will become less attached to each plant and rather focus on entire blocks. Though it’s hard when one puts so much time and effort into planting each little vine.
I’m heading down again soon back to Yunnan to tackle the next big project — trimming growth and getting the vines singled down to the strongest shoot that will eventually become the trunk.
For now, our intermediate posts are being shipped from France, and won’t arrive until August. With luck, trellises should all be in by year’s end, vines singled and with growth up to 80 cm, fingers crossed it will look like a real vineyard!
