The cold and rain in winter are never a problem for vineyard workers while they prune the vines. Snow is a different question, but then again, it is very rare! Most of the time, they are alone in their plot, slowly but surely working their way through the rows. People might imagine pruning to be dull and repetitive. In fact, it is the opposite. Each plant requires an individual assessment of the best branches to keep, the best buds, the effect of the pruning on the harvest and even on the following years' pruning. From time to time, a woman in the team will come along to gather up the prunings and take them to the end of the rows and burn them. Then, in the clear blue sky of some winter mornings, you will see a trail of smoke rising straight up, like smoke signals from one plot to another.

The vat room, which for two months had been the hub of the estate, is now deserted. But the barrel cellar is a hive of intense and varied activity. In the first year cellar, we can at last get to know the character of the wines from each plot, as well as the press wines, whose selection had needed so much work. We can already form an idea of the likely blends, on which we will be working enthusiastically over the coming weeks. Down below, in the second-year cellar, the previous vintage continues to mature. The winter cold is good for the fining process, as it favours the sedimentation of the lees in the barrels. Just next door, a group of cellar workers are bustling around the bottling line. In addition to the traditional labelling and capsuling operations, for some years now the bottles are marked by laser to enable us to trace our wines after their shipment from the estate. This numbered code is a signature; it demonstrates our commitment to protecting our wines, our customers, and all Château Margaux's followers, to whom we express our respect and gratitude.