A wide variety of tools were developed, both before and after the plantation of vines, to tend the land. Archaeological excavations have shown that some of these tools date from the ancient times. Over the centuries, these instruments were gradually adapted to suit the individual characteristics of different regions : the topography of the land, the composition of the soil and the precise nature of the tasks to be accomplished. For this reason, both their names and their exact specifications have varied from place to place.
The tools, which were for a long time made by hand, comprised of a piece of iron, often with a piece of steel attached, and a handle made of wood such as ash, cornel, hornbeam or hawthorn. In the 20th century, as viticulture became more and more mechanised, many of these traditional tools gradually became obsolete.

TENDING THE LAND
SEASONS	PRINCIPLE TYPES OF WORK
End of Autumn - beginning of Winter	Removal of old vine stock. Removal of stones from the vineyard. Breaking up the soil and digging ditches for the plantation of new vines. Butting - the technique of covering the feet of the vines with soil in order to protect them against frost.In vineyards on steep slopes, it is also necessary to replace the soil that rain has carried down the slope during the year.
Beginning of Spring	Debutting - removing the soil that has insulated the feet of the vines during winter. This frees the vine shoots for pruning.
Spring	Work to aerate, purify, and finally fertilise the soil. Repeated hoeing to maintain the soil and eliminate weeds.
Summer	Repeated hoeing to maintain the soil.

In the Mediterranean countries, from the classical period through to the Middle Ages, it was common to allow vines to grow naturally on trees and to draw them out on trellises, in bowers, or on arches. In France, one of the most popular methods was to attach the young vines to stakes. However, this system was difficult to maintain and, in the 20th century, the stakes were gradually replaced by metal supports linked together with lines of wire for the vines to grow around.

In the 19th century, France's vineyards were ravaged by a number of pests and diseases originating from North America. Oidium arrived in around 1850 and was followed by brown rot in around 1880. Worse still, in around 1860, a bug, known as 'phylloxera', began to colonise the country. This parasite ate and infested the roots of the vines, ruining their productivity and - in most cases - causing them to die. 

Oidium was treated with sulphur while brown rot was treated with a copper sulphate preparation, known as Bordeaux mixture. The only way to combat phylloxera was to graft the French grape varieties to North American vine stock which was the only type capable of withstanding the parasite.

VINE CULTIVATION
SEASON	PRINCIPLE TYPES OF WORK
End of Autumn - Winter	Uprooting and storage of stakes. Production of new stakes. Harvest of wicker to prepare the strips that will be used to tie down the vines in Spring. First pruning (end of December - beginning of January)
Beginning of Spring	Layering or "marcottage". Grafting. End of pruning (March). Tying down the pruned shoots to their stakes and wires.
Spring	Planting of new stakes and new grafted vine stock. Debutting and defoliating. Treating the vines with chemicals to protect against diseases.
Summer	Continuation of vine treatments until August. Removal of overgrown shoots. Trimming of shoots to concentrate the plants' strength.

Spades : Spades can have flat or forked blades. They are used to turn the soil and dig ditches for the planting of new vines.

The Plough : The use of ploughs in vineyards was, for a long time, made difficult by the practice of planting the vines in close proximity to one another. The sharp slopes of certain vineyards also contributed to making ploughs impractical. 

However, in the 19th century, vine growers began to plant vineyards in ordered lines on flat land. From that point onwards, ploughs replaced mattocks as the tools for turning the soil.

Grafting Knives : These knives often have a flexible blade with a curved tip. They sometimes include a sort of miniature hatchet on the back of the blade.

Tools for planting stakes : These tools can come in a variety of shapes according the nature of the soil :

One mechanism involves a wooden cup (generally of ask) that fits under the vine grower's armpit and is strapped on around his chest. The cup is placed on the top of the stake and the grower uses his weight to plunge it into the ground.

Another mechanism involves a stirrup attached to a wooden clog by means of a leather strap. The grower stands wearing the clog and drives in the stake hold with the stirrup.

Iron billhooks serve to sharpen the tips of the stakes. These also include a mallet on the back of the blade to hammer the stakes into the ground.

Iron picks are used to make a hole in the ground for driving in the stake.

Billhooks : These knives, which were used for centuries, have a large sharp, curved blade with a hook at the end. Their style varies from region to region and they sometimes have a double edge.

Pruning Shears : Pruning shears tended to replace billhooks from the middle of the 19th century. They are made from forged or moulded steel and sometimes include a sharp blade for pruning the largest shoots.

Sulpher and Sulphate Sprayers : Sprayers have been used since the end of the 19th century to spray the vines with chemicals to combat diseases. They were generally made of iron or copper and were often carried on the back like a rucksack. 

The grape harvest was carried out by hand from the classical period up until the invention of the harvesting machine in the second half of the 20th century. It was either done bare-handed, as in ancient Egypt, or with the use of knives.

The harvest generally takes place from September to October. The exact date depends on the maturity of the grapes and the type of wine being made. 

As grapes ripen, various physiological changes take place. The stems turn from green to brown and the grapes take on a translucent colour. The bunches start to weigh down on the vine and the individual grapes detach easily. During the ripening process, the level of sugar contained in the grapes increases, while the level of acidity decreases. It is very important that the grapes are picked when they contain the optimum level of sugar and for this reason the vine grower regularly watches sugar levels in the days running up to the harvest. 

Sometimes, however, it is necessary to begin the harvest before the grapes are completely ripe in order to save the grapes from parasites or rot, or in order to make a particularly dry, acidic wine.

It is also possible to delay the harvest, occasionally up until December, or indeed beyond the first frosts, in order to achieve over-ripe grapes. The grapes dry out on the vine and, in certain circumstances, a type of rot, known as 'noble rot' is able to develop. The result of this process is that the dried-out grapes, when finally harvested, contain a small quantity of extremely rich, sugary juice which can be used to make sweet wines.

In the past, the local authorities in France would announce the date on which the grape harvest could begin. The purpose of this was to safeguard the quality of the wines by ensuring that the vine growers could only start harvesting when the grapes were sufficiently ripe.

Each grape harvester would use a basket or container to collect his grapes. The grapes would be poured into larger containers and transported on men's backs or by horses or oxen to the press house.

Harvesting Billhooks : These knives have a curved blade and are smaller than pruning billhooks. They allow the harvester to detach the grapes without damaging them. It is also possible to use knives with curved, flexible blades or scissors or small shears for the same task.

The Harvesters' Grape Baskets : These baskets were originally made from wood, wicker and later from iron. Nowadays they are generally made from plastic.

Larger Containers : 
The larger containers generally took the form of wooden baskets bound with iron or wicker baskets. They would be strapped to the harvesters' backs and could contain as much as 50 kilograms of grapes.

Miniature Grape Presses  : These are used to analyse the maturity of the grapes before the start of the harvest. The wine grower presses a sample of the grapes and then conducts various tests, using specialist measuring instruments, to establish the density of the must, the quantity of sugar and the level of acidity.