GRAPES GATHERED!
Today marked our final day of picking for the 2017 harvest – and what a harvest it’s been! Our biggest harvest to date with over 68 tonnes of grapes picked over the last 5 weeks, compared to 37 ½ in 2016. The tractors have been kept busy ferrying a constant flow of picking trays to the winery and Jeremy has been making the most of the new tanks and barrels which arrived just in time for the start of harvest to make room for the additional volumes this year.
It has been an interesting year weather wise – we were lucky to escape the worst of the late spring frosts with only a small amount of damage at our Woodchester and Amberley sites. The beautiful weather in May and June meant we were ahead of schedule throughout the summer in the vineyard, however progress slowed somewhat over a rather wet August and September. Despite the rain, we managed to fit our picking schedule around the dry days, and our later ripening varieties have benefitted from the warmer weather at the start of October.
Now that all the grapes are in, over the next month we’ll be very busy in the winery ensuring all the ferments go to plan! Life in the vineyard doesn’t stop however and we will spend some time repairing and maintaining any areas of the vineyard that need tending to, performing some soil analysis and taking stock of this year’s crop.
Outside the vineyard and winery we’re starting to get ready for the run up to Christmas. We’ve just opened up our new tasting room and tours and tastings are now available to book on our website. We’re also getting ready for the release of our first sparkling wine which should be on the shelves at the start of December, just in time for Christmas!
