From Fiona Shiner, Founder
And we're off .... Harvest 2022 started today, Wednesday 21st September.
The first day of harvest is a very special day in our seasonal calendar, it is the culmination of the growing year and a time for celebration. From pruning the vines in January to bud burst then flowering, fruit set and finally veraison, it does not take long to harvest 9 months of work as the picking team pass swiftly through the rows of ripe grapes.
The grapes are looking good. In the first 10 days of September our inhouse rain gauge recorded 35mm of rain. This has helped the grapes swell and the vines are looking refreshed. It is an average start date for harvest, our earliest was the 10th September and last year we started on the 26th September. The grapes are taking their time to ripen as the vines are carrying a good crop but this last week of sunshine and some cool nights (down to 1.2 degrees in one of our fields) have helped the sugars to rise and the flavours to develop. Pips are turning brown indicating good phenolic ripeness.
Every vintage has it's own story and the last chapter of the vineyards 2022 season has only just started with another 6 weeks to go. As the grapes enter the winery, their wine making journey is only just beginning.
We will be toasting the first pick and the first press with a glass of our Reserve Cuvee. Cheers!
Enter our Harvest Sweepstake!
Harvest is here and so is our harvest sweepstake! The rules are simple.... give us your guess (to the nearest 0.1 ton) as to what our total harvest tonnage will be. Closest guess wins one of our Taste of the Cotswolds, and the 5 nearest runners up will each win a bottle of our Bacchus! We've given you a few clues to get started.…
