Earlier this week we bottled our first wine which we have called Silent Pool Ros
é. It has been made exclusively from hand-picked organic Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes from our own vineyard. We are delighted with our first effort; our winemaker, Ulrich Hoffmann, describes the wine as elegant and crisp with subtle and fresh summer...
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Much appreciated help from Philip, JB, Peter and Gary
We were out on the vineyard last night as temperatures reached as low as -4C. At this time of year frost is our biggest nightmare as it can cause significant damage even before bud burst. Michigan State University have produced a chart showing vine frost tolerance at different temperature levels according to bud development
http://www.ristcanyon...
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Horn Manure (Preparation 500)
Alex thinks I've gone crazy but we've taken the plunge anyway and gone biodynamic!
Biodynamics is sort of
organics plus. Like organics, it excludes the use of artificial chemicals and encourages the use of composts and manures. However it also promotes the holistic interrelationships between the soil, the plants and animals, as well as the more subtle rhythms...
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Gary and the Frost Killer |
Our latest piece of armoury in the war against Jack Frost is now ready for action!
Gary has converted and old corn dryer machine so that it continually sucks in huge amounts of cold air at ground level and shots it skywards. This will hopefully create enough air movement in the lowest part of the vineyard to fight off the worst of potential frosts.
The Frost Killer will be...
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Double Guyot pruning
The main task in the vineyard during winter is pruning which has to be done by hand. We now have 21,000 vines to prune but fortunately Alex loves the job. Since December she has been sniping away with the help of her partner Cliff and some casual workers. I'm feeling very guilty as I've been in Australia for the last 6 weeks on a combined holiday and work trip.
Pruning this year...
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In research commissioned by German wine trade fair Prowein, significant minorities of wine drinkers in the US, China, Germany and the UK said their ideal wine would have less than 12% alcohol.
In Britain, 22% said their ideal wine was 10.5% or less, with similar numbers in Germany and the US saying the same. The preference for lower alcohol is most marked in the younger generation. In Britain, 27%...
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The European logo for Organic Wine
The European Commission has voted to implement standards for the production and labelling of organic wine.
Up until now there has been no approved process for the production of organic wine and therefore it has only been possible to label wine as "produced from organic grapes". These new regulations will allow wine to be certified as organic which for the first...
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Harmonia axydris (Japenese Ladybug)
An interesting and somewhat worrying presentation at the ICCS yesterday by Kevin Ker from Brook University, Canada.
Ladybirds are often regarded as beneficial insects that feed on harmful pests like aphids. However some non-native ladybirds like the Harmonia axydris (known as the Japenese Ladybug) are increasingly being found in vineyards in North America, Canada...
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This years International Cool Climate Symposium for viticulture and oenology is being held in Hobart, Tasmania. I'm lucky enough to be attending which I've coincided with a family holiday in Australia.
Jancis Robinson opened the conference with a keynote speech titled "What's hot about cool climate", which was an illuminating tour of potential new regions in the world for an expanding market for...
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Alex with Peter Hayes on the vineyard
Earlier this month we were very fortunate to have international wine expert, Peter Hayes, visit the vineyard as part of the Wineskills programme.
One of the topics we discussed was the need to understand Bud Fruitfulnessand how it might impact on the level of pruning in the winter. Fruitfulness is the weight of fruit produced by each bud...
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Family and friends at the vineyard
Family and friends gathered on Sunday to pick the Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier which will be used to make a still
rosé wine. After a day of picking the Chardonnay and Seyval on Friday, we had a better idea of how long the process would take so we drafted in a few more friends to help out. Overall 22 enthusiastic pickers had arrived by 9.30am.
The day went pretty...
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Alex with some of the Chardonnay
Our very first harvest took place yesterday when we picked the Chardonnay and Seyval grapes from the 5 acres of we planted in May 2009.
The yield was much smaller than we had hoped for, mainly because of the poor pollination and fruit set at the end of June, but also because the pheasant decided that they would dine out on the Seyval during the last two weeks. The...
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