To say the least the weather over the last few weeks has been up and down. After a warm start to the season and an early bud break, late in the second week of May we were hit with an unseasonably late cold snap. As a result, at the lowest point on the Greyfriars site we had a bit of frost nip which has affected several hundred vines but overall nothing serious. We were very fortunate unlike many other vineyards in Southern England where there have been reports of significant frost damage. Since then, the mercury has rocketed up to record temperatures which has triggered the vines into a growing frenzy this week. While there’s little risk of water stress in our mature vines (the roots grow down 4-6 metres) we are concerned about the new vines in the Old Plot which were planted at the beginning of the month.
Elsewhere it’s been a busy month; we are now in peak visitor season and vineyard has been busy at weekends and its lovely to see people enjoying themselves up at the Horsebox bar overlooking the vineyard. Over at the winery, blending is now complete and bottling of our sparkling wines has kicked off in earnest and will run through July. As the new wines disappear in the cave for secondary fermentation and ageing we are excited about the quality of this year’s bottling.