Category: Vineyard 2019

After the collapse of the trellising last year due to the bumper crop, I decided to build a pergola to support the vines. At roughly 6 metres by 6 metres there was no way to buy a kit that would be suitable so I designed my own using roofing beams and heavy duty fence posts. Here it is in all its glory on a beautiful but very cold sunny morning:

The top beams are higher than the previous wires so unfortunately the vines can’t quite be tied high enough. They will have to hang underneath this year and I’ll re-train some shoots to grow over the top the following year.

Time to wait for the end of winter now before the vines start to burst back into life.

Time for a quick vineyard update. A late frost knocked the Solaris vines back which has resulted in many fewer flowers than last year. But the Phoenix and Orion vines, being a little later to bud, managed to escape the frost and are now flowering nicely.

We had lot of rain in May and June but luckily we are in a dry spell now which is perfect for the current stage of flowering.

The vines are also looking very happy on their new pergola.

The grapes are on the verge of going off, with a few berries in each bunch starting to go mouldy. The wasps and birds are also tucking in so it’s time for harvest!

I may be able to get my hands on some extra Phoenix grapes from a friend of a friend who is abroad and is looking for any takers. So it could be another big harvest this year.

I’ve cleaned the press and fermenting barrel today, and checked I have enough yeast, nutrients and campden tablets. Saturday is going to be a busy day!