Vineyard 2015 – Cambridge Winery

9th May 20152nd October 2018

And so the cycle begins again

It has been a while since I posted anything here so thought I would give a quick update. The vines have now burst into life again for the start of a new season. There is always fresh enthusiasm at this point with the hope that this year will bring a bumper harvest and award winning wine!

Last year the harvest was a little disappointing, but I still managed to produce 1 bottle of Phoenix that I could share with friends. I had some problems with oxidation, probably caused by the fact that I was trying to produce such a small amount. The Orion wine suffered a hydrogen sulphide problem during fermentation, which as far as I know is caused by lack of nutrients for the yeast and/or lack of oxygen during the first stage of fermentation. The yeast need oxygen to get going (aerobic fermentation phase). I had already added nutrients so tried aerating the wine to introduce oxygen. It did help but the wine always had an off smell so ended up down the sink in the end.

On a positive note, the Phoenix turned out ok. It was crystal clear, had a lovely fruity nose and a crisp dry taste. There seemed to be a slightly odd aftertaste, which I think may have been yeast, but I’m not sure. Maybe it was too young, or maybe I could try a different yeast variety this year.

Anyway, onwards and upwards, this is a new season and another chance to produce some fully home-grown, home-made, organic wine.

19th July 20153rd October 2018

Act of God

During the early hours of Friday morning, a huge storm brought the worst hail I have ever seen. Hail stones the size of marbles pelted down for over half an hour.

Unfortunately the vines have sustained so much damage that this year’s crop is pretty much destroyed. It looks like there may be some grapes that survive, I guess this will become clear over the next few days as berries shrivel and fall off, but I doubt there will be enough to produce any wine.

Pretty depressing stuff, but completely unavoidable. I only hope the vines themselves are ok. There is a lot of stem damage too so fingers crossed that next year’s harvest is unaffected.

It made me realise just how stressful it must be to have a commercial vineyard and how easily an entire year’s income can be lost.

22nd February 20163rd October 2018

Poor harvest

After the hail storm in July last year the grapes really struggled. The fruit set wasn’t great, which may well have been nothing to do with the hail, and the grapes were quite diseased, probably due to split skins allowing bacteria to get into the grapes. Here are a few pictures taken in September, around the time I attempted a harvest. A few bunches were good, but all in all it was not a good year!

I managed to pick out the best grapes from the Phoenix and Orion vines but it still only came to 1.7kg. I decided I would process the grapes anyway, and the family had a little tasting on Christmas day, but it was not great wine. It was drinkable, but not great. I hope this is due to me trying to produce such a low volume that makes it virtually impossible for it not to oxidize/spoil. It looked good, and had cleared well but had a very slight off smell. Something I have experienced before which I think is due to small amounts of hydrogen sulphide produced during the fermentation. Maybe 2016 will be the year? I try to remain hopeful!

In the meantime, with the disappointments of 2015 I decided to concentrate on ‘The Winery’. It is certainly coming on, and now has sink with hot (warm) and cold running water. It just needs a few finishing touches and will soon be ready for some serious action.