Winter at Dunesforde

This winter saw some of the coldest, wettest, and snowiest weather in recent years. Fortunately, while the vines are dormant they are hardy to all but the most extreme cold temperatures. Some frosts can even be beneficial to clear out disease spores from the vineyard. Work on the vines was delayed as long as possible to encourage later bud development, which we hope will lower the risks of damage if we have any spring frosts. To further help against the risks of spring frosts, we removed all the rabbit guards from the vines, as these hold the frost in, rather than letting it drain away down the slope.

By far the biggest concern over winter was the amount of rain and snow, which really put the drainage in the vineyard to the test. While it did a great job, particularly considering how much water it had to deal with, we are going to make improvements over the summer. This will hopefully all but eliminate standing water near the vines following heavy rain or snow.

With the vines dormant, we progressed our woodland creation and wildlife reserve project just down the road from the vineyard. We planted over 4,000 trees, as well as creating a lake for local wildlife. More is planned for spring and summer, but it has been great to see the impact it is already having.