Getting ready for harvest

Now that all the vines have gone through flowering, the grapes are swelling and the bunches are already taking shape. There’s no doubt that the heat wave we are currently enjoying has been ideal conditions for flowering and early grape development. A dry flowering period has lead to strong fruit set and warm conditions have encouraged the berries to swell rapidly. While the vines are perfectly happy with the sustained warm weather, they would benefit from a little rain soon, just to keep the vines from shutting down vegetative growth. 

As the grapes swell, we are starting to prepare for harvest time. With flowering complete we now have an indication of when we are likely to be picking the grapes. Solaris will be the first variety we pick, probably in mid-September, the others will follow soon after and we should be finished by the second week in October. If you’re interested in coming to do some picking at harvest, please email james@dunesforde.com and we will keep you informed of harvest dates and details.

With this Summer being described as the best since 1976, it is perhaps no surprise that we have seen so much about English vineyards in the news. Just about every news source has run a story on how this year could be the best year ever for English wine. Early indications are that the industry will see the largest crop to date, and possibly the earliest too with grapes being over two weeks ahead in some vineyards already. It really is an incredibly exciting time for English wine, with Cherie Spriggs of Nyetimber in Sussex being the first ever winemaker outside of Champagne to win Sparkling Winemaker of the Year at the International Wine Challenge 2018. Vineyards continue to expand and new ones are popping up all the time, with perhaps the most interesting being the first planting of Pinotage in the country down in West Sussex. The industry body, Wines of Great Britain, have recently launched their new website, which is a great resource for anyone interested in wine and vineyards in England and Wales. Visit them by clicking here.