A challenging Summer

As the vines continue to grow, we need to maximise the amount of sunlight that reaches the leaves and the fruit. The trellising helps us achieve this by positioning new shoots vertically, enabling us to go through removing side shoots and leaves to minimise shading and make the most of the sun. Removing side shoots and leaves also enables better airflow around the grapes, helping to avoid the build up of fungal diseases which we are prone to in our humid climate. This year it has taken a lot of work to keep the vines’ growth in check; the warm and wet conditions have encouraged them to grow more leaves and side shoots than normal. All summer we have been constantly trimming the tops and sides of the vines, removing leaves and side shoots. By comparison - last year, due to the lack of rain, we only had to do each of these jobs once.

The damp conditions have also been ideal for mildew to spread. We’ve been hit by both Downy Mildew, and Powdery Mildew this year, which has severely affected the health of some of the fruit. So far we have managed to keep it under control, but it looks like it will impact on our yield again this year - as we only want the best fruit to go into our wines, any affected fruit won’t be picked. Hopefully, we will get a warm and dry end to Summer allowing the fruit to ripen in September and October.

As usual, we will be welcoming volunteers to the vineyard for harvest days. If you’re interested in coming along, or would like to know more, please get in touch with us on contact@dunesforde.com.