August 2024:
As we go into August all we can hope for is as much sun as possible in order to get the crop to ripen. August so far has proven to be partially sunny with days of overcast showers, not an ideal ripening weather, but better than last year (so far...). With proper canopy management we have lightly exposed the bunches to the sun on the Eastern side of the vineyard in order to get them into the morning and midday sun without reducing the leaf count by too much, this should help with the development of the crop. A further leaf strip will be done roughly in the middle of this month and this should help to increase the sugar content in the bunches and allow for a better disease and pest management due to better airflow and sun exposure. We have tried to keep the upper canopy quite airy and free from overlapping vines. The lower canopy has been cut a bit above ground to reduce mildew risks and keep the vines from attaching to the grass and tearing themselves from the cane.
The larger canopy of the Scott Henry system gives the ability to try to have a very well spaced canopy because there is so much room to manage the canes in the wirework, this is what allows us to have such a well spaced canopy with a larger crop.
The Second Vineyard:
The Second vineyard has just had the shoots tied onto the training rods, this was carried out using the tie guns that are used after pruning to attach the canes to the fruiting wires. The bit of rain we have had has likely been a benefit to these vines as they are establishing, a bit of rain means we don't have to go through and water the vines ourselves and saves us the time (and water).
They are developing more slowly than the vines in the first vineyard did, this is likely due to the difference in growing year compared to 2018 when the first vineyard was established. The Bacchus, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir Precoce are the furthest ahead in terms of height, however they are all roughly the same. We will have to keep an eye on their development and likely do another pass or two of tying in order to make sure they are all trained straight upwards instead of going off in their own direction, at pruning we will be making decisions about how we are going to prune them taking into account their height and the thickness of the stems.
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