May was a relatively benign month for weather: no frosts and only 7 cm of rain.
May was also when the vines really sprang into life, buds turned into ever lengthening shoots and vineyard work increased exponentially. Huge thanks to our volunteer team who removed and stacked over 13,000 rabbit guards in our newest vineyard and bud rubbed every single vine there as well – they really do earn their lunchtime food and drinks. We have now crown cleaned every vine – taking off the unwanted shoots around the crown and ensuring no more than a fist width between the shoots but also already selecting the shoots for fruiting canes next year.
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Our wildflower meadow is looking stunning and our sustainable, rainwater harvesting system is now fully installed. We’ve also started trialling worm tea to see what positive effect this has on vine development. Mildew is likely to be a challenge again this year and we are already hard at work protecting against it: so far, so good.
Outside the vineyard we’ve been busy with a dozen tours & tasting, Sunday lunch with Masterchef winner Thomas Frake, two fun days at Highclere Show – thanks to all who stopped by – bottling our 2023 vintage wines and preparing for the release of our Classic Cuvée 2017 on 15th June.
It’s exhausting just recalling all this!!