Category Archives: Vine to wine diary

Last year I made a very low, too low, pressure sparkling wine from my 2014 seyval blanc harvest. It has some citrus and orchard fruit notes, but neither the refreshing CO2 nor any bakery notes. So, this year I regarded that … Continue reading →

6th October, I have a new post and wire training system in place this year, pruning in transition to VSP, but this cannot help with the climate – the sixth of October and lack of ripeness is plain to taste, with … Continue reading →

This is the tale of my first attempt at making sparkling wine, well any wine really, apart from a kit wine 30 years ago. Stage 1 – making the base wine Day 1 (mid-October) – pick and crush Picked about … Continue reading →

Leaves now stripped out of the fruiting zone, giving more sun exposure and quicker drying if there’s a shower, like yesterday and today.  Brix now averaging 15.5, with a low of 14.2 and high of 17.6.  Apparently 14-17 is about … Continue reading →

Seyval blanc ripening, orientation E-W, and it tells, with brix from a selection of berries –   minimum 10.2 on the north side, and a maximum of 17.2 on the south.  Overall mean brix 12.75, so continued dry and sunny … Continue reading →

Still removing side shoots and pinching out new attempts by the vertical fruitless shoots to grow away.  The fruit zone is opening up and becoming more exposed now.

After being away for most of July, and thankfully leaving behind a hot dry summer, things were not too out of hand vigour-wise, and no health issues – I have not sprayed at all this year – when I do … Continue reading →

Fruit has now set, berries are 3-4 mm diameter.  There is a bit of yellowing at leaf edges and between some veins , need to look into that.

      Two views showing vines now supported by a tripod of chestnut stakes. Each vine has 4-5 shoots tied-in vertically, without fruit, with the growing tip pinched out when they attain 1.8m. In the fruiting area lower down, … Continue reading →

This vine is potted in a sheltered south-facing spot, and so it is well advanced for the end of April.   Now I need to know what to do with shoot training … need to consult my friend Stephan Kohl … Continue reading →