A cold January, a mild February and a warm and wet March have resulted in earlier than usual bud burst. The photo on the right shows the merlot on 31st March. The concern now is late frosts which could damage the delicate new leaves, however the forecast is good for the next 10 days so fingers crossed!
We’ve been busy weeding and mowing the vineyard, it’s not only the vines that have been enjoying the warm weather! Our mechanical weeder – the blade – is spring loaded and the leading arm enables it to spring between the individual vines turning the soil directly underneath the vine. After the blading we use the weeding wheel to removes any weeds left behind.
The photo below left shows the results of our ‘blading’ and the 2nd photo the results of chemical weedkiller. You can see our blade doesn’t remove all of the weeds, it is impossible to get right to the very base of the vine but the soil remains healthy and full of life, unlike the soil of a chemically weedkilled vineyard.
In wine news we have confirmed the bottling of the 2015 Prestige and 2016 Rose for 19th May. This later than usual date gives the ’15 Prestige an extra 3 months in barrel, but will still enable us to get the ’16 rose to you in time for the summer!
If you are interested in the goings on in the vineyard and chai (winery) why not come and visit us so we can show you around, we’re just 35 minutes from Bergerac Airport (Ryan Air & Flybe) and 1 1/2 hours from Bordeaux (BA & Easy Jet). We’ve still got some availability in our B&B apartment (sleeps 6), with it’s 2 air conditioned bedrooms, a bathroom, living room, kitchen and dining room. Also there are large gardens and solar heated pool. Have a look at our B&B pages for details and availability.
