September 2022

If you look carefully you will see some blue bird netting on the outside row of the chardonnay field. As the bunches get riper, birds such as blackbirds start to peck away. This year we are trialling netting to the outside rows in a bid to deter them.

The weather during September has been mixed: sunshine and showers. This is always a month when we worry that the grapes are not going to ripen sufficiently with the days becoming shorter— fewer growing degree days. This is usually unfounded unless a poor September is followed by a wet October. Veraison (ripening) started well and there is good balance in the berry size. This is the month we undertake green harvesting in earnest — removing bunches that are well behind the majority— and this is a task we will do each week.