September/October 2023 — Winding Wood Vineyard

There were shredded nerves in the run-up to harvest this year — plus ca change. Life in the vineyard would not be the same without the regular existential crisis. We actually began to wonder in late September whether the grapes would even reach the required sugar levels before the autumn closed in. Leonie says that I say this each year! We took a bet on the harvest dates…….and I lost £200.

In late September, we noticed a plague of fruit flies had invaded the pinot field. It was some years ago when we had a similar outbreak. Vinegar traps were put out to catch them but the damage to some of the bunches had been done. These flies are called Spotted Winged Drosophila (Suzuki fly) of which the female lays eggs under the skin of the berry which then hatch. To the eye, the berry exhibits a brownish colour, is squishy to the touch, and has an exit point ( see photo). This leads to sourness.

As a result, we laboriously spent days on our hands and knees, extracting each damaged berry. The effect on the bunch if not picked out can be ruinous to the crop. We hear from the winemaker that many vineyards are infested. Why? Maybe a perfect storm with the warm and wet conditions experienced over the summer.

The dominant characteristics of this season have been low sugars and low acids — caused perhaps by the heavy rain in July, August and September. While we have had warm days it has often been overcast such that the vine leaves have not had enough direct sunshine which they need to store up sugars.

The yields, as reported in the media, have been high with heavy bunch weights. Time will tell whether the quality is as good as last year. We will not know, until next year once the juice has fermented and sat quietly in the winery in oak barrels, whether 2023 will turn out to be a good or an excellent vintage.

Our yield was a good one: 4.8 tonnes across the two fields, with the pinot producing a little more per acre than the chardonnay. We found we were very short of oak barrels — this is our preference over steel tanks. We have been struggling to purchase used white wine oak barrels from Burgundy as the French are holding onto them for longer in a bid to save cost. New oak barrels are very expensive, and not ideal as they have too much oak influence, and the cooperage industry seems to be struggling to meet demand. However, finally, a fellow producer, Hugo Stewart, managed to find a few suitable ones from a good supplier and they were transported in time to take our juice. The reason we ferment in oak barrels? The surface of the oak produces good contact for softening the acids with the added benefit of producing microoxygenation through the staves.

We use mainly 228-litre barriques with a couple of the larger 500-litre puncheons. This gives the winemaker a wide range of blending choices. Daniel, as a matter of course, will ferment the Cuvee and taille of each variety in different barrels.

His style of fermentation is to add no sulphur, and no enzymes— this is counter to what happens in conventional winemaking.

Season Report

The start to the season was nigh perfect: no April frosts (as never before) therefore lots of buds; an excellent flowering during a hot June. Then the weather went downhill: an incredibly wet July when it rained every day, mixed weather in August and September with only mid-range temperatures.

The management of the canopy — keeping plenty of air circulating by pruning and thinning — was a headache as we tried to keep mildew at bay. Being an organic grower — we use no synthetic fungicides —there are few preventatives in our armoury. However, it seems that conventional vineyards fared no better this season, even worse in some cases. We are able to react to heavy rainfall with sprays which battle against the disease forming in the vine leaves— willow bark teas, horsetail teas, and yarrow. These contain salicylic acid (as found in aspirin), natural sulphur, and silica.

Harvest

This was our 9th harvest so we know the drill. Check the packing crates, check the number of snippers, buckets, the trailer, and straps. The pinot harvest took place on 15th October with a great bunch of friends and locals attending at short notice, ensuring that the crop was picked cleanly with next to no disease in the bunches. It needs to be done by careful folk. Green harvesting by Leonie and me before made picking very straightforward. The chardonnay vendange followed a week later, with an even bigger turnout of helpers, such that we were picked well before lunch. Perfect timing.

There has been much talk in the industry about the introduction of machinery to pick grapes in light of the problems of getting sufficient labour for harvest. Champagne varieties need to be picked delicately by hand— a whole bunch with stalk and all. A machine will strip the bunch leaving just berries, and in the process split many of the skins. Not such a problem for making still wine but not for sparkling. Whole bunch pressing ensures a slow juice extraction. The French do not permit picking by machine in Champagne with the result that 27,000 seasonal workers are taken on for the vendage each year. A big cost.

The Winery

The two trailers are packed with crates five high and securely tied with straps. A call to the winery is made with the estimated weight and ETA. When we roll into the yard at Offbeat two hours later we are met by the gang of experienced winery hands, at the ready to take off each crate onto pallets and then weighed. Nods of approval for the quality of the grapes which we have nurtured all these months.

Pretty close at 2.3 tonnes. Will it all go into the Coquard which has a capacity of around 2 tonnes? I hope so.

30 October

I am standing in a petrol station in Downton, Salisbury, feeling pretty satisfied having picked up the empty crates from the winery after a very successful operation. The juice is all pressed and moved to the barrel having been racked (the solids left in the bottom of the tank and then disposed of).

Minutes later it dawned on me that I had put 30 litres of petrol into the tank of my diesel Defender. Two hours later, after numerous calls, it is pumped out by Fuel Fixer and I am on my way home — £300 poorer. Gawd, Grrrr……………