Jonathan’s Vineyard Blog July 22nd

July 22, 2022

Jonathan’s Vineyard Blog

22nd July 2022


I am writing the blog at the end of a week in which we have witnessed record high temperatures across the British Isles - we recorded 38 degrees celsius here in Godstone on 19th July.  High temperatures prove uncomfortable for the majority of us, however, luckily vines really thrive in such conditions and we are tentatively beginning to believe that, all being well, 2022 will be a very good vintage.


The mid Summer period is incredibly busy in an English vineyard and perhaps the most important task is canopy management. In essence we need to trim the vines and the labour cost of undertaking this would be excessive if we did the job by hand; therefore we use a fancy piece of machinery (expensive !) which fits on to the front of our tractor and, operated safely from the cab, cuts back the top and sides of our vines.


A job which would take one person several weeks can now be done in less than four hours - that is progress !


Trimming the vines is vitally important for several reasons : it results in uniformity of shoot length (if the number of leaves per shoot is similar and each shoot is able to provide for its own fruit then it is easier to optimise our yields) ; trimming greatly benefits fruit set ; removing excessive foliage significantly reduces disease pressure, especially Botrytis ; perhaps most importantly opening up the fruit zone improves sunlight to the developing grapes, aids the movement of air through the vines, and reduces humidity. The combination of all these will help us to achieve our main ambition, which is to produce a clean, healthy, disease free, quality crop.


In addition to trimming the vines we have now installed the post and wirework for our new vines which were planted in May 2022.


Our shop is open every weekend and our 2020 Sparkling Wine is selling like the proverbial hot cakes !  It is proving extremely popular as a refreshing antidote to a hot Summer’s evening so why not pop along and treat yourself to a bottle or two … we always love seeing you.


Kind Regards


Jonathan

jcdeeley@godstonevineyards.com

Jonathan’s Vineyard Blog - September 2025

By GODSTONE • September 4, 2025
The four months of the year which end in ‘ber’ are now upon us which means that Michaelmas Day (September 29th) is only three weeks away. Folklore claimed that if a north wind blew on Michaelmas Day the month of October would be sunny and fine although make the most of it because fine weather on Saint Denis’s Day (October 9th) indicates a hard winter ahead! The sayings below are my personal favourites : “Dew in the night, next day will be bright” “Grey mists at dawn, the day will be warm” “Rain before seven, fine before eleven” “Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight, red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning” In an age where for most of us the first port of call for a weather forecast is an app on our mobiles, these sayings often stand the test of time! At the time of writing we do not have a definite harvest date and we continue to monitor levels of sugar and acidity every other day in the hope of arriving at the perfect day for picking! Last year the starlings treated our grapes as an open buffet so we are praying that we can avoid a repeat. We are now open every Saturday between midday and 4pm and, as always, would love to see you. Kind Regards Jonathan

Jonathan’s Vineyard Blog - August 2025

By GODSTONE • August 4, 2025
The weather has turned unsettled since I wrote to you in July and, after four very dry months, we have returned to a more typical mixture of sunshine and showers. At this stage in their development our grapes would prefer settled weather and certainly more sunshine than rainfall. Fingers crossed we are on course for a decent harvest however there are still a few months to go until picking ! We will soon commence Brix testing of the grapes in order to attempt a prediction of the likely harvest date - at present I would say that mid October is looking realistic for our Seyval Blanc. If you wish to know everything there is to know about Brix testing then click on this link ! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brix I have some good news about our opening days for the vineyard - we intend to open most Saturdays from September onwards; I will confirm this once everything is set in stone. It’s been a long time coming and we are keen to find a “new normal” for Godstone Vineyards. In the meantime we are open over the August Bank Holiday (except Monday) and if you would like to join us please register your interest - free of charge - via the links below: Saturday 23rd August https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1250420835379?aff=oddtdtcreator Sunday 24th August https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1521889585719?aff=oddtdtcreator Kind Regards Jonathan