Jonathan’s Vineyard Blog - October
In the vineyard year there are two months which consistently give me sleepless nights:
May, due to the threat of a late frost, and October, due to the prospect of wet weather and bird damage.
An English autumn is to be treasured for many reasons, whether it be the turning colours of leaves, the heavy dews of mornings, or the mellowness of late afternoons. However it poses several challenges for a vineyard : firstly, a wet period of weather between September and mid October will significantly increase the risk of botrytis (grey mould, bunch rot), a fungal disease which in the worst case scenario renders entire bunches of grapes unsuitable to wine making ; secondly, bird damage - it’s an open secret that our winged friends enjoy nothing more than the taste of sweet ripening grapes, and at Godstone we lose a significant percentage of our harvest every year to the resident population of pheasants, who quite literally walk up and down the rows of vines and eat the grapes which hang from low branches !
Positive hope.
In my next blog I will report upon this year’s harvest and I hope and pray that the conclusion of what has been a challenging year for businesses up and down the length and breadth of Britain will be a positive one for our vineyard.
In the meantime thank you for continuing to support your local vineyard, we are open every weekend and we always love seeing you.
