Jonathan’s Vineyard Blog - October 2024

GODSTONE • October 10, 2024

I regret to inform my loyal readers that, for only the second time in our history, there will be no harvest at Godstone in 2024 (2012 was the other year). We have, with heavy hearts, raised the white flag after an unforgiving climatic year which culminated in sustained crop damage caused by starlings, pigeons, badgers, and pheasants.


The weather in 2024 has, for vines and many other crops, been horrendous - hereunder is a recap of what we have endured thus far:


  • Spring 2024:
  • March - cold and very wet
  • April - cold
  • May - warm and very wet
  • Conclusion - triple the long-term average monthly Spring rainfall.
  • Summer 2024:
  • June & July - below average temperatures
  • August - slightly above average temperatures
  • Conclusion - the coolest Summer in South East England since 2015 with average rainfall.
  • Autumn 2024:
  • Unrelenting rainfall making disease control almost impossible (at the time of writing it shows no signs of relenting).


Many people are asking me where the most damage occurred and the answer is the Spring - a brief period of warmth encouraged the vines to open their buds only for this to prove a false dawn as a band of very cold nights descended upon the vineyard and caused significant bud damage. The buds which survived were then faced with biblical rainfall during the flowering period which resulted in very low fruit set.


We spent the Summer nurturing the remaining bunches of grapes in the hope that a crop could be salvaged but all to no avail, anything that survived the elements was eaten by ravenous birds!


It’s been one of those years and, of course, immensely disappointing; however I have learnt many valuable lessons which will be implemented from next year and - thankfully - we have sufficient wines in store from the years of bounty to see us through a desperate one such as 2024.


Thank you for all your kind words of support and we hope to see you at the vineyard either on October 26th or in early December.


Jonathan

(The image above shows the combined effects of botrytis - caused by the incessant rain - and bird damage from starlings and pigeons)

Saturday the 26th of October 2024

Join Us For Our Autumn Celebration

Our boutique vineyard will be open for wine sales, walks around the vineyard, carefully curated platters, and hot food options.

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