Showing posts with label trellis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trellis. Show all posts

Monday 15 August 2022

Heat wave - again!


It's Monday the 15th and the heat wave has finally broken. It was hot, dry and still. We had at least 5 days (more I think) in the high 20s and on Thursday, the thermometer in my car read 30C as I drove home from Old Head and Louisburg. I had lunch at Tia by the Sea and walked the beach at Old Head. I was very glad to have air conditioning in my car. The heat broke the old record high when it topped 37.5C in Carlow. That's hot. 

Newport Furnace registered a high of 28.5C for the week on Friday. It was scorching. Everyone says now that it's climate change but Alex remembers summers like this in the '70s when he had to ferry jerry cans of water to the islands for the cattle. We've had no rain for ages and the grapevines are parched and getting burnt by the sun. 

The Rondo is already starting to turn colour. That would make it a very early veraison. We have quite a few Pinot Noir vines producing clusters so that's very interesting. Many vines have already reached their max height. We may have a taste of Chardonnay. We'll have very little Solaris, the grape we planted the most of. 

The work on the main structure of the trellis is done and now you can actually see the trellis from the road. Alex still has to put the wires in, but that he can do over the winter. No rush to do it now as we will just be pruning the vines all back to the main trunk. It really does look like a vineyard. 

Cahill did a lovely job and even levelled out a seating area in the top corner. It will be excellent for wine tastings someday if we make it that far. 

Ghostie christening the picnic spot

Telephone poles and steel cross beams are in

Land above cleared and leveled for safety

Now we need the support wires

It's looking like a vineyard

Looking toward the picnic spot

Lovely views

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir suffering in heat

Rondo starting veraison

Rondo turning red



Monday 8 August 2022

Poles are in


It looks like we have planted a field full of telephone poles, which will serve as the uprights in our trellis arrangement for the vineyard. The vines are doing well and it is encouraging that we have not only Rondo but also a few Chardonnay and Pinot Noir clusters. The Pinot Noir is surprising as this is only their third season. The Albarino aren't even considering it yet. And the Solaris is seriously disappointing again. 

I am concerned about this week's heat wave and lack of rain. An entire week of near 25C temperatures and no rain. That could put a serious damper on grape development. Although the heat might help and there is water below the surface as we saw in the holes that were dug. Fingers crossed. 


Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir 

Chardonnay

Chardonnay

Rondo

Rondo

Solaris

Erecting telephone pole uprights

What the entire vineyard will look like eventually. 




Tuesday 2 August 2022

July weather


So July ended with the same rainfall as last year but 1.6 degrees cooler. Note that August 1, in one day, we had almost as much rain as we had the entire month of July. That's caused the grapes to swell rather quickly and they are noticeably bigger today than on Saturday. 


Meanwhile, Cathal Keane has arrived to begin work on the construction of the trellis structure that will support the remaining vines as they mature. Today, he is digging the holes for the uprights -- telephone poles discarded as they are replaced in our area. Tomorrow, they begin cementing in the poles in the holes. It's a big job. 




Monthly values for NEWPORT up to 01-aug-2022

Total rainfall in millimetres for NEWPORT

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
202298.8260.467.884.0107.0148.059.247.5872.7
2021225.6147.6141.145.6113.564.159.7155.6137.0265.7183.3186.61725.4
2020139.5342.8178.225.554.7164.5187.9137.9153.4228.0206.6232.72051.7
2019146.8115.0228.5100.7112.576.682.7228.9175.5160.7148.1220.61796.6
LTA166.7126.5141.296.894.789.7100.9132.5131.5176.0170.4180.21607.1

Mean temperature in degrees Celsius for NEWPORT

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
20227.27.18.09.912.613.815.915.010.7
20215.06.77.99.010.413.317.516.415.211.99.37.610.9
20207.26.06.611.012.813.814.416.013.810.59.16.110.6
20196.98.47.910.211.713.116.315.513.710.37.17.110.7
LTA6.16.17.39.011.513.815.415.413.510.88.36.510.3

Mean 10cm soil temperature for NEWPORT at 0900 UTC

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
20226.26.26.39.313.214.816.8n/a10.4
20213.65.06.88.210.914.317.916.315.211.38.66.610.4
20205.74.75.49.713.014.814.916.313.79.58.05.110.1
20196.16.16.88.912.213.816.715.713.59.46.25.610.1
LTAn/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a

Global Solar Radiation in Joules/cm2 for NEWPORT

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
20226311107563339940555515694724648439393238668
2021662013347203704569455690454884945540490224131635872353780326940
2020626310808245454619258476435374021540555255581848763195209326164
2019537810595213063764849884496074539537116264601740681674766313728
LTAn/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a

Potential Evapotranspiration (mm) for NEWPORT

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
202213.723.047.260.677.776.080.41.2379.8
20217.622.930.762.976.370.787.867.538.325.114.114.6518.5
202017.621.935.070.291.672.966.266.442.728.113.610.4536.6
201913.421.535.460.479.078.279.562.942.829.214.814.3531.4
LTAn/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a

Evaporation (mm) for NEWPORT

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
202217.932.466.586.8114.5109.2111.11.6540.0
202110.932.145.489.9111.2102.0117.293.552.134.718.619.1726.7
202022.431.951.898.9130.8104.894.392.759.138.818.113.6757.2
201917.729.552.087.3111.6112.8109.688.859.939.618.917.9745.6
LTAn/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a

Degree Days Below 15.5 Degree Celsius for NEWPORT

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2022256234235171976330N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
2021325247236200167792023401141872451883
2020257276275143111735531711561932911935
2019266200235165130892736671642512621892

Notes on the Data

Evaporation and PE data are calculated using Penman/Monteith formulae.
The ‘LTA’ (referred to within a table) is average for the climatological long-term-average (LTA) reference period 1981-2010.
Data updated daily at Mid-day.

Cumulative Rainfall Graphs

Temperature Departures from LTA