Digging ditches

 

With the heavy rains we'd been having the last couple of winters, the donkey stable was soggy for prolonged periods. The water was even flowing over the wall and into our neighbour's yard. So Alex had the idea of digging new ditches across and down the length of our land. The field behind the shed will empty into the ditch that runs along the bottom of the vineyard. The ditch along the western perimeter will empty at the bottom. 

The flexible pipe we had installed along the perimeter had succumbed after years of compression. The new pipes are metal sewer pipes which should hold up better. 

Needless to say, the whole yard being dug up with heavy digger tracks all over is distressing. I bought lawn seed to scatter right away, but it certainly won't replace the lawn in time for winter. 

There will be a new gate in the middle of the donkey field with a berm planted with a blackthorn hedge and fencing either side of it. I suppose it will look nice eventually. 

It appears that harvest of the grapes may take place quite early this year. The Rondo are progressing quite rapidly. Need to get more kites up and start bagging. The Solaris harvest may not be great as the grapes are remaining tiny and there's very little rain in the forecast. The Pinot Noir are maturing but still not changing colour. Will we get veraison as hoped? 

Solaris

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir

Rondo

Rondo

Spraying the vines for prevention of fungal diseases

Alex got his electric sprayer for towing behind the RTV and did his first round of the vineyard today. I was on duty to record the event. It looks fairly effective and certainly easier than carrying a backpack, which gets a bit more challenging in your 70s. He may have to raise the spray nozzles even higher. The width of the spray bar makes it awkward to negotiate turns, but it's doable. All organic, of course.

Vineyard layout update

 

Alex has updated his diagram of the vineyard plantings, which he does every year. He noted what we planted and when, who we bought it from, and what rootstock it is on. So this is the current layout. 

Alex has bought a sprayer that can be towed behind the RTV. He should have sprayed today but had to go down to Aleria to rewire the mast so they can step it. He modified the sprayer so that it would spray above his head and up at the vines. Pretty clever. 

Just as a note, we've got another heat wave underway this week. The continent is roasting, and we are pleasantly mild and sunny. I hope this means our Pinot Noir will turn colour and get ripe. The combination of concurrent La Niña and El Niño could do the trick. But we also have an almost total eclipse of the sun this week. It's hard to keep up. One thing we don't have enough of is rain. 

I harvested 2.6k of the concord-style grapes from the polytunnel and am making some cordial and jelly. It's dripping through the muslin bag as we speak, and it is so dark red it stained my hands. The Concord grape is a cultivar derived from the grape species Vitis labrusca (also known as fox grape) and is used mainly for wine and grape juice production. I do not believe it would make a good wine. None of the other grapes in the polytunnel are ripe yet. 

This weather is accelerating veraison of the Rondo. The Solaris not so much, and the grapes are quite small. We really could use some rain. I keep hoping for the Pinot Noir to show signs of colour change, but so far no joy. Not even looking at the Chardonnay. Compared with other fruit this year, the grapes are doing great. We have no raspberries, one or two apples, 5 crabapples, no currants (red or black), and few strawberries. 

Rondo

Solaris

Pinot Noir

Pinot leaves turning colour

The sheep fence is up. 

Crabapples

Veraison!

 

We hadn't checked in a few days — we were too busy pruning. To our surprise, Rondo has started changing colour — veraison has begun. The berries are looking good overall, but the vine growth is ridiculously vigorous. Side shoots have secondary berry clusters which I am removing. They won't mature but are sapping strength from the primary crop. 

This week's rain has caused the berries to start plumping up. Even the Pinot Noir grapes are swelling, but no sign of colour change. 

Even Pinot Noir is filling out. 

Lots of debris from pruning

Donkeys eyeing the noise being made next door

Neighbour is putting in a new fence

Lots of sheep with potential access to vineyard

Thunderstorm warnings

 

Apparently, we had thunderstorms overnight, but Alex and I slept through them, or maybe they skipped us. Nevertheless, we've got a T-storm warning today but no evidence of rain so far. The earth is parched and the rain whatever falls is not soaking down. Soil moisture deficits generally currently range from around 40mm to 85mm, with the driest conditions across the south and east.

Over the coming week, with some rain in the forecast, values will drop a little, but not very significantly.

Low rainfall in July

 

We knew it was dry. But July ended up with only 75.2 mm of rain compared with a LTA of 111.6 mm and 130 mm last year. It was comparable to what we had in 2024 (80.8 mm). The temperature in July was also considerably warmer at 16.8C compared with 15.5 LTA. Mean soil temperature at 18.2 was also the warmest it has been in the last four years. I still cannot access the Met Éireann data from my laptop, so I'll just provide the link here. 

The end of July

 

Alex and I have been pruning the vines which are growing incredibly vigorously. We can't keep up. As soon as we are done with a row, we have to start again. Both the Rondo and Solaris are growing like wild this year, but it looks like the Rondo will have a higher yield. Even the baby plants have a couple of bunches each. Nothing turning red yet, contrary to the winegrowers group. 

What's particularly interesting is the Pinot Noir this year. It's got our first real harvest developing. Not much on the Chardonnay. I would love to have ripe Pinot Noir to show. 

It's August bank holiday weekend, and Westport is a zoo. We're going to head over to Newport tomorrow for BBQ at Newport House and to partake of the Granuiale Festival. Three days of music and street stuff -- one day will be enough. 

Pinot Noir grapes

More Pinot Noir

Rondo on the 11 yo vines

Solaris

More Pinot

Baby Rondo