Another pruning session with Andrew

Monday we met Andrew for a session of summer pruning. The goal was to reduce the foliage to allow the sunlight on and to reduce the bunches of grapes if they are growing too close together pr too many bunches to be effectively sustained. We also wanted to nop the tip growth leaving three leaves after the grape bunches to sustain them. 

We removed a lot of foliage. Andrew said we need to see the sky from below our vines. Then the grapes will too. Once again, we learned a lot. 

in

Waiting for the flower show

 

Rondo

We've been waiting for the flowers to open, but nothing has yet. Today was a gorgeous day, and the weekend is going to be really nice, so I expect we will get flowers sometime in the next two days. 

The exciting part is that the Pinot Noir has bunches forming for the first time. Whether they can reach ripeness remains to be seen. But when climate change reaches 2C above the LTA, we'll be ready, or rather, our vines will be.  

We have strated pruning but I have to stop Alex from taking too much off. He keeps trying to remove all but one bunch per branch. That's what Andrew was on to him about at the last session but he keeps drifting to this notion that he needs to cut it all off. 

Pinot Noir. 

Pinot Noir looking healthy. 

Meanwhile in the polytunnel things are humming along. The grapes that were supposed to be Vanessa but are concord are progressing rapidly. The Albarino grapes on the plant by the potting bench are looking very good. The Black Hamburg are still tiny. 

Ireland's Wine Scene

This very interesting but somewhat controversial article about viticulture in Ireland appeared in the Financial Times. At least they are starting to pay attention to Ireland as a serious entry into the winemaking arena. 

https://as.ft.com/r/f6cac515-8406-4a48-bb94-2c5fa601d502 

Despite our changeable and unfavourable weather, the vines have been advancing. They are reaching the point where pruning will be essential. We've had quite a bit of wind and several vines are swinging wildly, so we'll have to go up tomorrow to secure them. 

Meanwhile, the roses are stunning this year as are just about all other flowering trees, shrubs and plants. Alex has managed to get a wildflower meadow going under the trees of the orchard, and the wildflowers are all congregating there of their own volition. Even orchids and yellow rattle have taken hold.

Monthly climate data

 

The numbers are in for May, and it was drier than normal but not as dry as 2023 and 2024. The temperature was in tune with the LTA. Curiously, the soil temperature was cooler than last year but in keeping with the previous two years. The number of Degree Days Below 15.5 Degree Celsius was 111 compared to 85 for the LTA. That beach weather towards the end of May really skewed the numbers. 
Degree days measure the demand for energy needed to heat or cool a building, calculated by how much the day's average temperature deviates from a standard baseline (usually \(65F or 18.5C). They accumulate over time. There can be more degree days than days in a month because degree days measure the total temperature difference accumulated across the month, not just the number of days.

Monthly values for NEWPORT up to 31-May-2026

Total rainfall in millimetres for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2026	162.7	133.9	168.7	129.8	71.6	n/a							666.7
2025	105.0	112.4	59.3	102.8	88.2	153.8	130.0	148.2	214.9	186.4	207.8	164.2	1673.0
2024	125.7	197.5	152.5	119.4	48.8	80.7	80.8	257.5	44.1	150.7	143.3	173.7	1574.7
2023	183.2	91.6	188.4	121.1	48.5	77.9	206.8	139.8	142.4	144.7	209.6	293.8	1847.8
LTA	166.4	146.6	129.0	98.0	99.2	93.5	111.6	133.0	131.8	153.9	180.9	190.7	1634.6

Mean temperature in degrees Celsius for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2026	5.7	7.1	8.3	10.1	12.4	n/a							8.7
2025	6.0	7.1	8.9	11.6	14.0	14.9	16.5	16.7	13.3	11.7	8.8	7.6	11.5
2024	6.1	7.9	7.9	9.9	13.1	12.9	14.9	14.9	13.6	11.8	9.2	8.2	10.9
2023	6.6	8.0	7.6	9.9	13.3	17.4	14.9	15.8	15.2	11.9	8.7	7.9	11.4
LTA	6.3	6.4	7.5	9.5	12.0	14.2	15.5	15.5	13.8	11.1	8.5	6.7	10.6

Mean 10cm soil temperature for NEWPORT at 0900 UTC

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2026	4.8	6.4	7.7	9.9	13.4	n/a							8.5
2025	5.1	6.0	8.1	10.9	15.4	16.3	17.8	17.5	13.9	12.1	8.9	6.9	11.6
2024	4.2	6.5	6.5	9.5	13.6	14.4	15.8	15.4	13.7	11.2	8.9	7.2	10.6
2023	5.2	6.8	6.6	9.1	13.7	18.6	16.3	16.3	14.7	11.1	7.6	6.7	11.1
LTA	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Global Solar Radiation in Joules/cm2 for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2026	6741	9232	23734	39941	51760	n/a							131408
2025	7308	11955	25430	44615	64505	45465	47402	38468	29164	11727	7736	4441	338216
2024	7248	12401	23032	39685	47333	50366	49632	38203	31451	16628	6586	4121	326686
2023	6245	10639	21429	37277	55732	58473	41797	36857	29338	16225	8326	4411	326749
LTA	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Potential Evapotranspiration (mm) for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2026	11.3	17.5	37.0	62.0	77.3	n/a							205.1
2025	12.9	22.0	39.5	70.1	100.3	76.4	80.3	68.6	45.4	28.0	13.9	15.1	572.5
2024	15.4	18.2	36.0	56.9	74.7	76.7	80.9	60.8	49.0	27.6	14.2	15.6	526.0
2023	14.3	20.9	33.0	56.4	83.3	100.6	70.1	64.4	50.1	26.1	14.2	14.7	548.1
LTA	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Evaporation (mm) for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2026	15.1	24.2	53.8	89.3	111.8	n/a							294.2
2025	17.1	30.5	55.3	97.0	139.0	107.8	110.6	94.7	64.1	37.1	18.2	18.6	790.0
2024	20.2	25.4	51.9	83.7	104.9	109.8	112.6	88.3	67.8	37.5	18.4	20.0	740.5
2023	18.8	28.2	47.6	81.6	118.2	137.1	99.5	89.1	67.8	35.5	18.4	19.0	760.8
LTA	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Degree Days Below 15.5 Degree Celsius for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2026	305	234	224	167	111	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2025	294	235	205	132	82	49	23	21	76	121	201	246	1685
2024	293	221	234	169	91	89	45	41	77	117	191	228	1796
2023	275	210	246	171	85	18	39	26	53	118	203	237	1681

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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 1991-2020.
Data updated daily at Mid-day.
To view the Weather Events for Public Works Contracts data, select a station first, then click the link just below the map.