Session number three of our vine pruning workshop at Turlough House was again beneficial. We learned to pluck out the side shoots, remove any tendrils and late clusters, and snip the ends if needed. Then we tied up the vines that had come down from the supports because of the weight of the grapes.
The grape clusters are quite lovely. We'll have another session in August to remove leaves that are shading the grapes so they can get the full benefit of the sun as they ripen. You could really see the difference before and after.
Andrew gave Alex and me some rooted cuttings of a grape he thinks is a Teinturier, specifically Alicante Bouschet. Teinturier grapes are grapes whose skin, flesh and juice are red in colour due to anthocyanin pigments accumulating within the pulp of the grape berry itself.
Teinturier varieties, while containing a lot of colour, usually make special wines, perhaps due to a higher level of tannins, compounds structurally related to the anthocyanins. Many winemakers blend small volumes of teinturier juices into their wines to boost the colour, without dramatically impacting the taste. Andrew thinks they'd be an excellent complement to our Rondo. In addition, tenteurier grapes are useful in making red wines even when the juice is pressed immediately without the skins. So, a wine made in the rosé style from tenteurier grapes will be red rather than rosé. Grenache is a teinturier varietal.
Meanwhile, our friends Reg and Vicki Barker from Guernsey stopped in last week on their way up the west coast to Scotland. We opened a bottle of our 2024 Solaris, and they loved it. They are the first people we've shared one of our wines with. There is hope.
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| Tenteurier vines. |
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