The pruning of the vines has begun

 

The weather has become stable and we had a cold snap, so it was time to start pruning. We need to finish by mid-January. I started with the easy vines - the 2 yo Pinot Noir and the 3 yo Chardonnay. I finished those two before it started to rain again. 

Alex tackled the 6 yo Rondo and Solaris vines, which required much more severe pruning. He's doing a nice job, cutting back to a point that will become more productive for us next year. 

Ghost naturally had to help and Mini supervised from a distance. 

It will take a few days to finish the task, but I am not concerned about getting it done before January 22. 

One of my Christmas presents from Alex was a tool for tying up vines. It took a bit of practice to get it to work. Another present was a wildlife camera which I have wanted for some time. On this first night of using it, I managed to snag great photos of a fox. Foxy has been spotted in day time before. Tonight, I'm hoping to catch sight of a pine marten. Then I will move the camera to the vineyard to see if we can spot the badger and see what else lurks in the darkness. 

I gave Alex a gift of red Viking Irish wine made by David Dennison in Waterford. His first vintage is a blend of Rondo, Regent and Pinot Noir. Very encouraging. 

It was a somewhat festive Christmas despite the rampant spread of the Omicron variant of Covid. Everyone we know was either sick or a close contact of a confirmed case. Knock on wood, we've managed to escape so far. With our booster shot delivered two weeks ago, we should be okay through New Year's Day at least. 

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Winter Solstice

Polytunnel Christmas Tree

I am so excited. Tomorrow marks the day when days start getting longer again. The Winter Solstice on the 21st of December is always the great turning point for me. It's the shortest day of the year delivering only 7:23:41 of daylight. I go from wondering if I'll be able to make it through the winter to looking forward to the grand stretch in the day. 

This year, once again, with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus spreading around the world like wildfire, they are live streaming sunrise from Newgrange today, tomorrow and the day after but not allowing any visitors in. Today, the forecast is for dense fog on the east coast. No luck with the light. 

We've had grey greyness for days now and will have it tomorrow, too. Wednesday and Thursday we are to have heavy rain. Then nice on Christmas Eve and a gale on Christmas day. Alex and I are on duty Christmas Day at Ross House so we'd be inside all day anyway.

I will start pruning in the new year. I've been reading up on new thinking about pruning. It seems some say to do a partial pruning as normal but to leave more vine until March or after bud break to prune as that will delay bud break and avoid frost damage. It's a method that may mitigate the effects of climate change. I don't think we can afford that given our short season, especially given that the result was lower sugar content. 

For now, it's just confusion about everything in life. At least we got our tree up. And the one at Ross and the one on the raft in the inlet. Three trees in two days -- a record of sorts. Oh, and a little artificial one in the polytunnel because we happen to have three of them. 

So, Happy Christmas everyone! We'll see you again after. 

Rosnakilly Raft Tree

Our tree

Ross House Tree