Brits shifting to new varieties

Chardonnay grapes
BerndtF, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons

Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are among the grapes being cultivated in England with notable success. Pinot gris (Pinot grigio) is another. Lesser-known varieties like Pinot Meunier are also making it to the table, taking the British still wine production out of the white and into the red realm. And short-season varieties like Madeline Angevine and Baccus may be worth trying.  This is very encouraging as it means we were on the right track. Here are a few new varieties highlighted by Decanter. And I definitely want to sample the Bolney Wine Estate Pinot gris.

And then there's also Sweden which is coming along fast as a wine-producing region. A fine place to make ice wine. They grow mainly Solaris and Rondo, which we know all about. And they make the point that their grapes get a long day of sunlight up there, as do we. Let's hope for a good season. 

Alex and I both had some respiratory illness over Christmas, most likely RSV by the symptoms, so we're ending the year with a bummer, but we'll be getting out into the vineyard as soon as it clears up. Time to start pruning.  

I hope you all had a good Christmas, and here's to hoping for a much-improved year in 2023. 

Our dormant vineyard last week

Views from the top of our hill. 

Woohoo, Taittinger has bought land in England.

Taittinger have expanded production to some 6,000,000 bottles and bought land in England to cope with a warming world. I think we're onto something here.

This winter is really much warmer and wetter here. I'm afraid that the grape vines, which I have not yet pruned, will come alive and won't be exposed to the necessary cold. I'm planning to prune between Christmas and New Year. But so many plants have started growing again, including the grass. It has rained unrelentingly for weeks. This week is the first decent weather we've had in recent memory.

Any way, Champagne is a blend of chardonnay and pinot varieties. We woudn't be able to call it champagne but who cares. Prosecco is doing just fine. Let's invent a new bubbly name. Hmmmm.

Happy Christmas to all. I'll try to post again soon on progress with pruning.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-12-22/taittinger-champagne-in-photos