Rondo still not ready

A Brix reading of 15 by refractometer

I took Brix readings of the Rondo grapes this afternoon and the results are not encouraging. The first reading was just 15° Brix (SG 1.060) and the second was 19.2° (SG 1.080). 

The Brix measurement of a liquid fluctuates according to temperature. The Brix of a cold sample will measure higher than the same sample at room temperature. Therefore, our Brix is likely lower than my readings taken at 13.9C degrees as the device is calibrated to 20C. 

The highest temperature yesterday was 15.7C and today it's not made it past 14.2C with a northerly breeze. The temperature dropped to 12.1C overnight. With the days getting shorter, no sunshine and cold temps, it's not looking like we'll get into the 20s. We'll have to harvest and fortify with sugar. Not sure how to do those calculations so I've a new thing to learn again this year. 

Brix can be expressed as a percentage of sugar in the liquid. For instance, if a juice measures 20° Brix, that means the juice is 20% fermentable sugar. Although defined specifically as percent sugar (sucrose), all dissolved solids in the juice affect the Brix measurement.

How much sugar should you add to grape juice that already has 15 grams sugar per 100 ml, to ferment to make wine? When sugar ferments, roughly half becomes alcohol and the other half becomes carbon dioxide. So your 15g of sugar will make approximately 7.5 g of alcohol in 100 g (100 ml) of wine, giving a wine of around 7.5% alcohol. If you want to make a wine with 12% alcohol, you will need another 9 g of sugar per 100ml. You can get technical with molecular weights and so on or you can get a hydrometer and just add enough sugar to get a sensible starting gravity.

The Pinot Noir grapes are tiny hard balls not even close to veraison, so I think that's a fail for this year. Who knows what next year will bring.  At least the Solaris is bubbling away, which is very encouraging for the fermentation. My yeast was still good. 

Even the cat doesn't want to be outside today. 

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. 

Welsh Solaris receives a 98 from Decanter

A vineyard in Wales 'Gwinllan Conwy Vineyard' scored a 98 from Decanter World Wine Awards for their Solaris 2019. I wish we had known about this vineyard when we visited Conwy a couple of years ago. That score won them the bronze medal in the prestigious competition in 2021. It builds on medals won recently at the International Wine Challenge (IWC) for their Pefriog and Solaris products. 

Montgomery Vineyard, also in Wales, produces high-quality Rondo red and pink. Their 2018 Sparkling White Seyval Blanc won a Silver medal in the IWC, with 90 points. They also make a Seyval and Solaris mix, and a Pinot Noir. Their sparkling rosé 2017 won the best wine in Wales and their still rosé, red and white wines have also received top accolades.

White Castle Vineyard won an IWC silver medal and a gold in the Decanter World Wine Awards 2021 for its 2018 Pinot Noir Reserve. Their Siegerrebe 2021 white took silver in the WineGB Awards 2022.

In fact, there are almost 30 vineyards in Wales now. Most are in South Wales but a few are in the North.  As far back as 2012, a wine from the Ancre Hill Estate in Monmouthshire, one of few vineyards in the UK using biodynamic growing, was voted the best sparkling wine in the world at the Bollicine del Mondo International Competition in Italy.

What is truly fascinating is that almost all started with Rondo and Solaris and soon moved on to other grapes, in particular Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Maybe we're not so crazy after all? What has me confused is the Ancre Hill Estates Orange Wine is mostly Albariño but why is it orange? 

So if they can make great wines in Wales, we should be able to do the same in Ireland!

What a day for a bud burst!

Magical Clew Bay

It's gorgeous out at the moment. We're just getting over Covid, and it's a perfect spring day. I was able to walk to the top of the farm without a problem, so I'd say I'm pretty clear of debilitating symptoms. Ghosty walked all the way up with me without complaining. She loves this weather, too. Her whiteness really stands out up here. The northerly gales we had this year really did a number on the shrubs at the top and most of the gorse died back. I'm glad the vineyard is south facing and protected. 

On the way down, I inspected the vines and noted bud burst on both the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but not on the Albarino. I was, however, gratified to see that most of the Albarino vines seem to be alive. Why they are so slow to get going I don't know. 

Pinot Noir

Chardonnay

Albarino

6 yo Solaris

6 yo Rondo

4 yo Solaris

The orchard has come alive, too, with the pears and cherries in bloom. The apples, plum and peach are just starting to think about it. But the fruit trees in the polytunnel are cranking. I'll have three peaches this year, and a mango finally germinated! Very weird-looking plant. The avocado is growing well, the second peach and the apple are flourishing, and the lemon and orange trees are flowering like crazy. The kiwis are growing fast as is the grapevine. Can't wait. So promising. 

Maggie

Fogbank in the distance

See the USA...

Rondo bud break

We took our first trip to the US in several years last week. Bizarre travelling again. Just 7 days but packed with activities, including renewing my US driving license, fixing a bank account's data and seeing the cherry trees in bloom in DC. 

Upon return, one of the first things I did was water in the polytunnel and check the vineyard. I was astounded at the changes since we left, despite some rather cold and blustery weather, with F11 wind last night. We flew in with 40-knot gusts buffeting the place but the pilots did very well. 

Bud burst with the Rondo is well underway. The Solaris is slightly behind, with the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir trailing well behind and the Albarino looking sickly. 

Solaris

Chardonnay

Pinot Noir

Albarino, but it's the only one

The fruit trees are well underway to flowering and leafing. Let the Spring begin. 

Cherry blossoms in the USA capital, Washington DC.