Vineyard cats

Her Ghostliness getting a better view. 

Every day, Ghost and I visit the vineyard to see what has come alive. We are eagerly awaiting bud burst of the final varietal, Albarino. Sometimes, Cinco and or Louise come along as well, meandering through the tall grass. 

So far, the bud burst has been remarkably early compared with last year. Here's the score:

• CHARDONNAY: 13/4/2021
• SOLARIS: 9/4/2021
• PINOT NOIR: 7/4/2021
• RONDO: 5/4/2021

I've been dutifully reporting it on the UK Vineyards Report only to learn that they are not tracking it this year. Oh well. 

Louise and Ghost on patrol

Cinco likes to just hang out

Getting close to bud burst awfully early

Snow (#sniachta) on Croagh Patrick, bees active in the hive, cat climbing trees, vineyard coming to life. Things are happening in County Mayo. Disappointingly, the Albarino are the only vines that don't look good. 

Snow on Croagh Patrick

Beehive with thyme growing below to discourage varroa and Ghost

Cat in favourite tree

Native black honeybee

Rondo

Rondo

Solaris

Chardonnay

Solaris

Solaris

Solaris

Pinot noir

Albarino

A live looking Albarino vine

 

Native black honeybee

Bud burst bonanza

Pinot Noir bud burst 15-04-2020

Yesterday, the wind went to the south and suddenly our temperatures skyrocketed. We went from winter coats, hats and gloves two days ago to shorts and T-shirts yesterday. Sure enough, we documented bud burst on all varietals planted in our vineyard.

I thought the Rondo looked questionable when Alex took the photo in the morning. When I went into the vineyard to recheck in the afternoon, it had definitely burst. The Chardonnay plants are not looking great and 2 look very questionable. The Albarino are all alive but the buds on them are tiny. Miniscule to be exact. I wonder if the leaves will grow to normal size or not.

I'm really surprised but pleased at how good the Pinot Noir vines look. They are very robust and have substantial buds.

Today the winds have gone northerly again and we're back to very chilly but sunny weather. It has not rained in days and we've been watering the garden but not the vineyard. It's supposed to warm up against tomorrow and rain is forecast for tomorrow night. Let's hope for the best.

Chardonnay bud burst 15-04-2020

Albarino bud burst 15-04-2020 

Rondo bud burst 15-04-2020

Wine tasting in Galicia

Carolina and Maria arranged for us to taste some wines that Paco & Lola produces that we might not have experienced yet. We started with the Follas Novas which predates the Paco & Lola brand. It's the wine that the growers are fond of and true to. It had an interesting zing to it. The Paco & Lola is smoother, less acidic. But it has a really interesting hint of nuttiness on my palate.

Last planting of the season

Today, we awoke to brilliant sunshine and, hopefully, one of the last times we will be changing the clocks. So, we grabbed the remaining Albarino vines, some shovels, gloves, and knee pads, and headed into the vineyard to plant them. The buds were growing and it was time. Alex had pre-dug the holes. He distributed the vines as I got to work.

Spring is trying, then retreating

Several weeks ago it was warm enough to be out in T-shirts. Alex noted that the new chardonnay vines were sprouting and quickly planted them out in the field. Then he planted out the Pinot vines. There is still a batch of Albarino bare root vines that are heeled in to plant and trellises to build. But he was off buying cattle for his mother today so it will have to wait. Tomorrow, we're doing a webinar about sailing in Galicia, so it will have to wait again. Oh well, we have a few days open next week I think.

The bumblebees were out in force, feeding on the heather during the good weather. I counted 13 queens on one bush one day, mostly Bombus leucorum. It was good to hear their buzzing in the garden. The heather bush was the first thing I had planted when we were building the house. So glad I did. But I was also glad to learn that grapevines are not dependent on bees for pollination. The news about the collapse of the insect populations last week was alarming. More about that another day.

The new layout

As the Solaris is doing well, we should have a grape crop in 2019 with which to attempt winemaking. The Rondo is also doing well but not as well as the Solaris. We should also have some red to experiment with. The Chardonnay did well enough to consider expanding production in the future.

We've decided to introduce Albarino, our favorite white wine from the coastal Rias of  northwestern Spain. So Albarino and Solaris will be our white wine crops.

Alex wanted more red, so we will introduce Pinot noir, a short season grapevine with growing requirements in the same range as Chardonnay. That will be our new experimental crop.

We, therefore, will have three experimental and two staple crops.  It's amazing how fast five years can go by.

About Albariño

Most Vitis vinifera cultivars are hardy in Zones 6 or 7, meaning healthy vines can survive temperatures from zero to minus 10°F. The European Union has grouped wine production not by hardiness but by three major categories: A, B and C with C subdivided into four subregions. Zone A is the coldest and it's where Ireland would fall into. Zone C is the warmest and C I and C II is where northern Spain fits.

Our trip to Galicia Spain, home of albarino wines

Alex and I spent two months cruising on our boat in the northwest region of Spain this summer. It was a remarkable trip for so many reasons. First, the Rias Baixas in the region south of Finisterre are a superb cruising area, with multiple Rias or inlets that have an interesting coastline, lovely old villages and towns, beautiful barrier islands, the best seafood in the world, temperate weather, and fine wines. Oh, and it's not very expensive.