History of winemaking in Ireland

What an interesting surprise. I knew an article was going to be published as I did do an interview with the author, GABY GUEDEZ, but it was still quite a shock to scroll down and see myself quoted about growing grapes.... in an article entitled The Past, Present, and Future of Winemaking in Ireland. Gulp! Well, I'm in good company.

Particularly interesting was a reference to a study on The Feasibility of Ireland Becoming a Wine Producing Country Due To Climate Change published by the AcademicWino and written by James McWalter. His original blog post on his site no longer exists. He projects what will happen by 2030 and 2050 based on a metanalysis of the effects of climate change and suggests that Wexford is the place to watch for.

There's also a link to a Wine Goose Chase one-woman show about Ireland's role in the world of wine. We'll have to watch out for that, too.

Pergola in the making

The telephone pole support posts for the overhead pergolas for the first ten vines are in. Alex dug the holes, dragged the poles up the hill with a borrowed quad, and, with the help of a friend, righted the posts in the holes and cemented them in. They will be allowed to set for several days before the overhead poles are secured for the vines to be trained along them. This year, it will begin to look like a vineyard.

Soil structure

It's interesting that so many of the old prescriptive practices on soil and farm management are being debunked. It used to be that farmers were told they had to eliminate all weeds, till the soil annually to aerate it and fertilize routinely. Today we know, that tilling disturbs the natural soil structure, especially the mycorrhiza, and fertilization reduce mycorrhization. Using cover crops favours arbuscular mycorrhiza funghi. We are trying to disturb the soil as little as possible. We have also set aside swaths of land as a natural habitat to encourage wildflowers and grasses as well as insects and bees. It seems to be working.

Progress in the vineyard

Not only are the grapevines leafing and flowering nicely, but also the development of the vineyard itself - the trellises and supports for the vines - is progressing at a rapid pace and we are preparing to construct the overhead pergolas.

Spring has finally arrived

Rondo is most advanced

After weeks of cold dry weather, a few days of sprinkles was followed by a week of fine warm weather over Easter. Finally, the vines were ready to burst forth. All have done so now. The five-year-old Rondo and Solaris vines have leafed. The two-year-old Solaris vines have leafed. The Chardonnays are just beginning. The Pinot and Albariño vines have started leafing, too. There is life in the vineyard, and the donkeys are back in the field next door. Alex is preparing to erect the first of the overhead trellises and he has bought a gate wide enough to drive a tractor through. Thinking ahead.

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.

Brilliant day

3-y-o Solaris vine

We are experiencing an amazing weather week. No rain, light winds, and, today, brilliant sunshine. It was glorious. I walked up into the vineyard to check on progress as the plum and cherry trees are in full bloom already.  Lo and behold, although the 5-year-old vines had not yet leafed, the first leaves were unfurling on the three-year-old specimens. Interesting.