Two weeks and what a difference

Rondo grapes

In the last two weeks*, we've had an unusual pattern of weather when a low centred itself over Ireland, specifically over Dingle, and vacillated back and forth over the island creating heavy rains and strong winds North and South, and a changeable pattern over us. We went from rain showers to sunshine several times a day, and the grapes responded. They've started to swell and the vines have started to grow.

Tomorrow I will stake myself in the vineyard with my secateurs and start trimming away the leaves obscuring the bunches and the stray shoots whilst securing the main shoots to the overhead trellises. We do love the trellises, walking under them and gazing up into the sunlit leaves and grapes. For some reason, the red vines are more productive than the white vines. But there is still time and hope.

The arbour

More Rondo

Solaris grapes

*This was supposed to be published two weeks ago but I forgot to press Publish after saving.

No joy

We were away for several weeks during a period when we hoped there would be little vineyard work required. When we came home, we thought we'd see major progress. But disappointment came quickly. Not only did the vines not grow as much as everything else, especially the very robust weeds, but the grapes were also underdeveloped for the time of the season. The grapes we had seen in Spain more than a month ago were far more robust than ours were now. The flowers had set and there were grape buds, but I certainly wouldn't call them grapes.

The weather while we were gone was a healthy mix of rain and sun, so we were quite hopeful. The data from Met Eireann shows the same pattern as last year for July.  But it doesn't look like we'll get anything like a substantial harvest by mid-September. Perhaps there was not enough rain. Perhaps not enough heat. Perhaps the vines will produce for future generations. Who knows?

https://www.met.ie/climate/available-data/monthly-data

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.

Visiting Vineyards in Galicia

Diego, Carolina, Maria, and Alex 

We had a fabulous day visiting vineyards that belong to the cooperative of Paco & Lola. Diego is the man in charge of Viticultura for the coop. He visits all the vineyards, manages the disease and pest control, decides when to harvest, and maintains relationships with all the growers. What a delightful and knowledgeable man. He loved that someone was interested in the vines and not just the wines.

Paco & Lola - a truly inspiring coop

We took the opportunity while sailing in Galicia to visit the Paco & Lola vineyards and winery which is only about 6 km from Sanxenxo which has a big marina. We tied Aleria up the night before, had a lovely meal in town with a delicious house Albariño wine, mussels, langoustines and oyster mushrooms fried in a light batter. We had an entertaining young waiter trying out his English to boot. Overall fun.

Vineyard pals

Vineyard cats: Mini on the right and Cinquo, the white splotch on the left.
Itsy invisible dozing in deep grass.

It was a beautiful day yesterday so I took some time to tie up the 2-y-o vines to the poles Alex erected and to pull and tramp down the grass around the vines. We lost 4 Solaris vines, two to the power scythe and two to unknown causes. We're not going to worry about them. I was supervised in my duties by three vineyard cats and nine donkeys in the field next door. Cinquo, Mini and Itsy have taken up residence in the sheltered vineyard grounds, and the Inishturkbeg rescue donkeys are grazing our fields for the summer.

Flowering has begun

Flower clusters on Rondo vines

Well, May was a strange month. Much cooler than normal. Only 11.7°C degrees mean air temperature compared with the three prior years being about 13°C. And whereas it started out dryer, it ended wetter at 112.5 mm compared with 60-70 mm in the last three years. These values are reported for Newport, only 7 miles away and on the water much like we are.