Much overdue clean-up

We did a much overdue clean-up of the vineyard this week. The weather was remarkable (ie, no rain). The vines had grown exponentially after the last rain and they sort of got away from us. The Solaris in particular grew astronomically and the weight of the growth pulled down the primaries off the stakes. Luckily, none broke. But extracting the vines from each other proved a real challenge and it took me three days to extract, tie-up and stake the vines in the whole vineyard. Definitely worth the effort. Very zen-like activity. 

I managed to get all the vines lifted up off the ground in time for Alex to mow just as the rain started. More of a drizzle really. We really need some solid rain, but the forecast for the bank holiday weekend, which had promised rain for weeks, seems to have improved -- and not to our benefit. 

The Solaris have more grape clusters than I thought initially after I had a chance to see them clearly. I cut off the parts of the vine that were unproductive and unwieldy. The young Solaris from this year will be trained as mature. 

The young Chardonnay still have a ways to go, but the 5-year-olds are looking healthy. They do not have many clusters. 

I am still really encouraged by the Pinot Noir. That 3 yo vines are so healthy and vigorous is encouraging. 

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good tool for tying vines? Mine sucks.  

Last words...praying for rain! RIP James Lovelock. Gaia theory lives on!

Happy place. 

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!

Rain, finally!

I never thought I'd be hoping for it to rain in Ireland. But I have been. I've been watering the gardens daily over the past week but not the orchard or vineyard. It was getting might dry up there. Overnight, we got heavy rain -- 4.8 mm registered in Newport. It will continue to rain through tomorrow. Two days should hopefully make a big difference. 

And it's warm and humid -- almost tropical feeling. Very weird. We don't do tropical in Ireland, although I did buy a date palm at Lidl this week -- it was only €4.99 half price and I couldn't resist. It's now in the polytunnel. 

I've been watering in the polytunnel above and beyond the drip sprinkler system because it has been so dry. Of course, I did not think of watering today because it's raining outside, duh!  I'll do it tomorrow. 

Heat wave

The heat wave ended with thunderstorms in the S and E

All of Europe, including the UK and Ireland, have been experiencing a heat wave this week. Whereas the UK, France, Italy, Spain, and elsewhere have shot up into the 40s, Ireland stayed in the 25 to 30C range. Thank goodness. We only hit 18.5 yesterday and 23.5 on Sunday, 25.1 on Saturday, 20.7 on Friday and 19.3 on Thursday. That was quite the change from the frigid temps before. 

We've had to water the gardens daily, but we have not watered the vineyard and the orchard. We should have because the apples are dropping from the trees. Lucky donkeys. 

We have a new bistro set in the vineyard which makes it convenient to sit and ponder the status. By and large, we've made progress in controlling the growth this year and have lots more to do, but it was still nice to take a break and go out on the water in the kayak. 

A bit behind schedule

Until this week, it's been decidedly cold and stormy so far this summer. We went straight from winter to summer, trading in coats and boots for shorts and sandals. Bizarre, but at least it's better than much of the rest of the world. Europe is having an intensely hot and dry week, England's canals and Italy's rivers are drying up, and the US is facing earlier and more intense wildfire seasons. 

Today's visible satellite image shows a country mostly bathed in sunshine, although we did have clouds passing overhead. Yesterday and today were quite warm in the sun, but the air is still cool under cloud cover. Last year, the buds started flowering around the 14th of July, which was pretty late. This year, they are not yet close to flowering, so again late. 

The good news is that the Albarino is coming on now, still very small compared with the Pinot Noir planted at the same time, but we've lost only four plants. I thought we had lost many more. I will be treating the vines with great care. I need to also tie some of the 5-yo Solaris up. 

Sadly we have lost a pear tree to disease in the orchard and may lose another. I am praying that whatever caused it has not spread to the other trees. It looks like we may have a good crop of apples this year, so may be pressing juice and/or cider. 

The contractor who is to install the telephone poles for the remainder of the vineyard has been stuck on another job but is supposed to come in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, it won't be too disruptive or destructive. Alex managed to secure lots of telephone poles for the vineyard from the Eir work crews who are replacing poles in our area. That saved us a lot of money. The $ has reached parity with the € for the first time in decades, but the rate of inflation is a killer. Everything is skyrocketing in costs. I've bought a bistro set for the vineyard so at least we'll be able to sit there and watch the progress. 

Summers in America are getting hotter and lasting longer

 

An article in the NY Times showed that temperatures in America are 1.5 to 2.7 degrees higher now than they were in the '70s. Parts of the nation already have experienced punishingly high temperatures, extreme drought, wildfires, severe storms, flooding or some combination. This is no laughing matter. 

We spent two weeks cruising off the west coast of Ireland and were pinned by gales in one location for 4 days. That's not normal.We've concluded that holding events that are scheduled will not be possible in the future as climate weirdness is unpredictable. It's not just hotter, it's more unstable. 

Woe is us. It is certainly palpable. 

https://wapo.st/3OLp5fi

Freedom Blend Moldovan Wine

 

Stunning place I'd love to visit. 

Chateau Purcari Freedom Blend is a dry red wine from Stefan Voda District, Moldova. It is a blend of Bastardo, Saperavi and Rara Neagra with 14.0% abv. You'll like it if you like Malbec or a full-bodied Shiraz. 

"Freedom Blend is an expression of the free spirit, a courageous blend, full of character, from three indigenous grape varieties. It has the heart of Georgia, the terroir of Moldova, and the free spirit of Ukraine." I love that! For those of you who don't know, Putin marched into all three countries and took bits for Russia. This is hugely symbolic. I'd forgotten that Moldova uses Cyrillic some of the time. 

Moreover, the winery has turned all its space, including luxury accommodation and conference rooms into emergency housing for Ukrainians, making room for many people to shelter. I must buy lots of their wine and visit soon. The vineyard took top honours in 2020 the Decanter World Wine Awards. 

Other vineyards are doing the same in Ukraine and neighbouring countries. God bless Ukraine's friends.