We were surprised yesterday when showing a friend the vineyard that veraison has begun. The grapes are tiny, but the clusters are substantial and ripening is indeed underway. We are getting a lot of rain this week, so I hope the grapes will continue to grow for the next 2-3 weeks without becoming significantly diluted.
The leaves of the Pinot Noir have also started turning, indicating the end of another season. The Pinot grapes are even smaller than the Rondo.
I just learned that the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto passed us sometime during the night and I missed it. The wind was gusting to 91 kmh at Belmullet and Mace Head on the West Coast not far from us. It would have passed square over us around 2 am. This morning was sunny so I visited the donkeys who were fine. We then did a few outdoor chores before the rain started.
While I work inside today awaiting the arrival of Storm Lillian, which is producing heavy rain but thankfully not much wind for us, I am catching up on my wine reading.
The 15th International Terroir Congress will gather for the first time in South America, in Mendoza, Argentina, November 18-22, 2024, bridging local wine industry with global terroir science. Oh, how I'd love to attend. The speakers sound brilliant and Dr. Laura Catena is among them and an idol of mine. It's 18-22 November. What a trip that would be. Mendoza.
Scientific Sessions will cover soil, climate, and plant material and management. There will also be a session on the region's standout Malbec. I've loved Malbec since I first tried it after reading The Vineyard at the End of the World. It's all the stuff I want to learn.
The Sessions
A | Soil
Innovation in terroir studies
Physical, chemical, and microbiological properties of soils
Soil health indicators
Adaptation to soil through viticultural practices
Performance of rootstocks in different soils
B | Climate
Projections and scenarios of climate change
Climate change impacts
Climate-related challenges and opportunities for viticulture
New technologies to assess climatic parameters
Index and climate characterization
C | Plant material and management
Selection of plant material and management practices in response to climate change projections
Epigenetic mechanisms in grapevine acclimation
Impact of soil and climate change on vines, wine quality and typicity
Adaptation to climate through viticultural practices
Grapevines phenotypic plasticity in response to changing environments
D | Malbec
Historical journey and terroir expression
Studies of Malbec cultivation and winemaking in Argentina and worldwide.
Properties of Malbec wines cultivated in different regions.
From the Edinburgh Fringe Festival:
I've got a girlfriend who never stops whining. I wish I'd never bought her that vineyard - Roger Swift
I'm so sorry we missed visiting Edinburgh for my 70th birthday. I'll not easily forgive Ryanair for that one.
This is the most appalling thing I've read in recent days. On 2 August, vandals cut down centuries-old vines in the Rias Baxias region. With just weeks to go before harvest, they've destroyed a good percentage of this relatively new cooperative's harvest along with the vines' ability to recover.
That has to be a retaliative strike by the competition. Let's hope I'm wrong.
How their hearts must have sunk to see this vandalism. It's incomprehensible that someone would be so vicious as to destroy ancient living beings.
Here's their letter to the perpetrators. I hope they get what they deserve.
It depends on who you ask. NOAA says yes, Copernicus says no.
NOAA said July 2024 was the 14th consecutive month of record-high global temperatures. The global land-only July temperature was also warmest on record at 1.70°C (3.06°F) above average. The ocean-only temperature was second-warmest at 0.98°C (1.76°F) above average, ending a streak of 15 consecutive monthly record highs from April 2023 to June 2024, according to NOAA.
According to Copernicus, the daily global average temperature reached 17.16°C and 17.15°C in ERA5 on 22 and 23 July. But July 2024 overall was the second warmest month globally and the second warmest July in the ERA5 data record of the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. It was just 0.04°C lower than the previous high set in July 2023.
The World Meteorological Association summed it up as July was one of the hottest - if not the hottest - month on modern record, and the world’s hottest day was registered. You wouldn't have known it in Ireland.
At least the SST has not been setting records. But there's a hurricane barreling towards Bermuda and potentially here afterwards. That's a pattern we used to see in the past.
A new tropical depression, 5, has formed in the Atlantic which is forecast to become a cyclone. Its current path takes it through the windwards and up to Bermuda, so it's one to watch. We've had 87 mm of rain in August, and lots of wind, so fairly average so far.
But the donkeys seem happy and the Olympics are over with Ireland delivering its best performance ever. Such is life in rural Ireland.
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| Rondo coming along nicely |
It is to be windy and rainy all week. Everything has suddenly taken off, growing like mad even though almost everything is behind. The Rondo grapes are swelling, the Solaris are still tiny as are the Pinot Noir.
We have very little fruit in the orchard this year. All the pears and plums have disappeared. We have a few cooking apples and very few eating apples or even crabapples. At this rate, we'll never be self-sustaining. At least the donkeys seem happy.
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| Solaris |
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| Pinot Noir |
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| Pinot Noir |
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| Pinot Noir vines looks unhappy |
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| Donkeys at the top of the hill |
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| A bucket of chanterelle mushrooms gifted to us by Dmytro |
Much later than any other year, the mushrooms in the garden have started appearing. That means the land is healthy and the trees are being fed by the mycelium beneath them. Always happy to see fruiting bodies popping up in the garden. Dmytro brought us a bucket of chanterelle mushrooms picked by a Lithuanian friend. I gladly accepted half the bucketful and have been cooking with them for every meal. Chicken marsala, omelette with mushroom stuffing, sauteed mushrooms with seared tuna steak, mushrooms with steak and potatoes with eggs, mushroom soup, and sauteed mushroom packets in the freezer. Thank you, Dmytro.
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| Lovely salad |
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| Sauteed chanterelles |
