Finished pruning

 

We finished up the pruning and staking of the vines in two days. Alex did the older vines and I did all the rest. My take on how the vines are doing is that the Solaris are delivering mixed results - some vines are very vigorous and others are weak. I don't know if this is normal, or if some are being subjected to conditions they don't tolerate well, like drowning in areas of poor drainage. The Chardonnay vines are also mixed -- some doing well, others weak and one possibly dead. The Pinot are doing surprisingly well and the Albarino surprisingly poorly. I would have expected the opposite. 

Our weather has been alternating between beautiful but cold, and horrible but warm. As tomorrow is the last day of January, I'll look at the weather stats for January next week. Let's now look at 2020 as a year, a horrible pandemic coronavirus year that ended with horrible US election angst. At least now things have settled down in that latter corner and vaccines have arrived. 

The December climate report shows the month was cooler, wetter and windier than average. And our area had significant outliers:

• Highest daily rainfall: 27.5 mm at Newport, Co Mayo (15% of its monthly LTA) on Sun 13th
• Lowest mean monthly temperature: 4.3°C at Knock Airport, Co Mayo (at its LTA) (its coldest December since 2010)
• Lowest monthly total sunshine: 31.2 hrs (daily mean 1.01 hrs/day) at Belmullet*, Co Mayo 

Overall, 2020 gave us above average rainfall, temperatures and sunshine as a nation, but that was mainly in the south and east. Our area again showed outliers:

• Highest annual total rainfall: 2051.7 mm at Newport, Co Mayo (128% of its LTA)
• Lowest mean annual temperature: 8.9°C at Knock Airport, Co Mayo (0.4 above its LTA) 
• Highest air temperature: 27.1°C at Newport, Co Mayo on Mon 1st June 
• Lowest annual total sunshine: 1252.0 hrs (daily mean 3.42 hrs/day) at Belmullet*, Co Mayo

*Sunshine data is from the Autosol Network. LTAs for these sites are currently not used for comparison purposes.  

We also endured eight named storms and five months with storm force winds recorded. What this means for viticulture only time will tell. At least now we have our horticultural food and research (HFR) number. The research is well underway. 

Pruning time again

 

We've had a hard frost the last few days and beautiful sunny weather so it was time to start pruning the vines. I cleared the grass and staked two rows of three-year-old vines while pruning them. It was the first major pruning for these vines. A row of chardonnay is not doing terribly well. I think some of the vines are in a dip or flat area of the field and they may be drowning. The white Solaris vines are looking good for the most part and are approaching the point where the height of the main trunk has reached the top of the stick. There has been some wind damage to loose vines being whipped by wind and breaking. I corrected most of that. 

We've applied for farm status and an agricultural grant for farm equipment. Alex will be buying more metal poles and stringing wires in the 3-year-old area over winter. If the grant comes through, we'll be buying an ATV-like vehicle with mower attachment and trailer to mow and carry supplies and harvest. 

We couldn't get a shed without planning permission so we've delayed that. We're thinking about erecting a small greenhouse to house the equipment. That would be helpful as we've run out of room elsewhere. 

Bottling the wine

As we really didn't have much yield, we didn't expect much in the results. But we are pleasantly surprised by our Rondo 2020. The specific gravity reached 0.99 and Alex has bottled the wine despite not having achieved good clarity. He's filtered it a second time, a slow process but manageable with 4 bottles of end products.  

Our start SG was 1.10 and our finish is 0.99 so our finish alcohol content is 14.9%.  A bit on the strong side, but the taste and colour are very acceptable. Now we wait six months and taste again. Right now it has a fruity and slightly tart mouthfeel. But it's not unpleasant. 

"Wine is sunlight, held together by water." - Galileo Galilei

I suppose we are now among the crazy Irish trying to make wine in the west of Ireland.  

Soil nutrients

I found a website with recommendations for fertilization of vineyards. Their recommendation regards growing conditions in various countries, including Italy, Spain, South Africa and India, which I imagine would apply to us as well. 

• Plant population: 2,000-10,000 vines/Ha.
• Soil type: light to medium.
• Expected yield: 15-30 T/Ha.

Soil level		Suggested correction method
Low P	10-25 ppm	Band 1250-600 (resp.) Kg/Ha superphosphate
Medium P	25-40 ppm	Band 600-350 (resp.) Kg/Ha superphosphate
High P	40 ppm and above	Band 350-200 (resp.) Kg/Ha superphosphate
Low K	<200 ppm	360 Kg/Ha SOP
High K	>200 ppm	No correction required

Our soil analysis showed very low concentrations of both Potassium (K) and Phosphorus (P).  The analysis also confirmed the pH readings we got using our gauge. 

That may explain our low yield in year one. As we have now placed seaweed at the base of the first ten plants, I am hopeful that we can correct that over the course of the winter. I'd like to maintain an organic approach to the management of the vines. 

Happy winter solstice!

Soil Analysis

A soil pH in the range of 5.5 to 6.5 is considered optimum for grapes and generally has a better nutrient balance for plant growth than soils that are more acidic or alkaline. Vines will grow from pH 4.0 to 8.5, but a pH below 5.5 and above 8 will depress yields and create problems for the vines. The ideal soil pH depends on the type of grapevine. French American (hybrid) grapevines that are grown for wine prefer a 6.0 soil pH; Vinifera grapevines grown for wine and direct consumption prefer a pH of 6.5. The amount of material needed to adjust the soil pH will depend on the soil texture (the amount of sand, silt and clay in the soil) and the type of grapevine. Our pH readings were good. Consistently reading just under 6.0. The official analysis showed 6.5. That's a good start. 

Alex sent soil samples off for analysis and, as expected, we have silty clay soil. The composition is:

It's not the best but it ain't bad according to several sources consulted. In fact, it's great that there's no indication of loam as loam is too rich for grapevines. They like poor soil best. We've got that in spades. 

We also had Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) results reported; they were in the very low index. When I find out what that means for grapevines, I will share it here. 

Winter has arrived

It snowed on Croagh Patrick and Nephin so the higher elevations were white a couple of days ago. Then it rained - a lot. Then came the cold. Two nights of heavy frost, the first with heavy fog. But two days of freezing overnight temps are good for the vineyard. All the leaves are down. I was shocked to see some grapes still edible and some flower buds still trying to open. 

It's been a strange autumn. Lots of stuff blooming when it shouldn't. Lots of wind. Lots of rain. Dramatic.

Alex has written his grant submission and submitted it to Teagasc for review. They are favourably disposed and made a few good suggestions. We are planning to add a shed for equipment storage and for wine production. Next will be an application for winemaking approval. 

Bottling the wine

Wine is aged to give it more taste and general mouthfeel as well as colour and other properties. Rushing the winemaking process is widely considered a waste of good wine among homebrewers of wine and is highly frowned upon.

Here is a little cheat sheet I found to predict how different ageing times affect the wine in the bottle.

Wine Aging	Properties
1 month	The definite minimum time it takes before you can even taste your wine, anything shorter results in bad tasting wine
3 months	Wine has matured more and gained increasing flavours and distinctions
6 months	The typical time for ageing wine, both red and white. Here your wine has a great taste and doesn't really need any longer maturing
10+ months	Matures the flavour of your wine even further. Can create more bitter, unique flavours. The longer you age, the more unique