Viticulture in Ireland

Thursday 17 August 2023

Painting and other meaningless tasks

Sometimes, it is just really good to do something mindless. Like painting a fence. Something that lets that earworm work overtime. My default earworm is the Battle Hymn of the Republic for some unknown and bizarre reason. But this week, I've had a few more recent tunes on a loop in my head, including U2's I still haven't found what I'm looking for. Is there meaning in this? I'm about halfway done so I'd say I have three more days of mindless brush strokes to restore order in my brain.

Alex put up an extra kite in the vineyard and started tying the bags onto the grape clusters but gave up when he got to this:

I'll go in tomorrow and bag the individual clusters I can find, especially the gorgeous Solaris. I'm still confused by the fact that we had no Solaris last year and tons of grapes this year. Fortunately, there is no indication of mold despite the roses having been affected last month - the wettest July on record. Perhaps the Galician method of overhead trellis training really does work.

I ordered and paid for the first of the equipment for the winery today. We are buying via Thomas Walk with his guidance. He likes Alex who lived in Germany and has German roots. We'll have to go see his vineyard in Cork one day if he lets us. He doesn't usually do tours. I have a feeling Thomas is more of hermit than I am.

Wednesday 16 August 2023

Progress!

The heron is on station, the CDs are deployed, the kites are flying, the vineyard is mowed, the shed is completed, the winery room has been built, and the equipment has been ordered.

Tomorrow I bag as many bunches as I can. It really is looking like progress. I was very pleased last week when a first-time visitor exclaimed, "This really could be Tuscany."

We took some time off in the afternoon to go fishing. What a day it was out there on Clew Bay.

Sunday 13 August 2023

Making order

Alex hung the gate to the field and made a new gate for the other end of the shed. Then he built the stairs at the east end of the shed. So we have two ways of getting into the field above the shed. I transplanted lots of baby Nasturtium and fed apples to the donkeys, which they love.

Next, Alex moved more stuff into the shed, and it's starting to fill up. Today we moved lots of wood from the garage which he'd been aging. And I cleaned out the classic Century Black Demon speedboat. There was a lot of crap in it.

The Black Demon - a winter project

What it should look like

Friday 11 August 2023

California grape harvest delayed

Whereas veraison has started early here, in California they are expecting it to be up to three weeks later than usual. The growing season is still running 3-4 weeks behind in many areas of the state, particularly on the Coast. Veraison was not apparent anywhere by the first week of July, which is expected.

Because of delayed harvests, combined with unseasonably cool spring, heat spikes, and seasonal rains, few experts have been brave enough to predict this year’s anticipated results. It's gotta be tough to staff up with seasonal labour when the results are unpredictable.

A slow start has both negative and positive connotations. Great vintages tend to come in long cool seasons. The longer, milder season helps to really develop the terroir they say. They are saying that this year's season approximates what Napa was like before climate change really kicked in. The finale is almost as important as the entire season and so a heat spike would help with ripening. We'll see.

We've got lots of evidence of Autumn arriving early this year. Leaves are turning colour already. The trees are covered in berries. I hope that doesn't mean our harvest will come early as we are not prepared.

Thursday 10 August 2023

European State of the Climate 2022

A new report published today by The #Copernicus Climate Change Service of ECMWF has shown that 2022 was the fifth warmest on record, with the last 8 years the warmest on record overall. Europe is warming faster than the earth overall, at 2.2C warmer surface air temperature than 1850-1900 compared with 1.2C for the earth and 3C for the Antarctic. Sea Surface Temperature has also increased faster in European waters than overall.

This is scary stuff. Watching Lahaina in Maui burn to the ground yesterday was terrifying. Those poor people. It was such a beautiful place when I visited in the 1980s. Now, there is nothing left. It was human-induced and fanned by winds from a Cat 4 hurricane far away in the Pacific. Sad day for the people of Maui.

Total devastation: https://twitter.com/i/status/1689515411912491008

https://twitter.com/i/status/1689384898958917633

And our CO2 emissions continue to increase.

Wednesday 9 August 2023

The shed

We're slowly putting order to the shed, moving equipment in, cleaning up, and building stuff. The beekeeping paraphernalia is in, and some of the small watercraft are in. Every day we do a little bit.

The weather was pretty yucky this morning: warm, humid and drizzly. This afternoon, it became stunning. Sunshine, hot. Back to sandals.

Alex finished the fencing around the shed and called the donkeys down, who are now very happily chomping on the thick, luscious grass.

The clouds hanging low over the Holy Mountain made for a gorgeous backdrop. On days like this, I am in awe.

Tuesday 8 August 2023

Veraison progressing quickly

Today, I worked in the vineyard all afternoon cutting away leaves to let the sun reach the grape clusters. I was horrified to see how quickly veraison is progressing. As I mentioned before, last year we noticed it on the 24th of August. It's way too soon. I'm not sure what's going on.

It has started becoming noticeably darker in the evenings now, so perhaps rapid onset of veraison is not a bad sign. It was the warmest July on record globally, so perhaps our hunch is paying off. I'm not sure if I should be happy about that, but I'll take any good news at this stage, what with glaciers melting, fires raging, and storms intensifying.