An interesting and challenging season so far with some weird weather from mid November onward. Bouts of strong wind, recent heavy rain and a period of “mizzle” in early December look like making for a lighter than average crop. However, the vine canopies (ie the leaves!) are looking very powerful and unstressed for this time of year. It has been quite mild on average, hence ripening is running to our normal schedule and we expect to start netting in very early February. As the weather seems to have settled and is warming up now we are feeling pretty confident of some great fruit although perhaps at lower production levels than average. It’s the familiar story of quantity and quality – and the latter is paramount in our eyes!
Cheers, Fred
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