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News
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A harvest supper formembers of theSouth
e
ast Vineyards
Association (S
e
VA) gave an opportunity tomeet at Gusbourne
e
state’swinery and visitor centre at TheNest, Appledore, Kent.
The event included a tour of the 5,000sqmwinery, conducted
byCharlie
h
olland, who joinedGusbourne
e
state as head
winemaker in 2013 and is now alsoC
eo
.
o
ver supper there
was also an opportunity to exchange harvest experiences for
this unusually early year. After the spring frosts, that formany
vineyards lookeddevastating, the harvesting this autumnwas a
much happier event thanmight have been expected.
At Gusbourne
e
state, with vineyards inKent andSussex,
vineyardmanger JonPollard admits, “
w
e had some scorching
after the frosts, but not toobad; from then on it was a perfect
growing year”.
f
romChapel Down’swinemaker Josh
Donaghay-Spire’s perspective, the frost damagewas hugely
variable, as some vineyardswere not touched at all. Their final
harvest figureswere 10% up on 2016 and the second largest
ever, although this does include new sites coming into full
production. According to Josh, “
i
n broad terms, we snatched
victory from the jaws of defeat with the help of mother nature.
i
t
was a goodgrowing season and an exceptional flowering
period”. At Gusbourne
e
state, with 90ha of vines over 14 sites,
they pickedmore than expected and their Chardonnaywas the
best for the last ten years - “beautifully clear and lots of it”, said
Charlie.
At Albury
o
rganic Vineyard near Guildford, the frost damage
looked serious andwas reported at the time to result in a 40%
harvest.
h
owever, vineyardmanager Alex Valsecchi was right to
reassure owner Nick
w
enman that the effect would not be so
bad. Acrossmany vineyards, the secondary buds produced
decent crops and saved the day, and thiswas certainly the
experience at Albury.
The early ripening of all grape varietiesmeant that harvesting
started inSeptember formost vineyards in theSouth
e
ast.
f
or
Gusbourne, thiswas 16September. Although vine growers had
beenwarned about spottedwingdrosophila (S
w
D), and some
admit they had seen it in previous years, thiswas the year when
it really hit everyone. The earliness of the season had a lot todo
with this, but other factorsmay have contributed, andgrapes
are certainly very attractive to this pest. Sadly, some vineyards
lost significant tonnages toS
w
D andgrowers should take note
of all the advice and research results that are currently available
to stone and soft fruit growers.
T
he
frui
TG
rower
•
D
e
C
e
MB
er
2017
South
e
ast VineGrowers celebrate a vintage harvest
