What's happening in August in the vineyard?

Despite the warm temperatures we have been experiencing in recent weeks, we still have to remember that here, in England, we are dealing with a cool climate for our vineyard, and that we have to manage our vines accordingly.

At this stage, where our vines are already showing lovely grape clusters, one vineyard management practice is leaf stripping, basically selectively removing leaves to improve airflow and sunlight exposure around the grapes. This process helps to ripen the fruit, and reduces humidity and the risk of fungal diseases, leading to healthier and riper grapes.

Leaf stripping is usually done several times during the growing season, in the period leading up to veraison - when grapes begin to ripen and change colour.

This year, our vines are slightly ahead of schedule and we are also slowly moving on to another vineyard management practise, namely green harvesting. Green harvesting - sometimes known as crop thinning - is done to manage grape yields and improve grape quality.

By removing any excess and/or unviable grape clusters, the remaining grapes will have enough sunlight, warmth and nutrients to ripen fully and develop concentrated flavours. This again, is especially important in cooler climates, where ripening can be a challenge. Like leaf stripping, green harvesting also improves the airflow around the remaining grape clusters.

For now, we have only started some very light and careful green harvesting of our Seyval Blanc grapes. Sevyal Blanc is known for its vigorous growth and potential for very high yields, and benefits well from green harvesting to avoid diluted flavours.

We will be carefully monitoring all our (other) grapes vines throughout the next weeks and green harvest where and when needed to ensure we have beautiful, ripe and healthy grapes by the time we harvest.

At Larkhill it is all about quality not quantity!

Oli busy leaf stripping Pinot Noir