REVIEW OF THE SEASON 2005
A golden year. A cold late spring and early summer promised
little. Then the weather improved, and a perfect flowering saw a very heavy
fruit set. To be truthful, I did not realise at first quite how good, since what
had happened is that just about every flower had set, and in due course those
varieties which normally had loose bunches began to fill out. A good late
summer ,and the warmest, and nearly the driest, October on record saw good
sugars and taste with exceptional crops. Of the whites, Madeleine Angevine was
the star, with an unprecedented 13lb a vine, decent sugars, and most promising
wine Seyval Blanc again was fully ripe and cropped heavily. Many of the red
grapes cropped exceptionally well. Triomphe D’Alsace gave a very good crop,
twice last years yield with good sugars, while Rondo produced the heaviest crop
I have ever seen or heard of, making 30 gallons of wine off 30 vines on double
guyot, with decent sugars and plenty of colour and flavour. Excellent colour and
ripeness from most of the dessert varieties also, with several new sorts showing
great promise. We held our second open weekend , earlier than in 2004, and were
very pleased with the way it went. Superb weather, lots of visitors and a great
deal of interest. Most of the indoor, and a few of the outdoor, grapes were ripe
enough to taste. The indoor and outdoor seedless types again attracted much
favourable comment. It was notable how many of these ripened outside as well as
in the polytunnels. We have decided to hold an open weekend again in 2006,and
have decided on the 2nd and 3rd September, from 10.30 am
to5pm each day. The slightly later date should, we hope, mean more outdoor
grapes approaching ripeness. Again, no charge, though a donation would be
appreciated for a local charity. There will be grapes to taste, wine to taste
and buy, plants for sale, refreshments available, and plenty to see. All welcome
– there is plenty of parking.
May I repeat last years comments, that yet again we have had a season that
appears unusually successful to those of us who have been growing grapes for a
long time. It may therefore be wise to review what we thought we had
established after painful trial and error as to what varieties will regularly
ripen here and produce good wine. .This is another year when marginal varieties
have ripened, if not quite to the extent of 2003, and optimists will be
predicting a future based on similar summers. I would myself step carefully on
this. British weather is unpredictable. Should the Gulf Stream weaken, for
example, as it appears to be doing, we may yet be grateful that our trials
include many cold climate varieties. Furthermore, should the weather continue
good, it is worth noting that many old and famous varieties owe much of their
reputation to the fact that growers now know how to grow them, and how to make
wine from them. There is an old saying that ” A rising tide lifts all boats”,
and if the growing season does get longer one major beneficiary will be that
excellent variety Seyval Blanc, which will make even better dry wines and fizz.
Other new varieties may well prove to make better wine, give better crops, prove
better eating, and be more disease resistant than those which the industry now
grows. I am extremely pleased with the wines from this years grapes, and think
there will be some superb wines
Brian Edwards.