This is just an information sheet to contain the information about our vineyard for internal use.
2013
We start by planting 75 petit verdot on the Era field. There are also a few plants made from cuttings which are white grapes.
2014
Planted 250 new vines on the new field. Half of them Cabernet Sauvignan the other half Bobal.
We did make some wine but it was a mix of our own and some grapes from over the hill.
2015
We made about 40 litres of wine.
The plants were pruned correctly for the first time in October.
2016
We planted 125 Tempranillo and 125 Cabernet Sauvignon
An audit in June by Daniel the Dressing Gown Man states:
There are 660 growing vines.
About 50 did not make it to October.
Harvest:
The harvest happened on the 21st September.
4 crates from new field
3 crates from the Era field
3 crates from down below.
It took about 2 hours with 6 people to do the harvest.
Made about 100 litres of grape must.
About 12% alcohol potential on the light meter.
Pressing:
The pressing happened on 15th of October with the help of Jordan, Pierre, Jane and Caroline the Belgian girl. The wine was quite dry. I estimate that there were about 65 litres.
Notes: Many of the new vines planted were ripped out by foxes searching for insects.
Maybe the goatshit, leaf mold and earth mix should be aged longer before use.
2017
100 bobal ordered. Arrival date 1st April.
We planted 1 new line and the rest were used to replace dead vines
This time we used the new petrol auger and it took most of the work out of preparing the holes. In August we put the top wires on all the lines.
Harvest:
The team was Sam, Heather, Alex (skateboarder), Phil Kiwi, Nitsan
The harvest happened on the 15th September.
35 crates in total.
18 crates from new field
11 crates from the Era field
It took about 3 hours with 6 people to do the top fields
6 crates from down below this took about 25 minutes
Made about 450 litres of grape must.
About 15% alcohol potential on the light meter.
The pressing happened on 15th of October with the help of Sam, Heather She-Wolf, Phil Dynes. The time before pressing was much shorter and wine was still sweet. I estimate that there were about 280 litres.
2018
We planted 200 bobal in the top half of the Era field .
This was done by Aida and me after Christmas.
It is the first time I have planted the vines early.
All of the holes were done with the petrol auger.
Aida counted all the vines and there were 813.
Harvest:
The team was Jen (australian) Amber kiwi, James.
The harvest happened on the 9th October.
30 crates in total.
21 crates from new field
9 crates from the Era field
It took about 3 hours with 4 people to do the new field
4 crates from down below.
These had powdery mildew so they were dried for sultanas rather than wine.
Made about 390 litres of grape must.
About 14% alcohol potential on the light meter.
The pressing happened on 9th of November with just Sarah and I. I estimate that there were about 260 litres.
The harvest was less than the previous year because the table grapes below the house got a bad case of Powdery Mildew.
Chemicals for powdery mildew. Contact fungicides work well as preventatives and for early, mild infections, notably potassium bicarbonate compounds and horticultural and neem oils. Phytotoxicity can be a problem with some plants, however, so care should be used before broad scale application. Systemic fungicides include triflumizole (e.g., Terraguard), myclobutanil (e.g., Eagle), the strobilurin group (e.g., Compass O, Insignia, Heritage), which is very prone to inducing resistance in pathogens, and thiophanates (e.g., Cleary’s 3336, OHP 6672).
Chemicals for downy mildew. Contact protectants such as mancozeb (e.g., Protect) and copper, alternated or mixed with systemics like mefenoxam (e.g., Subdue MAXX) applied as a drench at the beginning of the season and sprays of dimethomorph (e.g., Stature DM), phosphonates (Aliette), and strobilurins (e.g., Fenstop, Compass O, Insignia, Heritage), have shown good control. Effectiveness of any given chemical depends on the particular downy mildew pathogen present; what works well for one may give minimal control for others. Tank mixes of more than one of these agents in a rotation can be useful.
2019
Harvest:
The team was Pud, Julie, Rael, Maggie, Helen Tinsel, Sarah
The harvest happened on the 7th September
About 15 crates in total.
It took about 2 and a half hours.
The low harvest was maybe due to the fact that we did no irrigation.
The powdery mildew was very successfully controlled.
We had no tractor until around may so the weed clearance was done with the weed wacker in May.
About 13% alcohol potential on the light meter.
There was about 150 litres of wine. It started to taste very good after about 1 year.
2020
Harvest:
The team was John Sarah
The harvest happened on the 24th, 25th, 26th September
42 crates in total.
24 crates from new field
16 crates from the Era field
2 crates from down below.
About 460 liters of must.
Sarah and I pressed the wine on 18th October 2020.
There was about 340 litres of wine.
We had some powdery mildew in the middle of the fourth row on the right hand field and
a couple of vines in the middle of the left hand field.
The weed clearance was done with the weed wacker in May.
I planted about 20 new vines made from hardwood cuttings.
About 13.8% alcohol potential on the light meter.
2021
Harvest:
The team was John Sarah, Maika, Natasha, Cleo
The harvest happened on the 22th, 23rd September
50 crates in total.
34 crates from new field
16 crates from the Era field
0 crates from down below.
About 520 liters of must.
—-Sarah I, Pierre, Jordan and Jorge pressed the wine on 16th October 2020.
—-There was about 400 litres of wine.
Sarah sprayed the grapes quite a lot with the yellow powder and powdery mildew was quite well controlled.
We did no weed clearance and we did not reduce the amount of buds.
All the new vines made from hardwood cuttings died. They need to be better looked after.
—-About 13.8% alcohol potential on the light meter.
2022
Harvest:
The team was John Sarah, Paul, Chelsea, Kat.
The harvest happened on the 16th, 19th September 2022
35 crates in total.
20 crates from new field
15 crates from the Era field
0 crates from down below.
About 350 liters of must.
John Sarah, Paul, Chelsea, Kat. pressed the wine on 27th September.
There was about 230 litres of wine.
Note that the fermenting on the skins was much lower this year.
About 15% alcohol potential on the light meter.
2023
Harvest:
The team was John Sarah, Melanie, Sharon, Marshall.
The harvest happened on the 12th and 13th September 2023
46 crates in total.
24 crates from new field
22 crates from the Era field
0 crates from down below.
About 540 liters of must.
John, Marshal and Sharon pressed the wine on 26th September.
There was about 375 litres of wine.
About 14% alcohol potential on the light meter.
2024
Harvest:
The team was John, Sarah, Olivia, Phil, Gwyneth
The harvest happened on the 11th, 12th and 13th September 2024
50 crates in total.
27 crates from new field
23 crates from the Era field
0 crates from down below.
About 580 liters of must.
John, Sarah, Olivia, Phil, Gwyneth pressed the wine on 26th September.
There was about 420 litres of wine.
About 14.5% alcohol potential on the light meter.
2025
Harvest:
The picking team was John, Sarah, Isac, Catherine, Ellie Ana
The harvest happened on the 11th, 12th 14th September 2025
94 crates in total.
62 crates from new field
32 crates from the Era field
0 crates from down below.
About 1200 liters of must.
John, Sarah, Isac, Catherine, Ellie Ana pressed the wine on 24th September.
There was about 910 litres of wine.
About 13.8% alcohol potential on the light meter.
Notes: Had to buy 2 more barrels.
There are 15 crates per barrel.
We used 2 plastic 220l barrels to store the wine and there were about 480 litres in the 500 litre stainless steel tank.
WINE PRODUCTION
2015 – 40
2016 – 65
2017 – 280
2018 – 260
2019 – 150
2020 – 340
2021 – 400
2022 – 230
2023 – 375
2024 – 420
2025 – 910
Total: 3050 litres
4,056 bottles of wine.
Note: 1 Liter = 1.33 Bottles
