Harvest Reports

The English Sparkling growing season typically runs from the beginning of April to the end of October, with harvest in the East Sussex High Weald generally in early to mid October. But 2017 proved to be a season of extremes.We started with drought. March was unusually warm. Bud burst came forth 2-3 weeks early. As we moved into late April, the beautiful shoots were growing rapidly. But temperatures suddenly lurched lower. A succession of late month frosts did damage to many vineyards, wrecking their fruitful promise. April 28th saw one of the worst advection frosts in Kent, Sussex, Surrey &...

2016 was an atypical, but ultimately superb quality, vintage & growing season.A rain-soaked winter gave way to a cool but dry late spring. Late frosts were a menace that we managed to dodge. Many producers were forced to race around their vineyards at night lighting bougies & using tractor hauled hot air machines to protect their vines. Fruit set was mixed, due to wet weather, particularly challenging in the Pinot Noir, but much more even in the Chardonnay & the Pinot Gris. Then the warm & sunny weather came, which was a mercy. It was a glorious summer.Vineyards across the...

Bud burst came slightly early in the middle of April. A slightly cooler May slowed things back to about average. The fruit load looked promising. A relatively dry period ensued, with the formation of good bunches & the additional warmth spurred growth. However, fruit set although optically even occurred over a longer period than usual, with marked differences between & within our 5 main vineyard parcels. A function of wetter conditions.The grass growth, that had us mowing in the tractor every weekend, slowly eased with the very limited rainfall through the end of July into early August, but the the...

The growing season commenced after the wettest winters for over a century, with rainfall at +265% of the long-term average; it’s an understatement to say it rained. Fields were super-saturated, but the soils stayed warm. No snow fell, there were few frosts. Just wet, wet, wet.March and April were warmer than average, drier and sunnier; a much needed respite from the wettest winter since records began. Bud burst came around mid April. May was simply spring like, a little cooler, showery, one or two days of proper rain. June started well. Flowering and fruit set followed in rapid succession, with...