English wine growers hope that the mixed weather this spring and summer could lead to a bumper grape crop and vintage season, subject to experiencing a warmer August.
Andy Hares, from New Hall Vineyards in Purleigh, Essex, told BBC News that a warmer August would create a “sweet spot.”
“If we continue to get these lovely warm, sunny days, we should be on for a pretty spectacular yield,” he said. “You look at the last 20 years, we have gone from a footnote in the worldwide encyclopaedia, to now having our own chapters. We have phenomenal producers all over the country and our sparkling and our stills are being recognised internationally now as really punchy wines that stand up with the best of them.”
His optimism was echoed by Belinda Brown of Stonyfield vineyard in Blisworth, Northamptonshire, who there was “potential for a really good harvest this year.”
“We’ve got loads of grapes, but whether they will turn into a really good, ripe harvest by end of September, early October, which is when we harvest, is still a bit early to say,” she said, adding that with the right weather her one acre vineyard could produce as many as 4,000 bottles, compared to an average yield of 1,500.
Augusta Raimes, a partner at Raimes English Sparkling, near Alresford, in Hampshire, told the Guardian that temperatures were just right, bringing back memories of 2018, which was a “phenomenal year” for growers. She said, “We have very nice, clean fruit and big bunches. It’s very exciting. We have only just started our bunch counts but we definitely have more and bigger bunches at this stage, so it will be a good harvest.”
Duncan Schwab, the chief executive and head winemaker at Sandridge Barton Wines, near Totnes in Devon, agreed. “A lot of what happens this year is affected by last year. We had a good year last year so the vines built up a good reserve and good flowers for the following year,” he explained.
“What we do need now is sun over this August and into September,” he said. “We usually harvest 60 tonnes of grapes from our 25-acre site but this year the number will possibly be up to 100 tonnes. We had an amazing June so that the vines had a head start… We have that time where the berries are turning in colour, so the red pinots are getting pigmentation in their skins and that is happening two weeks earlier than we have seen before.”