Bottle on the right is the heavyweight I bought a bottle of wine with a rating of 91 the other day. It was a very heavy bottle. I questioned whether winemakers use very heavy bottles to make it feel like expensive wine. Alex chuckled at this notion but conceded that it could be the case. So Alex measured the weight of that bottle and compared it to an empty bottle from several days ago. The difference in weight was astonishing: 422gm vs 963gm. Really? More than twice the weight! I've been reading about winemakers looking to reduce their carbon footprint in multiple ways, the primary ..read more

It felt like relentless rain in April and darn cold, but the stats say it wasn't as bad as Feb and Mar. We did have more rain than the LTA but it was pretty close to the LTA and even a bit above for temperature. It just felt cold. Curiously, the soil temperature was warmer. We did have quite a lot of wind and very high tides. Are we just getting used to the warmer climate and expecting more of it as a result? Monthly values for NEWPORT up to 01-may-2024 Total rainfall in millimetres for NEWPORT Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual 2024 125.7 197.5 152.5 119.4 1 ..read more

Hawthorn or white thorn blooms in May Called Bealtaine in Irish, May 1 signifies the beginning of summer in the Celtic world. And it certainly looks like it today. Some of the hawthorns even bloomed for today. Hawthorn is the May Bush and was traditionally decorated with ribbons and fabric trailers.  The vineyard looks stunning with that intense blue sky overhead, and puffy white cumulous clouds really stand out. The bluebells at the top of the vineyard are delicate reminders of nature's resilience. The wild garlic and daisies are prolific. There are loads of white butterfli ..read more

World wine consumption dropped to a 27-year low, according to International Organisation of Vine and Wine. In 2023 inflation pushed up prices and eroded household budgets, prompting consumers to buy fewer bottles. Total consumption was down 2.6%. That’s equivalent to an estimated 800 million fewer bottles being uncorked globally, led by the US, France and China. Meanwhile, global wine production fell 9.6% in 2023. The vintage is the smallest since 1961 after ‘extreme’ weather slashed grape harvests around the planet. Sparkling wines such as Champagne and Prosecco were the bright s ..read more

A new report shows where has wine production dried up the most in Europe. And they are blaming it mostly on climate change. The International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) says production hit its lowest level since 1962. This intergovernmental organisation has 50 member states, representing 75 per cent of the world’s vineyard area ..read more

  Albariño Finally, the Albariño vines that are still alive have burst with life! We've lost quite a few of the 25 vines we planted, but it's nice to see that some survived. They are not thriving like the others, but they live.  Interestingly, the Chardonnay are the most vigorous leafing this year, while the Solaris are well ahead of the Rondo. The Pinot Noir are waiting for warmer weather to show their foliage. The Solaris buds are the most robust of all.  Albariño Pinot Noir Chardonnay Solaris Mr Ratty an ..read more

Whereas British vineyards are switching to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, it appears that Canadian provinces are moving to Gamay, the predominant grape grown in Beaujolais. As Gamay is another short-season grape variety, perhaps we should be planting some of that as well to replace the Albarino.  Well, maybe we won't be planting anything more given the shite weather we've been having. Unrelenting wind, unrelenting rain. As of yesterday, we've had 89 mm of rain, close to the 96.8 mm LTA. I'd say that today we will have reached the LTA and the month of April will prove to be a washout. The po ..read more

The Rondo has started to leaf, while the others remain just cracked open. The weather has sent us relentless wind and showers on and off. Will it ever be nice again ..read more

  This morning, it did not rain. It felt like the first time in forever. This evening it bucketed. When will it ever end? I managed to get out and do some weeding in the veg garden. Took away a giant load but you cannot even tell I did anything at all. So frustrating.  Ghostie and I took a walk through the vineyard. The Rondo and Solaris are coming along but no leaves yet.  Last week had some interesting events in the USA including a total eclipse of the sun and lightning strike on Lady Liberty. Not my thing anymore. I'd rather watch the grapes grow.  ..read more

The wind blew but thankfully the rain didn't overwhelm. There were showers. The wind didn't blow that hard. The strongest gust was 78.3 knots. But it kept going and going. And it blew the water straight into Clew Bay on one of the highest tide dates of the year. So of course we were home-bound. I barely made it home in time. The water was actually coming in at a very rapid pace. White breakers were crashing on our driveway.  The next day, I walked up to check for damage in the vineyard and was pleasantly surprised. No obvious damage. The vines had not yet leafed, and the Albarino w ..read more