8th January 2010

I love the start of a New Year.  Back to work and, yes, ready and raring to go!  It’s currently snowing (only half of the staff made it in on Tuesday like most of the rest of Sussex I’m sure), but we all made it in today and normal work resumes, well almost …….. the snow has blocked the path our forklift needs to go on. So Robin, once assistant winemaker, now turned snow shoveller, has been working very hard to clear the way. We desperately need to get wine out of the wine store to the riddling crates, otherwise we will not get any more sparkling wine disgorged before we run out of current stocks - Help!

4th December 2009

We are at the time of year when we get to bottle our white and rosé wines, which is when I breathe a huge sigh of relief! After all our careful efforts to produce the wine to its full potential (and this year has been a very good vintage), it will shortly be safely in the bottle.

Long term storage in wine vats can be risky. Wine can start to oxidise and to develop acetic bacteria and other problems if not stored correctly and constantly monitored. Also, young and fresh aromatic wines can change character when ageing in tank, losing the fresh aromatics more quickly. So to retain those characteristics we worked so hard to encourage, we bottle these wines as soon as we can to make the best!

Red wines, however, benefit from extended tank and barrel ageing and so will be left for a few long months before they see a bottle!

Duncan and Robin taking a break from bottling, but what on earth is Duncan telling him?

12th November 2009

The wines are now in tank and developing nicely. The quality of the grapes has been exceptional and we are very excited for the future. The fascinating process of making our wines has begun! 

Our white wines have progressed really well. The flavours are really fruity and we aim to have our exciting new wines available in time for Christmas.

With Christmas fast approaching lets raise a glass of bubbly to the fantastic year English wine has had. I am going to treat myself to a glass or two of our Silver Medal winning sparkling white wine, Blanc de Blanc. Fancy joining me? See our website shop page for purchasing information.

We wish you a very Happy Christmas.

Cheers!

21st May 2009

All this wonderful sunshine has been encouraging the vines to grow more quickly than normal.  Leaves, buds and canes are developing.  At this time of year we are ‘bud’ rubbing in the vineyard.  This is where we remove buds from the vine trunk that will produce canes we do not want.  Usually because they are growing in the wrong place, but it also allows us to manage the future growth now rather than later so we can start thinking about potential crop and foliage growth, and start controlling it!

We have just started my very favourite job in the winery.  Yes, you guessed it - drinking wine!  We are doing blending trials for Dark Harvest red 2008.  Trying wines from different fermentations and different oak barrels to find out which harmonise the best together.  I am very excited as we have been working hard on our red wines. So far this 2008 vintage looks to be by far the best we have made so far, although it will be a wait before it’s ready for drinking - not due to be released until June 2010. Sorry!!

Meanwhile we are getting prepared for our next vineyard to plant next week.  Another 4 acres of vines are going in the ground here at Bolney Wine Estate.  Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Bacchus vines, which will bring our total vineyard area up to 37 acres.

Finally seven of us here all completed a Triathlon a couple of weeks ago in aid of Chestnut Tree House Children's Hospice. We raised an amazing £9,500.00 so a HUGE thank you to everyone who sponsored us.

This is us after the triathlon with all our supporters on the day.

3rd April 2009

At last, Spring is on its way ..... yippee!  We finally finished our winter pruning on the last day of March which is our deadline date, so just in the nick of time. Piotr, our vineyard manager, Karolina and Tom have worked extremely hard over the winter, especially during those extremely cold days in January.

Bud burst is about to happen - our Rondo is first off the block as you can see from the photo. Within a few days we shall start to see baby leaves emerging. Over the next two to three weeks we should see the other varieties catching up!

It is also the time of year for bottling. This last week Sam and Robin, with the welcome help of four Romanians; Dan, Laura, Ioana and Elena, have been bottling our sparkling wine.

This is when we put the base wines made from last year’s harvest into bottle with yeast and sugar to
re-ferment and make those wonderful bubbles. This re-fermenting takes around six weeks to convert the sugar added into alcohol (about 1% alcohol) and creating bubbles as the bi-product of this process. 

We have made our Blanc de Blanc (white) , Bart’s Bubbly (Rose), Bolney Bubbly (white) and a new wine, a red sparkling, which we are very excited about. The red should be ready for release in about 18 months, so watch this space!

6th March 2009

A lot has changed in the vineyard since the last time I wrote. Winter pruning is almost finished - “Yippee!” I hear from the vineyard staff. They have done a sterling job. The sap is rising and every day we see hints of spring on its way.

We have been racking wines from our barrels also in the last few weeks and found a stray in the winery, hiding behind the barrels. Hmmm .... that is our vineyard manager Piotr - I think he was after a drop of wine!

10th February 2009

With the start of the New Year the vines are in hibernation, so it is time at last to get out in the vineyard to prune and remove all of last year’s growth. Its a very long and sometimes tiresome task, it almost feels a bit like painting the ‘Forth Bridge’ – going on and on forever! But there is a great sense of satisfaction as we look back across the finished rows of smartly pruned vines.

One has to feel for the vineyard staff working out in all weathers; snow, frost, heavy rain and yes some sunshine too! What a year so far!