Tirage Bottling and Veraison

In the winery...

Last week we bottled our sparkling wines from the 2022 harvest. Prior to bottling, sugar and yeast are added to the base wines in the tanks and mixed. The wines are then bottled under crown cap (like a beer cap) and laid down horizontally in stillages of 504 bottles. During the next few months the yeast will react with the sugar and a secondary fermentation will happen in the bottle which will create the fizz and a little extra alcohol ... most English Sparkling Wines will be 12-12.5% ABV .... a lower alcohol alternative to some still wine options. Once the secondary fermentation has finished, the dead yeast cells sink to the bottom of the horizontal bottles and over a minimum of 15 - 18 months lees ageing, the yeast will permeate the wine with the delicous toasted, biscuity aromas and flavours we all love in a traditional method sparkling wine Some of these bottles will not see the light of day for over 3 years or more, (for example our Blanc de Blancs), while our Cotswold Classic will be riddled and disgorged (the process of having the yeast removed) after 15-18 months as a more fruit forward style of sparkling wine. Post disgorging we will return the bottles to the stillages for a further six plus months. Good sparkling wines take their time, but are well worth the wait. 

In the vineyard...

Finally some much needed sunshine! The St Swithun's day prophecy that if it rains on the 15th July, it will rain for 40 days has been largely true but despite the rain and overcast weather, the vines are progressing and the grapes are turning colour... veraison is well underway in the early ripening varieties such as the Pinot Précoce which is looking particularly good. The vineyard team are busy leaf stripping on the West side of the canopy. We remove the leaves in the fruiting zone to expose the fruit to the sun and the breeze to help prevent fungal diseases. Leaf stripping was done on the East side of the canopy just after flowering in early July. Last year, the high temperatures led to some sun burn on the grapes, not a problem this season.  Mowing and vine trimming are ongoing, with the wet, warm weather fuelling growth of the vines, grass and weeds. With veraison having started, we have entered the final stretch in the growing season, but there is still plenty for the vineyard team to do to help nurture the grapes for quality fruit at harvest and in early September, zone netting will be deployed to protect the grapes from wild life. 

You may have read in the newspapers that English Vineyards are expecting a bumper harvest this year..... it is too early to tell. While there is plenty of fruit on the vines, we could do with a good dose of sunshine to help ripen the grapes.