No sooner had we finished our harvest this year than the warm weather arrived! From the middle of September until the middle of October the clouds disappeared and, believe it or not, the temperatures increased. With the barometer firmly lodged at around the mid-20’s locals were still taking advantage of our beautiful local beaches – with all the tourists long gone, it was true bliss….

From mid-October the cloud, rain and drizzle returned, pretty much as is normal at this time of year, but with one significant exception – the temperature. It has continued to remain quite mild, and even nightime temperatures have not fallen by that much. The minimums we have seen at night have probably averaged around 10-12°C (50-55°F), and only on a couple of occasions have fallen as low as 6-8°C (43-46°F). Yesterday morning,for example, at 7.30am it was actually 14°C (57°F).

So what’s the significance of this you are probably asking? Well, it’s to do with the vines – they are not yet dormant for the winter, and in some warmer locations there have even been signs of new growth!

By mid to late December we would hope to have our pruning well under way, but of course, owing to these unseasonably mild conditions, the start has been delayed. The danger is that, if we do not start soon, and spring arrives early again (as it did last year), then we could potentially have a problem.

No sooner had we finished our harvest this year than the warm weather arrived! From the middle of September until the middle of October the clouds disappeared and, believe it or not, the temperatures increased. With the barometer firmly lodged at around the mid-20’s locals were still taking advantage of our beautiful local beaches – with all the tourists long gone, it was true bliss….

From mid-October the cloud, rain and drizzle returned, pretty much as is normal at this time of year, but with one significant exception – the temperature. It has continued to remain quite mild, and even nightime temperatures have not fallen by that much. The minimums we have seen at night have probably averaged around 10-12°C (50-55°F), and only on a couple of occasions have fallen as low as 6-8°C (43-46°F). Yesterday morning,for example, at 7.30am it was actually 14°C (57°F).

So what’s the significance of this you are probably asking? Well, it’s to do with the vines – they are not yet dormant for the winter, and in some warmer locations there have even been signs of new growth!

By mid to late December we would hope to have our pruning well under way, but of course, owing to these unseasonably mild conditions, the start has been delayed. The danger is that, if we do not start soon, and spring arrives early again (as it did last year), then we could potentially have a problem.