Despite business grinding to a halt, there are some elements of what we do that carry on as normal. Our vines, for example, continue to grow, pandemic or no pandemic.

With the pruning and attaching to the wires now complete, we start on general vineyard maintenance – small, but yet, significant chores. These include removing any unwanted growth (for example, small shoots that start to grow out of the main trunk of the vine), removing snails (that climb and devour the new shoots), and attaching new pheromone traps (this eco-friendly trap uses synthetic pheromones to cause confusion and diverting mating insects away from the vines). In addition to this, and largely depending on what the weather does over the next week or two, will also determine if any treatments are needed, but clearly we still have to monitor the vineyards closely to assess what is needed.

(Today’s photo not only shows the current vine development, but also shows one of our pheromone traps)