As little as four or five weeks ago I was writing about vine vigour, when a combination of alternating periods of warm, sunny weather followed by heavy rain had precipitated quite intensive growth in our vines. Today that picture has changed somewhat.

This all changed at the beginning of July when we experienced some quite extreme temperatures (around 40°C or 104°F) – fortunately this intense heat only lasted for a day or two. Having said that the high temperatures continued, mostly in the upper 20’s °C, but with many days actually over 30°C (around 90°F). Apart from one short, sharp downpour, July was almost entirely hot and sunny.

Over the last few days much of the coastal area in the Salnés Valley has been shrouded in a heavy sea mist/fog. In some areas (perhaps a few kilometres inland), this mist ‘burns off’ during the day, and sunny, but marginally cooler temperatures are restored (when I say cooler, I really mean the mid-20’s°C or around 75°F). Despite this mist and slightly reduced temperatures, there is still no sign of rain, and so our vineyards remain just a little parched at the moment.