Following the tremendous success of our new Albury Wine Club, which sold out soon after it's launch, we are pleased to be able to offer some additional memberships for 2014*.
The Albury Wine Club is for wine and food lovers who are interested in English wines, especially those produced by our vineyard!
The club provides an insight into UK viticulture, as well as the inside story on what’s...
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| Stained glass window in Firle Church |
For some, biodynamics is complete madness but I don't care. Just because many of the principles of biodynamics cannot be explained by science it doesn't mean that they are meaningless... and I'm in good company!
Last week Alex and I buried cow horns, filled with manure from a lactating cow, which over winter will harmonise with the sub-molecular energies of the...
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With the help of family, friends and the Albury Wine Club, we completed this years harvest on Saturday. It was a great effort all round but particular thanks must go to Alex, JB, Peter and Benoît, who worked tirelessly throughout the harvest.
Overall this year's harvest was a great success, with a yield of nearly 25 tonnes of clean top quality fruit (compared to only 3 tonnes last year!).
As a...
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| Paul, me, Alex, Benoît and JB |
The 2013 harvest started yesterday, with a first picking of the Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes for our Silent Pool Rosé. Sugars are a bit low this year, partly because the whole season is a few weeks behind, but also because the grapes have absorbed a lot of the recent rain which has diluted the grape juice a bit. We need fairly high sugars for still wine so we...
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It's been another difficult year on the vineyard, with the recent rain playing havoc with the sugar levels in the grapes. However, subject to the weather (!), Saturday 2nd November is now set to be the harvest day for Albury Wine Club members, family and friends. We probably won't pick if its raining heavily so it might be necessary to move it to the Sunday or Friday.
The day will start at 8.00am...
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The recent damp weather has resulted in Botrytis on some of the fruit. It's not too bad at the moment, and is mainly restricted to the Seyval, but the later we leave picking the more it will spread. As a rough rule of thumb the level of infection normally doubles every week.
Botrytis, or
bunch rotas it is know in viticulture, is a fungus that attacks the fruit as it begins to ripen. It thrives in...
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Earlier today we prepared a Pied de Cuve, which is maybe the first time it has ever been made in the UK.
The purpose of a Pied de Cuve is to cultivate the yeasts on the skins of the grapes, so that these naturally occurring yeasts can be used to ferment the wine, rather than a commercial yeast that would normally be added in the winery. Yeasts have their own flavour characteristics and by using...
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Sulphur Dioxide in wine has been the subject of much debate in recent years, with many consumers arguing that it contributes to hangovers as well as numerous other health problems, including breathing difficulties for asthmatics, sneezing and swelling of the throat.
All wines contain sulphur dioxide in various forms. Even if it isn't added as part of the wine making process, wine will naturally...
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Together with winemaker John Worontschak, and Stephen Skelton MW, I excitedly tasted the very first bottle of Albury Estate sparkling wine earlier today, a NV blend of wines from the 2011 and 2012 vintages.
It was only bottled earlier this year and has therefore just been through secondary fermentation to give it it's fizz. It will continue to rest on the yeast in the bottle (known as
sur latte)...
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We are probably still 5 weeks away from the harvest as veraison is late this year. It started week beginning 26th August with the Seyval, week commencing 2nd September for the Pinot Meunier with the Pinot Noir a week later. Last week the Chardonnay were still pretty green.
Grapes have two distinct growth phases. The first phase is when the cells divide and expand and the grapes begin to swell and...
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| Alex dynamising 501 |
We were up very early today preparing biodynamic preparation 501 to spray on the vineyard.
Biodynamics is based on organic practices but also uses natural energy forces (like those generated by the moon), medicinal plants (such as yarrow, chamomile, stinging nettle and dandelion), as well as mineral and natural cow manure composts. This strengthens the vines and produces...
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| Leaf Removal using a Collard machine |
Around this time of year it is important to remove some of the foliage around the forming bunches of grapes. This opens up the canopy which improves airflow and reduces the risk of disease. It also allows the grapes to be exposed to more sunlight which improves flavour characteristics. Those of you interested in more detail should read Dr Richard Smart's...
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