With vintage racing towards us at a hurtling pace, we thought it was high time to have a chat to Pip about how 2022 is shaping up in the vineyard.
Here’s what she had to say:
We are lining up for another challenging vintage in 2022, with the Omicron outbreak beginning to build in the regions. Uncertainty around this and labour shortages are combining to add extra pressure as we get closer to harvest time. On a positive note, good flowering and fruit set in most of the sub-regions means yields are looking good. This has allowed us to drop excess fruit where required, which helps build concentration and complexity into the remaining fruit. This fruit thinning, along with canopy management and making sure the warm and humid conditions don’t lead to disease issues, has meant a busy time for the vineyard crews. With veraison well underway nets are going on, they can relax a little, until its time to start fighting those early morning frosts again. We are all keeping our fingers crossed for Autumn to bring us settled weather conditions to help get the grapes ripened to perfection.