Albury Vineyard Harvests Best Fruit Yet!

Owner Nick Wenman harvesting grapes

Well the harvest for this year is now complete after a tricky season of some worrying lows and exciting highs, all down to the unpredictable English weather! 

We had a difficult start to the year with some severe frosts, followed by a cold early summer and a challenging onset of downy mildew in the vineyard. However, we are delighted to have picked some of the best fruit we have ever had since planting the vines seven years ago! 

Temperatures on the vineyard in August and September were much higher than average (as the graph shows) and, as a result, the fruit we picked was very ripe. Yields quite a lot lower overall than the last couple of years but, as everyone who follows our blog knows, quality is much more important to us that quantity. 

Analysis of weather on the vineyard compared to previous years

As in previous years, we were lucky to have the support of our Albury Wine Club members, plus a reliable crew of enthusiastic locals to help us pick the grapes. 

These wine club members are always the first to taste the new release of our Silent Pool Rosé and the 2016 vintage will be ready in May. But they will have to wait a bit longer to taste the sparkling wine made from this year's grapes as that won't be ready until 2019!

Albury Wine Club Members helping to pick grapes

In other news, demand for our wines is again soaring following the announcement that we were voted Producer of the Year in the Surrey Life Food & Drink Awards 2016. Seary's St Pancras (Europe's longest Champagne bar) and the Michelin starred Chez Bruce in Wandsworth are the latest restaurants to feature Albury wines on their lists.

Thanks to the harvest volunteers - cheers!