www.alburyvineyard.com

Thanks to the team at DNX (an award winning marketing agency also based in Albury) we now have a new corporate logo and website http://www.alburyvineyard.com/.

As well as providing information about the vineyard and the wines we hope to produce, the web site also gives some background to organic viticulture and wine making in the UK. There is also a link to this blog.

Please let me have any comments you feel would be useful in improving the site.

Alex joins the team as Vineyard Manager

I'm delighted that Alex Valsecchi has joined the team as Vineyard Manager.

Until recently Alex was at at RHS Wisley responsible for the Orchard, Nursery, Model Fruit Area and the Vineyard. Alex has extensive experience in Vineyard Management having created the vineyard at Wisley following several years practical experience working on vineyards in New Zealand.

Alex will be responsible for all aspects of managing the vineyard and will work closely with me to ensure that we produce top quality English quality wines using premium organic grapes from the vineyard.

Alex was born in Italy and has the initials "AV", the same as Albury Vineyard. It was obviously meant to be!

Friendly Fungi working well

Mycorrhizal fungi at work

Back in May when we planted the vines we decided to dip the roots in a product called Rootgrow, which is a mycorrihzal fungi from a company called PlantWorks. Mycorrhizal fungi normally occurs naturally in soil. It breaks down organic matter releasing nutrients particularly phosphates and can significantly increase root capacity. Unfortunately herbicides and modern farming techniques have significantly reduced the naturally occuring fungi. The idea with Rootgrow is to give new plant roots a kick start.

Last Saturday we pruned the vines and measured the weight of the prunings of 100 vines that had been treated compared to 100 untreated vines for each variety. The results were as follows:

                          Untreated      Treated        % Increase
                          weight (kg)   weight (kg)

Pinot Meunier        1.5                1.8               20.0%
Pinot Noir              2.5                2.4               -4.0%
Chardonnay           1.6                1.9               18.8%
Total                     5.6                6.1                 8.9%

It's early days and the test is obviously not very accurate. I have no idea why the Pinot Noir didn’t seem to show any real difference but overall a very positive indication that the friendly fungi are doing a good job! We will do the same test next year and also monitor the quantity of fruit produced in 2011.

The Soil Food Web and Compost Teas

Just attended a facinating seminar on Compost Teas given by Dr Elaine R Ingham at Laverstoke Park.

The Soil Food Web is a diverse community of microscopic organism which live in the soil. There are hundreds of thousands of species and this biology is an integral part of a healthy ecosystem. These soil dwellers are performing important tasks that allow plants to thrive and grow. As they eat, grow and move through the soil, these organisms make it possible to have clean water, clean air, healthy plants and moderate water flow.

Not suprisingly pestacides and hebisides kill off this natural biological system. Organic farmers use composts and compost teas to help the biology recover and also as an effective treatment for disease control.

Compost teas  are made by aerobically brewing compost in a tank of water (a bit like a jacuzzi) typically for 24 hours. This allows the living organsim on the compost, including bacteria, fungi and nematodes to be released into the water which is then sprayed on the vines. Food such as Humic Acid or Fish Hydrolysate is often added to promote growth of the organisms. Kelp helps as a micronutrient and Trichoderma spores can be added to treat mildew but the downside is that it takes out Mycorrhizal Funghi (see earlier blog "Friendly Fungi").

It all sounds quite complicated but hopefully the guys at Laverstoke will be giving me some expert advice. Anyway, I'm convinced its the way to go for the vineyard. No copper or sulphur next year!

No Mud on the A25!

Philip and Gary have created an excellent new hard standing to the entrance of the Vineyard. Hopefully this will mean that tractor wheels will be washed when leaving the vineyard so that we don't deposit large pieces of mud all over the A25. We will see!

Vine Diseases and Compost Tea

Downy Mildew

The main diseases that can effect vines during the growing season are Powdery Mildew, Downy Mildew and Botrytis. Downy Mildew has unfortunately arrived at Albury!

Downy Mildew is a white down that appears on the underside of the leaves causing them to wither and die, the fruit can also be attacked. The standard treatment in an organic vineyard is a copper solution.

As the name suggests Powdery Mildew appears as a white powder on the leaves and grapes. If left untreated the leaves die and the fruit will crack. Dusting or spraying with Sulphur once every 2 to 3 weeks can prevent this disease.

Botrytis will cause fruit to rot and drop off the vine and dark patches will be seen on the canes. This usually appears during Autumn when the fruit is ripening. Avoiding overcrowding of the vines and keeping the bunches well ventilated by removing the adjacent leaves will help restrict this disease.

During last week Downey Mildew has started to appear on some of the leaves at the vineyard, mainly on the Chardonnay. This isn't serious at this stage but we have decided to spray the vines with a copper solution to try and stop it from spreading.

Next year we hope to avoid copper and sulphur by using a compost tea. This is a water extract of compost that is "brewed" to extract organisms (bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes). When sprayed on the vines an enormous diversity of these organisms dominate the surfaces of the vines thereby inhibiting disease-causing organisms from establishing. Compost tea also provides plant food which aids healthy plant growth, strengthens the plant's defence systems and, with the addition of beneficial organisms to the soil, will help the recycling of organic matter improving soil structure.

My first Bunch of Grapes!

Maybe not the best bunch of grapes you've ever seen but they are the first from Albury Vineyard and are therefore "special". Having said that, they are of course of absolutely no use for wine production and are destined for the compost heap along with any other bunches that appear this year (and probably next for that matter).

The first grapes that will be used for wine production will be picked by hand in October 2011 (year 3) when we hope to get around a 40% yield. For the 5 acres planted so far this equates to about 6 tonnes of grapes which will be enough to produce over 4000 bottles of English bubbly. Put the date in your diary now if you want to be involved in this historic event and be invited to the Albury harvest party celebration of the year in 2011!