WELCOME TO THE CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER
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In this newsletter you will find the vineyard manager's report, the wine-maker's report and details of our Special 2002 Selections available for Christmas from our website.
Thank you for your interest and custom. Best Wishes for the Festive Season!
1. Vineyard Manager's Report
Vintage 2003
SUN, SUN, SUN
Three Cheers for the Summer of 2003 ! When the sunjust kept on shining month after glorious month. It was certainly the sunniest and warmest summer we can remember since we started growing grapevines back in 1979. Only 1989 came close to producing such sweet, ripe and bountiful grapes as we harvested this October. As early as August , articles in the press appeared almost daily, reporting on the 'earliest harvest ever' in Bordeaux, Italy and Germany : So, we knew that if the weather held through September, we were in for a "biggy" i.e. huge crop and top quality too. We were not disappointed.
Over-cropping Fear on young Regent Vines
However, dear Reader, let me take you back for a moment to early August. Despite 10 days of 30C our concern then was over-cropping. That means there were so many grapes hanging on two varieties in particular - the Red Regent in only their 4th year in the new Millenium vineyard and the Seyval Blanc in our vineyard at Bodiam, that we were seriously concerned that they may not ripen properly. In the case of the young Regent, overcropping could set the plant back , so it would suffer in 2004 and not crop properly . I counted bunches on these young Regent vines and was amazed to come up with an average of 30 bunches per vine.
Cut 'em Off!
My consultant in Germany Dr Uwe Hofmann, advised drastic action :-
"Cut half of them off, let them fall on the ground and rot. The only way we can ensure the quality of the crop for '03 and the long term future of the vine plants." He said in his email.
Now, that has to be one of the most difficult tasks for any vigneron - to let fall onto the ground half of the crop he has spent all year looking after. But the risks of not acting were simply too great.
Our main hope for the future is to produce top quality full-bodied red wine from our new Regent vineyard. The last thing we want is to come out with a wine next year that is second rate. We know the variety is capable of producing full-bodied, dark-coloured rich-flavoured 'hot climate' reds - even in our cooler climates. For 3 years we have been importing one from Germany to get our customers used to this new variety.
Back in early August, we did not know that both August and September and most of October would turn out to be months packed with glorious sunny days. So the decision was made - " Cut 30% of the bunches off". I was hoping to achieve the desired quality by just removing a third of the bunches instead of half as advised by the consultant. By removing a third I reckoned we would reduce the yield by about a quarter because the berries left on the plant would grow larger than if we had not intervened.
So we begun the ardeous task of removing the bunches, choosing the smaller, greener, less developed bunches for removal. It was a sad sight to see rows and rows of red grape vines littered with a carpet of green under-ripe bunches that even the slugs wouldn't eat! But then there were no slugs anyway - it was way too hot for the likes of them.
Outstanding Quality
We thinned 13 of the 20 rows in this way. The last 7 were left unthinned - we just ran out of time. Now the idea behind the thining is to increase the sugar content of the fruit left on the vines. In the few weeks before harvest we take samples of fruit from each of the varieties that we grow, squash the juice out and measure the sugar content, using a gadget called a 'refractometer'. The surprising thing was that there was no detectable difference between the sugar content of the fruit from the rows which had been thinned and the sugar content of the 7 which hadn't!
So, perhaps to really make a difference we would have had to cut even more bunches off. By the time the harvest came in the first week of October the grapes were a fantastic dark blue colour and very sweet. We were ecstatic about the quality. If we can do our job properly with the wine making, I am convinced that the red wine enthusiasts among our customers will be equally ecstatic about the wine! We can't wait until the next summer to find out if we are right. We are currently trying to source some barrique oak barrells to mature this wine in. More about that next time.
Anyone for Winter Pruning?
The vines have now shed their leaves and entered their period of winter dormancy. In September we sowed green manure seeds in the alleyways which will grow into plants which stand overwinter before growing rapidly next Spring until they are 5 or 6 feet tall. They are then cut and turned under to improve soil fertility.
We also layed straw by hand underneath the vines on 11 acres of vines. This will surpess weed growth next year and eventually rot down to form humus in the soil which is a food for various organisms and micro-organisms living in the soil which helps improve fertility and improve vine vigour.
The next task in the vineyard will be to check over the trellis system of posts and wires and carry out repairs. This is followed, in January, by the pruning of the vines. Some members of our rentavine club come to help with the harvest in October. Will there be any volunteers to help with pruning, I wonder? If there are they had better remember to bringing their long underwear. Pruning in January can be pretty chilly!
2. Winemakers Report
The 2002 Vintage wines are currently tasting very well as you would expect after 6 months bottle age. The Dry White is reminiscient of the many Riesling wines I tried when I used to live in Germany. It has robust fruit and a long finish just like the best Rieslings which makes it well suited to drinking with slightly stronger flavoured foods than we would normally expect with light English wines. Both the Late Harvest (medium dry) and the Reserve (medium) are also both showing up well. It is pleasing to note that none of the '02 vintage has any trace of the botrytise undertones present in the '01's which means '02's have retained the fresh fruity style which has long been associated with Sedlescombe wines from previous years.
2003 Vintage
Despite ideal growing conditions during the entire growing season the vintage itself was not without problems. Sure we had plenty of natural sugar in the fruit, but wine-makers also have to have an eye on the acid levels as they fall during the ripening process just before the grapes are picked. The problem this vintage was that due to the dry conditions and to the continued above average sun and warm temperatures, the acids 'fell away' so fast that suddenly, almost overnight all the grapes needed picking immediately! Nature was asking us to do something which was physically impossible. Rapid decisions had to be made as to which varieties might just tolerate hanging a few days longer and which ones would not.
My pressing record reads as follows:-
20th September pressed bought in organic red and white grapes (Triomphe d'Alsace and Madelene Angevine) for our Rosé English grape juice and our first Rosé still wine which will be released next year.
23rd September - Contract pressing for another Sussex Vineyard.
26th September - crushed red grapes of AZ15477 variety, added yeast to start ferment on pulp to extract colour from skins.
27th September - Sedlescombe Early Pick from varieties:- Ortega, Siegerrebe, Huxelrebe, Madelene Angevine, Optima, and some Reichensteiner.
28th September - Reichensteiner and Bacchus grapes pressed for our Dry White. Picking and pressing went on over several days for these, our main varieties.
Also made more Rosé grape juice with Reichensteiner grapes and Triomphe d'Alsace red juice held over from previous week.
2nd October - Rivaner and Faber. These varieties usually make our Medium Dry.
3rd October - Regent, our eagerly awaited picking of our red grapes. These were picked over 4 days, de-stalked, crushed and fermented 'on the pulp' for about 10 days in 4 specially constructed open vats each holding nearly 1,000 litres or 1 Tonne of grapes.
5th October - Gewurtztraminer, or 'spicey traminer'. This variety makes wines for the connoisseur! Full bodied, sweet, rose petal bouquet and unmistakable spicey flavour. A late ripening grape which we grow under polythene from May to August. This year this variety had the highest sugar levels ever recorded at sedlescombe- 82 Oechsele. This is my personal favourite so I am eagerly awaiting the outcome of this wine!
6th October - Base wine pressing for sparkling wine for another local vineyard. Also 3rd batch of rosé grape juice pressed, pasteurized and bottled.
2nd October - Regner and Kerner grapes. This will be a new wine for next year. It has lots of promise given the exceptional nose on the Kerner grapes. The young wine, tasted regularly(!) Is really something special - supereb bouquet with fine fruity acidity. The fermentation was stopped leaving some residual sugar. This wine will be one of the many highlights of our exceptional 2003 vintage.
8th October - Pinot Noir base wine for our rosé sparkling wine. Fabulously high sugar content in the grapes and with no need to de-acidify as we usually need to do. This wine will be blended with the free-run juice from the Regent to produce our 2003 Pinot Noir- Regent Rosé Sparkling Wine ready for release December 2004.
9th October - Seyval Blanc base wine for our white sparkling wine. Usually this variety has low sugar levels. This year however, we recorded our highest ever (64 Oechsele. ie Specific Gravity 1.064). This variety can make sound, clean, fruity sparkling wines, even though some still wines can disappoint.
At the time of writing we are waiting for our London Agent, Andrew, to collect 7 barrique oak vats which I sourced on the internet from another English vineyard. Also using the internet we found the last remaining cooper in England, a man called Alaistair Simms, who works for Wadworth Brewery in Divizes, Wiltshire. Mr Simms will open up the oak barrels, gouge off the surface, re-toast the inside, and re-assemble. The plan is then to put our precious Regent red wine into oak for 3 months or so give the finished wine an added dimension of oak on the palet.
In addition we are doing regular checks of the specific gravity during the final stages of the fermentation. Fortunately this has to be combined with tasting each of the wines which makes the task a tad more enjoyable than it otherwise would be!
3. Christmas Vintage 2002 Special Offers + New Mulled Wine!
With Christmas fast approaching there are some excellent wines available now from Sedlescombe Organic Vineyard. Why not join the growing number of people who are buying local food & wine, so as to reduce "food miles", the lenghthy journeys some of our food travels before it reaches us, is one of the main causes of excess carbon dioxide in the atomsphere and the resulting global warming. Apart from that, think of the quality - the wines available this Christmas are the outstanding 2002 vintage.
In particular, try the Dry White, the Pinot Noir Red, or either of the Bubblys. There are 2 Christmas Selection specials 6-pack on offer from our website www.englishorganicwine.co.uk to give you a taste of this fantastic vintage. - The 2002 vintage Christmas 6-pack. Or the The 2002 vintage Christmas 12 bottle case. There is also a fantastic new product out now - Our very first Mulled Wine! Made from our organic red grapes and cider and using organic sugar and organic mulling spices. Try it with roast chestnuts or hot mince pies! Just heat and enjoy! Do not boil - alcohol boils off at 80C so overheating will reduce alcohol.
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