After enjoying a stunning English summer here in Devon, we have successfully brought in a bumper crop. Super sweet, juicy grapes, destined to be made into our white and rosé wines have now been picked, pressed and are in the winery fermenting away. The glorious heat and sunny summer days gave the vineyard a huge boost. This helped to ripen our crop early and lead to a new record amount of rondo grapes picked. Even a rather soggy September didn’t stop us gathering our gang of friends and family for a week of picking. Whilst many English vineyards and wineries are in the midst of a hectic harvest season, we can relax knowing that our grapes are safely tucked away in the vats.
Our harvest began with the Madeleine Angevine. Sugar levels rose rapidly and thanks to the perfect summer, picking began early. All 3000+ vines were harvested in 7 days thanks to an amazing bunch of pickers and even a little rain during picking didn’t hamper our efforts too much. Each day a fresh batch of grapes made their way to the winery to be pressed and processed, ready to be made into wine.
To round up our harvest we picked a record-breaking, bumper crop of red grapes for our rosé. Our Rondo vines have produced a crop 7 times larger than any previous year. In just one day we picked beautiful big bunches of juicy red grapes. Although we have just 400 Rondo vines at present, we have spent the summer rearing new vines to increase our numbers and ensure a constant supply of our popular rosé.
Every year we are stunned by how many people join us to help bring in the grapes. We literally couldn’t do it alone and we are incredibly grateful to everyone for all the help we receive!
To join us in future harvests, keep an eye on our social media and website nearer the time for information on how to do so.
