A true team effort in the vineyard this year with Philippe so diligently tending the vines all year and Dave using ever more elaborate implements to uproot weeds and spraying the vines at the tractors top speed (knocking down less posts along the way than last year). Michael swapped weight training for chopping leaf growth back and ached where he didn’t know he had muscles, Eileen experimented with various things and Naomi helped with jobs such as tying down and de-leafing. A challenge this year was a wasp invasion – solved by an array of traps which tempted them into a sweet gooey slumber and identification of nests (Biagio staked them out) to deal with. Harvest time was upon us earlier than normal and three surfing dudes swapped their boards for some baskets to fill with grapes in the first extremely short notice (i.e. day before) harvest. Thanks to some other very flexible people who helped come and harvest the grapes at a couple of days notice, all the grapes were harvested over three days a few weeks apart. When the sugars and acids reach optimum ripeness, we wait for a short range good weather forecast and leap in to action (chef from the muppets style). Every year we expect no one will show up as we’ve left it too late and so far that hasn’t happened thankfully/surprisingly. (I wonder how far we can push it next year.) Madeleine Angevine and Pinot Noir harvested in half a day each but Seyval Blanc and Bacchus together took a day – all in all the earliest and biggest harvest yet. Always interesting to meet new harvesters and watch picking virgins take their first bunch, though a shame none of the harvest days fell at the weekend, so some of our regulars couldn’t make it (sorry – we did miss you!). The most enjoyable part of the vineyard calendar and grateful to all. The still wines should be ready next summer (there will be some new surprises) while sparklings will be developing complexity for several years so will wait their turn for release. In the meantime, cheers to everyone on the vine tending and harvesting team – bottoms up with a glass of Furlong!