Sandihurst Winery and Wines - Christchurch, Canterbury Vineyard - Award winning Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay » Kirk

Giving the Gift of Flowers…

Kirk — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 22:18:11 +0000

Flowering time in the Sandihurst vines. Heres a close up of whats going on. Flowering has started, meaning the cap has fallen from the berry, exposing the anthers and stigma. Given the right weather conditions (and it has been great this year in Waipara) there will be a transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma. Grapes are self fertilising.

In this photo you can see two types of berries on this bunch. Towards the right hand end of the bunch the berries have ‘set’ and are now fully fledged grapes, ready to grow. Towards the left, to the end of the stem, the berries have not yet set and in some cases (see at the back on the ‘wing’) flowering has not yet occurred.

What does it all mean? Well here in Waipara the flowering has gone very well. Great weather conditons has meant more berries on each bunch = bigger bunches = bigger crops. Crop management will be, as always, an important part of the viticultural workload.

Having said that, the season is only half way through and without a crystal ball its really too hard to say how it will end up. As with any agricultural enterprise Mother Nature plays the biggest role.

The fruit of our labour…

Kirk — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 20:36:00 +0000

The fruit is growing, getting larger and will soon begin flowering. Fingers crossed for warm settled weather during this time. Its been a great start to the season to date.

Onwards towards flowering…

Kirk — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 23:53:00 +0000

Its been a great start to the season. No frost worries, plenty of heat and just the right amount of rain. The vines are growing superbly as they head towards their next major event – flowering. This should be within the next few weeks. The vines above, in our Georges Road vineyard in Waipara, have been shoot thinned already and each vine has around 10-12 bunches of fruit on it. What we need over the flowering period is settled warm weather which will enable most of those bunches to have a good fruit set and therefore carry on ripening a balanced level of fruit. Based on historical records and knowledge of the variety we will be able to get a reasonable picture of the total crop load after flowering has taken place.

Sandihurst Wine – The Friday video…

Kirk — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:16:41 +0000

Airline passengers recieve a welcome by singers in this popular T-Mobile advert from Germany. Best enjoyed with a glass of the any one of the brilliant Sandihurst Rieslings.

Another view of Sandihurst Winery…

Kirk — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 20:00:43 +0000

People are awesome…

Kirk — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 22:21:56 +0000

Yes they are. And also a little mad…

Back breaking…

Kirk — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 23:40:03 +0000

Out in the vineyard its time to deal to all those stray shoots which tend to sprout from around the base of the vine. They often appear near the graft union between the rootstock and the varietal in question although can occur all the way up the trunk to just below the fruiting wire. Some people call it Bud Rubbing, to others its Toenailing. Either way its a tough job and hard on your back having to bend down at each plant. Some varieties are worse than others. Caught early enough the shoots are easy to flick off with your finger but if left to develop they tend to harden and then you need gloves and a pair of secateurs which of course slows the job down considerably (slows down = read more money!). One attempt to save your back is to use a budbrush. Looks like an oversized toilet brush but works a treat.

Growing Gewurztraminer…

Kirk — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 23:49:03 +0000

A shot of a Gewurztraminer shoot from our home vineyard. Already you can see a small bunch of grapes showing. Our job now is to manage those grapes through until flowering time which is approximately 6 weeks away. The weather at flowering is crucial to the amount of fruit that will ‘set’ on each bunch. Steady warmer temperatures encourage more fruit to set. Until that point, the threat of frost is not entirely gone but we certainly haven’t had anywhere near the amount of cool mornings that we might expect at this time of year. Hopefully that’s a good sign.

Winemaking is childs play…

Kirk — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 20:15:36 +0000

An insight into the European culture perhaps – a classic childrens cartoon from the early 1970′s. Originally from France, this episode of Barbapapa is from German TV and is called ‘The Wine Harvest’ where a group of children/young blobs try to make wine. They even build their own wine press. Brilliant, even if you dont speak German.

Your next glass of wine starts here…

Kirk — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 20:21:00 +0000

There are already two bunches of fruit on this growing shoot, in fact they were already there when the bud was formed in the previous season. With enough loving care and attention throughout the season they will be picked and processed through the winery coming out the other end, in about 12 months time, as approximately one glass of wine. It could be yours.