Hi there, sorry its been a while since we posted anything, but we are finally getting an opportunity to catch our breath. It would be a bit of an understatement to say that the 2012 season has been challenging so far. We have had very warm weather which has pushed forward the grape development, while we have also had to deal with two hail storms. The first of these, on the 14th of July effected all of the vineyards.
Damage in the Modra Frankinja, Ritoznoj. Photo taken 17.7.2012
Damage to the leaves in the Sivi Pinot in Oplotnica. Photo taken 18.7.12
Also in the Sivi Pinot, Oplotnica.
As the above photo shows, the Sivi Pinot vineyard got hit quite hard, however all the damage is only on one side of the canopy. This meant that when we went through and made the green harvest we were able to cut out any bunches with a lot of damage.
The result of the green harvest in the Modra Frankinja. 18.7.12
About 60% is cut off, Modra Frankinja.
This year we have been quite aggressive with the green harvest in the red varieties, dropping around 60% of the fruit, In the Sivi we dropped around 40%, but were more concerned with getting rid of hail damaged fruit. We have also this year taken on a new Sivi Pinot vineyard, it is quite small, only 830 vines, but maybe could give us another three barrels. It is in Okoška Gora, about 5km east of Oplotnica and 70m higher at around 410m above sea level. So has a rock star view.
Our new Sivi Pinot Vineyard, Okoška Gora. 28.7.12
With all the hot weather we have been having the grapes are developing much faster than normal, vintage 2011 was also very early, yet we would be about 5 days ahead of last year in the reds, and closer to 8 days ahead of last year in the Sivi Pinot. My biggest concern with this weather will be the low acidity at harvest.
Verasion, Sivi Pinot, Okoška Gora. 28.7.12
So just when things looked to be going well, our red vineyard in Ritoznoj got hit again by hail on the evening of the 29th of July. 🙁 It will make for a challenging harvest, we will need to sort a lot in the vineyard when we pick, and probably even do a second sort in the winery.
Hail damage to the Modri Pinot, Ritoznoj. 30.7.12
The grapes are now looking a lot better, the hail damaged berries have dried up quite well, without any nasty bacteria starting to grow. It will be a mission to keep the damaged berries out of the ferments, but its what we have to do, I did say earlier in the year that we would have to pay at some stage for all the beautiful weather we were having, well I think two hails storms is enough payment, here’s hoping we can get through to harvest without any more.
Verasion in the Modri Pinot, Ritoznoj. 30.7.12.
In other news we have added some more customers, the wines are now available at Vinoteka Svetinje in Jeruzalem, Isabella in Maribor, and TOZD bar in Ljubljana!
Cheers
Nick and Marija