The vineyards are generally looking healthy. New growth in some vineyards is vigorous, with others lagging a little behind. There are two important jobs being done in the vineyards at the moment.

The first is to ‘tip’ the longer shoots so that they stop growing. While the shoots are this young there is a big danger of strong winds snapping them off. This has disastrous implications on the size of the crop, because the little bunches have already formed and would therefore be lost.

Secondly, the vines are being suckered – extraneous shoots are broken off so that the vine has a good shape. The other effect of this is to reduce the size of the crop, which is a risky thing to do before we know what wind damage we’re going to suffer. However, shape is more important than crop size, so it’s a risk that we’re willing to take. See alongside for ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures.