June 2024
The weather finally improves towards the end of the month with 2 weeks of sunshine. Temperatures reach 30 degrees on some days. Finally, we have flowering. Relief.
Most of my time is spent with the pinot, getting each shoot straight with the use of biodegradable clips attached to the canopy wires. Using this method, I feel that I have that June rapid spurt of growth under control – for the first time in years. Things are looking good. We lift the second canopy wires on the pinot and tuck every shoot in within the wire system.
I get a call from Jayne at Cobbs to say that she has a huge amount of horsetail growing in a couple of the newly planted chardonnay where there once were raspberries. Do I want any before she mows it all off? You bet I do. We pick, we pick and we pick until I have almost 3 bags full.
Second half of the month the weather is mixed with medium temperatures and little rain.
We take a weekend off to exhibit our wines at Brightwell Vineyard and meet up with a few of our fellow vineyards from the region. We sell more demi-dec than any other of our styles – quite common at these wine events as we are rare to produce a sweet sparkling wine. At a dosage of 38g/l the wine is aimed definitely at those with a sweet tooth, yet the acid is still strongly in evidence.
The results of the two English wine competitions we have entered are announced. Firstly, the IEWA (Independent English Wine Awards) in which we carry off the top trophy for sparkling along with some great comments from the judges, who are chosen from a wide section of the industry: Masters of Wine, wine writers, wine merchants and al. The overriding comment is that there are some fantastic English wines coming through.
Winding Wood Brut Rosé 2020
Gold medal and Sparkling Trophy Winner
‘My congratulations on the Gold and the top spot for your Sparkling Rosé! There was a real excitement about this wine on the day which was phenomenal to see. And the panel chairs when they reconsidered the golds were very clear on this as the top sparkling wine.’
Alex Taylor, Founder IEWA
Off to London at the end of the month for WineGB Awards lunch – our wine Baftas – at Drapers Hall in the City. We had been short-listed for the sparkling rosé and vintage brut trophies, having already won two gold medals in these categries, so it seemed churlish not to pitch up. Damn the expense for two OAPs. It was an opportunity to rub shoulders with a few key wine writers and press a proof copy of my forthcoming book into their hands and hope for a nice review.
We sit on a table close by the stage with Oz Clarke who is his charming self. The next thing I know it is announced that WWV have won the overall trophy for our sparkling rosé 2020. And, I have a large cup in my hand, the like of which I have not seen since sport days at my prep school when I carried off all the athletic prizes. My brother always reminds me of this – he was cup-less that day.
