by Vineyard Manager John MacRae-Brown

From the roof of the Watch House, I am looking down onto a sunlit ocean of pale yellow autumn vine leaves, punctuated only by the startling bright blue of the tractor’s roof as Chloe gives the rows and headlands a final mow. There is something about this panorama that sums up the year we’ve had and the harvest we brought in.

Who would have thought that, after last year’s challenges, 2025 would close with a yield and quality to rival 2018, a vintage that set a high bar for UK viticulture? Yet, the view of the still-full vine canopy is a reminder that the harvest was completed by the end of September, a first for us and nearly a month earlier than we have come to expect – the result of near perfect growing conditions throughout the season that produced fruit of exceptional sweetness and flavour!

And, to cap it all, the grapes were picked with the energetic help of our great volunteers over five days of blue skies and warm sunshine (fuelled by timely coffee, biscuits, delicious lasagne and a friendly rivalry between British and Swedish teams!).  What a year!

Some might say that the sight of a blue tractor in a field of yellow could be reminiscent of the Swedish flag under which colours a victorious team of pickers emerged but I’m far too polite to mention that…!

Returning to the vineyard, it really is hard to believe that only two and a half weeks ago we were harvesting the last of the grapes and the canopy was still a verdant green! Autumn seems to have accelerated and as fast as the leaves are turning colour they are starting to fall.

At this time, the vines are using the last of their photosynthesising to prepare for dormancy by storing away carbohydrates in the their trunks and roots. It is this energy source  that will be the powerhouse for next year’s budburst and initial growth, until fresh shoots and leaves are plentiful enough to start the process of photosynthesis once more.

For the vineyard team (sadly no dormancy for us!), it is a period of housekeeping: a final under-vine hoeing to keep on top of the weeds, subsoiling in the rows to relieve ground compaction, then checking over the machinery and equipment including the all-important electric shears which will help to speed us through the winter pruning  (along with chain mail gloves, heated insoles and a good audio book or two!).