As Jean-Michel Comme, the vineyard manager and winemaker for Chateau Pontet-Canet, walks us through the winery a field of pale yellow concrete amphora come into view. They are larger than a person, with their widest part uppermost – inverted eggs – and he explains that they are used solely...
Chateau Pontet-Canet: Biodynamic Bordeaux
Tasting Johanniter at Zähringer biodynamic vineyard
Paulin Köpfer picks a vine leaf and shows us a patch of unnaturally bright green spreading through the leaf like an ink spot. It is the first sign of downy mildew on the Johanniter vines. Despite its good resistance to downy, the high temperatures, humidity of the Rhine valley...
an organic anti-fungal spray
To reduce the risk of mildew on the vines we spray with a special anti-fungal mist regularly, approximately every couple of weeks dependant on the weather. This first spray was done just after bud burst. The spray is based on recommendations by Helmut Wolf 1 of Zwoelberich Vineyard (Germany),...
supporting the vines…a trellising workday
This workday was set up to help put up part of the trellising system for the vineyard. People may not necessarily think of grape vines as climbing plants but they have evolved to grow up trees to capture the most sunlight without having to grow thick trunks. So...
Pruning Paste Recipe – March 20th
Biodynamic viticulture seeks to avoid the use of chemicals by encouraging the development of a healthy soil, supporting a well-balanced growth of the vines, and preventing diseases using natural methods such as the biodynamic preparations and plant teas/decoctions. While helping to form a fruitful and healthy plant, winter pruning...
Horsetail Soil Spray – March 25th
This is our first blog about the specific biodynamic activities undertaken in the year. The aim of these blogs is to explain these processes – how, why and when we do them – so that others can follow them if they are interested. We will also link to our...
Cosy Owl Box For Rent
Before we had planted a single vine we decided we wanted to put up an owl nesting box to support the Somerset Barn Owl Project. As barn owls feed on small mammals found in open tussocky ground, we thought that a vineyard might prove an ideal hunting ground. We...
limeburn hill vineyard – the first year of growth …
the golden hare
While planting vines late one evening in spring our attention was caught by a movement at the top of the gully – the small valley that divides our vineyard. The animal was unexpectedly large and reddish gold in the last flashes of sunlight. A fox maybe, or a faun?...
a natural history…
History: The field has been pasture for as long as historical maps show and certainly as long as anyone can remember. It has been farmed organically for at least the past 20 years. Before the vines were planted it was grazed by sheep which kept the grass down as...