June
Stephen Doyle
Dull, wet and frosty. Rain = 99 mm;Temp = 6.9 degrees C.
This is the month to really get stuck into the pruning. Well at least to consider sharpening the secateurs.
Stephen does as much of the pruning as inhumanely possible and always dresses the whites.Noble Riesling (Sit! Stay! Get-a-way back!) Each vine is treated individually according to its vigour and bearing history.
In each vineyard there is a fairly high proportion of new wood from last year's growth laid down and it is not unusual for an individual vine to be an amalgam of spur and cane pruning. We usually try to prune the less frosty and later bursting Cabernet Sauvignon block during this month. This encourages a more even and slightly earlier bud break which will give the fruit an extra few days of critical ripening warmth at vintage in the following April.
The days are short and the nights sullen with cold. Towards the end of the month, we normally receive good rainfall and some light snow, just to remind us that Bloodwood is a truly cool climate vineyard.
