English harvest underway

The harvest is well underway in UK vineyards and according to the trade association, English Wine Producers, early predictions are that 2008 volumes will be on the light side though not as low as in 2007.

The South West was badly hit by bad weather from flowering onwards, so vineyards such as Camel Valley are down but Three Choirs in Gloucestershire are seeing an increase on last year and other regions are faring better. On the whole, sugar levels are good, while acids are a little high, though the last few days of warm and dry weather might improve things further.

There are some new vineyards coming in to production for the first time this year but much of this will be made into fizz so won’t be available to drink until about 3 years time.

The official data collected at harvest, which will confirm the total volume, will not be released until spring 2009.