News

What is<br>Canopy Management?

What is
Canopy Management?

Right now Marcus, Adam and Jeanette are busy with canopy management - tucking much of this beautiful unruly growth into the foliage wires to make sure everything’s in place for the current phase: flowering, fruit set and ripening. Marcus explains a little more about what canopy management is in his latest blog post.

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June: This Month<br>in the Vineyard

June: This Month
in the Vineyard

Our June focus is on the magic of compost and the important (and very satisfying) task of disbudding. We usually spread our recycled compost underneath the vines in the spring. Each vine gets approximately 25 kg around its base, which amounts to a layer about 10cm or 4 inches thick. The compost plays multiple roles - during the first year after spreading, there is a slow release of nutrients from the compost and a beneficial suppression of annual weed seed germination. In the second year, nitrogen take-up by the vines combined with increased soil micro bio activity gives a boost...

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Pet Nat<br>Two New Releases

Pet Nat
Two New Releases

Adrian, our Managing Director & Winemaker, introduces two of our new release Pet Nats - Petulant Nature 2020 and Naturally Petulant 2020. How are the Pet Nats made?The Pet Nats are two of my favourite Westwell wines. The Petulant Nature is made with Ortega and the Naturally Petulant is made with Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. We bottled both three quarters of the way through fermentation so that it finishes in bottle, trapping the CO2 to become lightly sparkling. Petulant Nature 2020, made with Ortega. Anything to look out for?Yes! Both can be a little temperamental when opening -...

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New Plantings<br>at Westwell

New Plantings
at Westwell

Adam Lowe, Assistant Vineyard Manager, writes about our new plantings. We have just planted another 3,328 Ortega and 375 Regent Vines. The best time of year tends to be May as this means that we have hopefully avoided the last of the frosts but the ground is still moist. We then have the warm growing season for the vines to produce new shoots and create root development in preparation for the colder months - if there is new green growth visible above the ground, then there will be a similar amount of new growth under the ground. We now have...

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