Fruit Set...I'm not sure what sort of enormous lizard this is but we had a bunch of them hanging around the vineyard (well at least two). Hopefully they don't eat grapes but enjoy feasting on the various critters which do. We are trialling an organic spray this season so maybe that is helping attract or at least not kill the local fauna. Once we get through the establishment phase the plan is to go totally organic and eventually get certified.
The 2nd photo shows the new seasons grapes (this particular shot is of the Verdelho). Following bud burst (when the dormant vines start to shoot) you get flowering and then fruit set.
The vineyard is showing vines which are in all three stages at the moment. This is ok for different varieties but it is a problem within the same type of vine. This is because you want all the grapes of a similar variety to become ripe at the same time (which never happens) but hopefully not at the same time as the other varieties because you then run out of labour, bins, barrels, etc.
So at this stage it looks like we should get at least a Shiraz and Verdelho crop this vintage. Still very early days. The high winds have caused some shoot damage but the dust storms doesn't seem to have caused any issues (except everything in the shed is covered with it).
Our primary irrigation dam is down to about 75% already. Hopefully we will get some more rain before the end of the month.
The next stage in the vine life cycle is verasion. This is when the grapes start to change colour.
In anticipation of having something to sell early next year I am trying to get a liquor licence - blimey what a trial by bureaucracy!!
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