Spring at Rathfinny Estate

The Internet grapevine is a wonderful network. Through it, we met Cameron Roucher, vineyard manager at Rathfinny Estate in South Downs, U.K. At that time we were faced with the distinct possibility of having to plant 6800 tall-grafted vines by hand. Cameron provided us information and links to Vinplant. The owner, Volker Scheu and my husband began an email exchange that resulted in Steve Mudd agreeing to plant our vines.
Cameron has been very busy this spring. The blog at Rathfinny Estate mentions that they have planted 85,000 more tall grafted vines in 8 days!

Through email exchanges, it seems that South Downs and Mystic, CT may have similar climates. Our climate is moderated by the proximity to the Long Island Sound and Rathfinny's climate is moderated by their proximity to the English Channel. This spring has been late in our area and we are still having frost warnings. The Rathfinny blog and Cameron mentioned that it was very cold, frost in the mornings and snow on a few days when they were doing their planting.

Thank goodness for vineyard innovations such as GPS-guided equipment that can plant 85,000 vines in 8 days! Sometimes, I eschew technology but this is one I embrace without reservation! Check out the link to Rathfinny Estate. They will be making sparkling wine using traditional methods.