Hello from Surrey, England!

[glypo]

Hello everyone,

I'm a complete newcomer from southern England. My fiancée and I are growing Gewürztraminer and Phoenix in pots, with the intention to move them under glass to ripen up. We've never tried making wine before, so are excited to start practising on our own grapes. That said, both Gewürztraminer and Phoenix also make delicious dessert grapes. I signed up a fortnight ago in the desperate search for help with my vines (downy mildew) and have stuck around reading through all these helpful posts. I hope to become an active member of the community.

Very glad to meet you all virtually!

p.s. there seemed to be some uncertainty about growing vines in pots in my first post, so I wanted to show a very English example, this is a photo of a ~50 year vine my dad is growing in Devon (slightly obscured by the banana plant). This has about 12 bunches under way (I believe it's a dessert grape rather than a wine).




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[sour_grapes]

Welcome aboard!

When you first posted two sennights ago , I was intrigued by your avatar. I then wasted an hour reading about various efforts at flying-wing aircraft. May I ask what is depicted in your avatar?

 

[glypo]

Thank you for the welcome. I was surprised when the avatar was pulled across automatically from another forum. The sketch is of a Soviet concept Ekranoplans - an aircraft that just skims the surface of the waves. There is a reasonably short and interesting YouTube documentary on them:

The particular example was taken from a excellent book the subject of Ekranoplans:

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

Hello everyone,

I'm a complete newcomer from southern England. My fiancée and I are growing Gewürztraminer and Phoenix in pots, with the intention to move them under glass to ripen up. We've never tried making wine before, so are excited to start practising on our own grapes. That said, both Gewürztraminer and Phoenix also make delicious dessert grapes. I signed up a fortnight ago in the desperate search for help with my vines (downy mildew) and have stuck around reading through all these helpful posts. I hope to become an active member of the community.

Very glad to meet you all virtually!

p.s. there seemed to be some uncertainty about growing vines in pots in my first post, so I wanted to show a very English example, this is a photo of a ~50 year vine my dad is growing in Devon (slightly obscured by the banana plant). This has about 12 bunches under way (I believe it's a dessert grape rather than a wine).

View attachment 64171


View attachment 64038

Welcome to the forum! Growing grapevines in a pot is interesting and having a 50 year old vine is amazing!

 

[sour_grapes]

Thank you for the welcome. I was surprised when the avatar was pulled across automatically from another forum. The sketch is of a Soviet concept Ekranoplans - an aircraft that just skims the surface of the waves. There is a reasonably short and interesting YouTube documentary on them:

The particular example was taken from a excellent book the subject of Ekranoplans:
View attachment 64172

Hey, @glypo , look what just showed up in the news: The 'Caspian Sea Monster' rises from the grave

 

[glypo]

That's a great read, thank you for sharing!

 

[blumentopferde]

Hello from Austria!
Thanks to global warming, Southern England should be warm enough to grow grapes outside. Maybe not Gewürztraminer, but I guess that Phoenix could do... So why not give it a try? ;-)

 

[glypo]

Hello from Austria!
Thanks to global warming, Southern England should be warm enough to grow grapes outside. Maybe not Gewürztraminer, but I guess that Phoenix could do... So why not give it a try? ;-)

Hello!

You’re right, Phoenix is commonly grown outside here for English still wine. Thanks to global warming, we are mostly known for our fizz which is classic method. The South Downs, which stretch across the South-East where I live, are a chalk escarpment that stretches across the channel all the way to Champagne. Most common around me are vineyards of the cuvee grapes of Pinot Noir, Meunier and Chardonnay. In fact, because of the climate and the chalk terroir, champagne houses are buying up a lot of land. If you haven’t tried, I highly recommend Nyetimber (West Sussex) or Louis Pommery (Hampshire) – about £40/€40 per bottle but very much worth it.

My dream with the Gewürztraminer under glass, and feel free to call me a crazy Englishman , is to try a Vendage Tardive once I get enough age in the vines.

I was a little nosey so have had a look at your wines, Gemischter Satz is a very exciting blend! We don't get much Austrian wines in the UK apart from Gruner Veltliner. I do have friends in Vienna however for whom we visit regularly (COVID withstanding) and only discovered Gemischter Satz in a recent trip, we are fans!

 

[blumentopferde]

Hello!

You’re right, Phoenix is commonly grown outside here for English still wine. Thanks to global warming, we are mostly known for our fizz which is classic method. The South Downs, which stretch across the South-East where I live, are a chalk escarpment that stretches across the channel all the way to Champagne. Most common around me are vineyards of the cuvee grapes of Pinot Noir, Meunier and Chardonnay. In fact, because of the climate and the chalk terroir, champagne houses are buying up a lot of land. If you haven’t tried, I highly recommend Nyetimber (West Sussex) or Louis Pommery (Hampshire) – about £40/€40 per bottle but very much worth it.

That's amazing to hear! I've read that Southern England is regarded as the Champagne of the future but I wasn't aware that there is already so much production going on up there! If I can ever get hold of a british sparkling wine I will definitely try it!

My dream with the Gewürztraminer under glass, and feel free to call me a crazy Englishman , is to try a Vendage Tardive once I get enough age in the vines.

Bear in mind though that late harvest means low yields so you won't get far with a single vine. Here in Austria Muscaris (a disease tolerant new variety with a Muscat-like aroma) has become quite popular for dessert wines, maybe that would be also suitable to grow outside. You might also try a very early ripening variety such as Solaris if you grow short of space in your conservatory and want to expand the production to your garden

I was a little nosey so have had a look at your wines, Gemischter Satz is a very exciting blend! We don't get much Austrian wines in the UK apart from Gruner Veltliner. I do have friends in Vienna however for whom we visit regularly (COVID withstanding) and only discovered Gemischter Satz in a recent trip, we are fans!

Great to hear that you liked it!

 

[ibglowin]

Welcome aboard @glypo !

Its only a matter of time before England becomes the new "Bordeaux"........

Enjoy the madness of this hobby/obsession.

Cheers!