Picking grapes in England…

In the blink of an eye, Stanlake Park harvest 2024 started and finished which is somewhat very different to the long-drawn-out bumper harvest last year. The activities commenced on the 17th of September and completed on the 30th September, our earliest finish to date. The summer never really happened this year after a very wet spring, and the grapes struggled to reach their full potential, although did fairly ok. I managed to visit three other British vineyards in Wales and Dorset recently and all were saying the same thing, in fact, their grapes were not even as advanced as Stanlake Park. A poor year all round, but it’s part of the game. 

We started picking with a relatively new team and quite a few ‘harvest newbies’. As an ‘oldie’ myself, both in age and harvesting years, we haven’t done well with younger pickers previously, but this year’s team were great: lovely people, enthusiastic and hard-working, exactly what is required. We started in the Cricket Pitch Vineyard picking the Chardonnay and Ortega, and having a large number of pickers meant we made great progress on day one. I arrived on day two to be greeted by a very enthusiastic Anna and her brother Joe, whose parents had been on the Stanlake Wine & Food Trip to Puglia earlier this year (and in many, many tastings!). If you could bottle Anna’s enthusiasm and happy demeanour, you’d complete the harvest in no time!

A rewarding team experience

This was my 6th harvest and people often ask why I enjoy it so much, seeing as it appears to be repetitive and tiring. Well, it’s good exercise with lots of fresh air, but the most important ingredient every year is the people. The time flies–by when in conversation with Andy, Alex and everyone else. Tabby, our new Admin Assistant escaped her desk (and PC) and joined our entertaining English wine harvest each day along with the permanent hard grafters, Connor and Josie. Natalia, Siân, Kerry, Lydia, Tamsin, Zach and Tina all joined in too to make sure we progressed at pace. A special mention to Will who’s an old hand here at Stanlake Park, it was great to see him back again questioning Nico at every opportunity with a smile on his face! Every day at 11am we would gather together for a team photo and a much needed coffee and cannoli supplied by Stanlake’s legendary winemaker that is Nico.

We made rapid progress through the Ruscombe vines before returning to the Cricket Pitch Vineyard for the lovely full bunches of Pinot Noir grapes. It’s always a delight to pick these grapes and so satisfying to hear their thud as you drop them into your crate. Always the best grapes to pick!

No dramas this year, no wasp stings, no major cuts and no failing machinery. In keeping with this year’s harvest my blog is short and sweet but let’s hope for a better summer next year and a more bountiful crop of grapes.