Sunday, December 02, 2007

This week: 30th. November

Weather Report Week Ending 30/11/07
Maximum Temperature for the week 33.4C (92F) on Thurs. All 7 readings above our monthly average of 24.6C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 7.5C (45F) on Sat. 5 readings above our monthly average of 10.7C.
Rainfall for the Week 0.0mm (0 points) 0 days of rain.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Another very warm week for us this week. However we have so far not had any real scorcher days that could damage our grapes. We have had near record maximum average temperatures this November. We finished the month with our average nearly 3C above our normal average.

This week in the vineyard:

I have continued to put on our next fungicide spray. I am not getting a lot done, due to the warm weather, I can only spray in the morning and a number of Christmas functions I have attended this week.

We have started tucking canes up, in our blocks that have catch wires. We do this to provide some shading of the fruit but also (conversely) to open the canopy's up to promote more even ripening.

The photo tonight shows a bunch of Shiraz, they are at about pea size berries. As you can see fruit set has been quite uniform and as a result we should look forward to a good solid average season, if we can finish the fruit off. Heat and lack of water, I believe, will now be the limiting factors in how well our season finishes up.

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