Saturday, March 15, 2008

This week: 14th. March 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 14/3/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 39.1C (102F) on Thur. All 7 readings above our monthly average of 25.5C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 14.8C (59F) on Sat. All 7 readings above our monthly average of 11.2C.
Rainfall for the Week 0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Our record breaking heat wave has continued this week. We have now had 11 days in a row of temperatures over 36C. All maximum and minimum readings this week have been above average. Our average maximum temperature for this month currently stands at 35.7C, that is 10.2C above our long term average of 25.5C. We have not recorded any rainfall in the last week.


This week in the vineyard:
The heat of the last almost 2 weeks has had a severe impact on any grapes that were still on the vines. Luckily virtually all of our crop was picked prior to the heat. We only have one block of Grenache left to pick (it will be coming off this coming Tues.). Last week we finished picking all of our Cabernet and Merlot. The Merlot block was very ripe, it tested 17.9 Baume at the winery, this was probably a fair bit higher than they would have liked, however the heat and very dry conditions has had the effect of drying the berries on the vine. The photo tonight shows the last grapes we have still on our vines. This is a bunch of Grenache due to be picked on Tuesday, showing the bagginess of the berries as they have started to raisin on the vine.

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