The grapes are starting to form and after two weeks of almost daily rain, the weather has settled and things are looking brighter, warmer and drier for the next two weeks.
It’s been tough for growers in the past fortnight. The wet weather coupled with a rather muggy atmosphere has provided the ideal conditions for the spread of mildiou so they have been forced to get out and treat the vines.
Conventional growers will have applied a systemic treatment that gets absorbed into the root system and lasts longer while organic growers and those that don’t use chemicals have had to spray twice with a copper/sulphur mixture.
One or two growers in the Vouvray villages also suffered a little hail damage which is the one and only thing that can write off an entire crop after the risk of frost is over.
Luckily it was very localised and not too severe but it remains a worry with storms forecast later in the week.
