This year’s harvest flew off to an early start with pickers wielding their snips from the 16th September. The initially concerning wet weather witnessed from September 2015 through to May 2016 brought early disease pressure to stay ahead of, but this had cleared up by June time leaving the vines with warm, sunny days through July, August, September and well into October with only two wet days of picking. Ortega was picked first followed by Bacchus and Acolon moving on to Reichensteiner and Huxelrebe, then Dornfelder and Pinot Noir, finishing with the last varieties Gamay, Scheurebe and Schönburger being picked on the last day 27th October. The 2016 harvest has been hailed by the wine industry press as a very strong harvest for English wines with some good vintages expected. Here at Biddenden the grapes were able to ripen well with good sugar levels and well balanced acidity and with everything pressed and in the tanks the wine is on track for some good quality vintages. Overall this year we have had a good crop and are pleased with what we have in the tanks. The apples used for the ciders are sourced from local farmers and there is a good availability of fruit this year, with good colour from the season’s cold mornings.
