I have moved to www.zabibu.org

Please note that I have moved this BLOG to www.zabibu.org
There is a new post there on Baboons in the vineyard today.
From now on I will be posting on that site and not here. Thanks for the continued interest and hope to keep you up to date with all the wine making to come in the [...]

Downy mildew

I mentioned bad mildew problems in 2004 (see WINE page above) and how we lost the entire crop. Well is really was bad. Look at the state the fruit was in that year.
 
 
The fruit was badly affected in 2004. There was no fruit to make any wine with. Lesson learnt. It wont happen again!
We were [...]

Canopy management

The year we lost the entire crop- 2004 was largely because our canopy management went to shot. Too much foliage, bad pruning and no thinning. Added to that we were growing very vigorous varieties susceptible to mildews such as Sauvignon Blanc.
We had bad bad mildew problems that year and were not able to control it. [...]

Green to pink to purple

Seiyia and I were in the vineyard today. Things are looking good and the Pinot Noir grapes are darkening all the time. They turn from green to pink to deep purple. We still have some that have not yet turned but most of them have now.
 

Checking the berries sugar content today with Seiyia.
I [...]

Birds birds birds

Birds are nothing new to grape growers at harvest time. As soon as we get veraison (the grapes begin to change colour) the birds begin to take great interest in the vineyard. We employ four people in the vinyard solely for scaring birds away.

Kakai is about to throw a stone at a bird.
The [...]

Why Pinot Noir?

Pinot Noir is a particularly difficult grape to grow and it is surprising to some that it works for us here in Kenya. The vineyard is situated south of the Ngong Hills, on the edge of the Rift Valley.

 
Looking north towards the Ngong Hills from the edge of the Rift.
 
Why does Pinot Noir work for [...]