First weekend in April, First frost
Saturday, 02 April – Sunday, 03 April – Monday, 04 April
Winter is back throughout the country which is not in and of itself a problem, but we have had some warm and sunny spring days on 20-25 March. The vines lying on the south orientated slopes had started to bud on 28 March…
And clearly, they are highly sensitive to icing after bud break. At this stage the buds should not be exposed to low temperatures below -3 -4 °C. Swollen buds, or freshly hatched, withstand low temperatures of up to -5 -8°C depending on the humidity of the air.
We might as well say that we are, once again this year, highly affected by frost, with temperatures of down to -6 -8°C on Saturday night, -5 -6°C on Sunday night, and even -3 -4°C on Monday morning.
Every effort was made to protect the vines with 2 wind turbines in motion. Also, 12 cubic metres of wood were burnt on those long 3 nights. We managed to reduce the temperature by 2°C only over 4 to 6 hectares, which is not enough…
But we must keep our head up, sometimes nature surprises on the upside. We will know that probably in the next 2 weeks!
Frost is there!
Wood fires dance under wind turbines
Freshly hatched bud, under spring frost
Frost damage on first bud formation