Classics.

If you ask most people for red wine grape varieties among the top five will be Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir is said to be one of the most difficult and demanding grape vines you can grow, at  least for growing the best quality grapes for use in the best quality wines.

Yet it likes cool climates and commercially it is one of the most widely planted varieties in this country going into some of our world class sparkling wines.

My Pinot Noir grape vine is healthy and growing stronger every day. I have thinned the shoots down to two, one for spare that itself will be stopped in a couple of weeks so all the available strength goes into the one remaining shoot.

Cabernet Sauvignon on the other hand cannot be ripened outside in this country so I have mine growing in the greenhouse. The last time I posted a picture it was at the bud swelling stage.

Look at it now, a vigorous healthy shoot. It has found in the greenhouse a real home from home.

Phoenix Risings.

The Phoenix Vine has broken bud and is looking healthy, vigorous and wanting to get on with the business of growing.

Some of the buds have two shoots at each station. This is not a problem at the moment but later in the year after flowering I may reduce them to one per station to prevent canopy overcrowding.

Five of the six Phoenix cuttings look like they are rooting. The best three will be transplanted on the allotment in the autumn.

Tender Perlette.

According to some sources Perlette, while on the face of it ripens early enough to grow outside in this country it is tender so only recommended for inside. This has certainly proved correct from its experience of the recent late frosts we had lately.

Despite all the vines being covered on the frosty nights the Perlette shoots have been badly damaged as you can see here. So even in a polytunnel it can get damaged.

The vine broke bud early and paid the price. It will survive but is an obvious setback for it.

Meanwhile the Muscat Bleu that got exactly the same protection as the Perlette is completely undamaged.

So Muscat Bleu 1, Perlette 0 for now.

Starting Into Growth.

All the vines, indoors and out have broken bud and begun growing. Some are further forward than others as you would expect but the Chardonnay vine is normally one of the first to break bud but this year is one of the last - but it is finally pushing buds.

We have had some cool weather recently with a couple of overnight frosts. This has resulted in one or two of the buds getting frosted. This is another reason to leave extra buds at pruning.

In the garden it is easier to protect them from frost though no system is foolproof. Here is a Regent shoot romping away.

And here are a couple of buds that won't make it.

In a couple of weeks the risk of frost should be gone. Then the work really begins!