A good old fashion heat wave!
Australia Day dawned with extremely strong south easterly winds, a sign of a very hot day to come.
I decided to start the day with a walk on the beach and a short swim. A day off from things viticultural, however Saturday will be back to monitoring soil moisture levels and checking that the nets are doing their thing.
By early afternoon the temperature had crept up over 30C and the wind had eased. In such conditions the vines will be drawing on moisture reserves from deep in the soil to allow them to continue functioning.
By late afternoon the temperature peaked at 37C and in Perth it hit 41C! More hot weather is forecast for the next two to three days. Yes a good old fashion heat wave.
Very important that tomorrow soil mositure measurements via Gypsum blocks will be carried out to decide if an irrigation is needed. The important thing now is to maintain leaf function during this ripening phase. A check of the nets for bird intrusion will be next and finally a look at the Viognier grafts to train shoots that have grown since the last pass through.
This weather will certainly bring on ripening.
Vineman
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