Vineyards in Norfolk said they’ve run out of space to store this year’s grape harvest after unusually hot weather more than doubled their expected yield.
For Laura Robinson, owner of Burn Valley Vineyard near Burnham Market, the perfect weather has created a raft of “happy problems”.
Burn Valley Vineyard owner Laura Robinson said the team is struggling to keep up with the exceptional grape harvest (Image: Burn Valley Vineyard)
The record-breaking heat of summer 2022, combined with an extra dose of sunshine this October, means the vineyard has produced 10 additional tonnes of grapes on previous years.
And while she said this is a welcome boost, it is also causing logistical havoc.
She said: “We literally don’t have anywhere to put the extra grapes.
“I’ve had to beg, borrow, steal to try and find someone to store them for us, but everybody else is doing the same, so it’s a bit of a nightmare.
“Getting hold of yeast and nutrients we need has also been very difficult, because there’s only a couple of suppliers in the country and they significantly underestimated this year's yield.
“It’s getting a bit hairy.”
It’s a similar story over at Winbirri Vineyard in Surlingham.
Winbirri Vineyard has seen a bumper grape harvest thanks to the weather (Image: News Quest)
Winemaker Lee Dyer said they’ve had to call in more than 350 local volunteers to deal with the extra picking and buy in an extra five tanks to store the fruit.
He said: “It’s by far the most challenging harvest we’d have to deal with.
“Nobody expected 27c weather in October, but that heat in the weeks before harvest gave the yield a massive boost.
“Of course it's fantastic news, but I’ll be glad to see the back of this harvest.”
Winbirri Vineyard has had to call in more than 350 volunteers to help cope with the grape harvest (Image: News Quest)
Luckily, the growers say the demand for Norfolk wine is more than sufficient to keep up.
Last year Winbirri completely sold out of its Winbirri Bacchus, and Ms Robinson said the extra fruit would allow them to take on bigger contracts than previous seasons.
She added: “It is a very happy problem to have.”
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