MORE vineyards in the Winchester area have been battling frost to protect the young shoots of this year’s crop. Last week the Chronicle reported how the Grange Estate near Itchen Stoke had alerted a team of volunteers to go out in the early hours to light hundreds of bougies, French for candles, to keep the ground temperature above freezing. The Raimes vineyard, with two fields at Harnham Hill and Lamborough Lane, near Cheriton, has been forced to take the same measures last Thursday night. These beautiful images were captured by local photographer Simon Newman. In the top photo the candles at both vineyards can be seen.
A VINEYARD near Itchen Stoke was one of several across Hampshire to take action against frost last weekend. Clear skies saw temperatures plummet which wreck the vine shoots on which this year’s harvest of grapes will grow. These photos were taken in the early hours of Saturday. The images may be beautiful but they are wine producers’ worst fear. The Hampshire soil may be identical to that of Champagne in France but the English climate is far less predictable. So ten lighters were on standby to be alerted by a call out at 2am. It took them 90 minutes to light 450 candles to keep the temperatures above freezing.