The Vineyard Diaries

The Blessing of the Vines

Once again this year, on an overcast Sunday evening in June we teamed up with Rookes wine merchants of Stratford-on-Avon for a traditional "Flowering of the Vine" ceremony conducted by the Canon of Alcester, and witnessed by the Alcester Chevaliers Bretvins and the Warwick Commanderie du Taste Saumur. Despite huge misgivings about the weather, John and Carole from Rookes reassured us that all would be taken care of: the gazebo they brought turned out to be the XL version which could accommodate two tasting tables, the buffet AND (in case of an inconvenient downpour) the 35 invited guests. At 3:30 pm we proceeded into the vineyard for a short service, blessing the vines and wishing them well for a good harvest. After a short tour, we returned from the vineyard to the 'chai' (tent) to taste some of the award-winning wines from the vineyard including the new release of the 2008 range.