Here they are. Both vine varieties are flowering. This was taken a couple of days ago when they were starting. Now about half of all the florets across the vineyard are out.  The Kernling first -  brave early stamens ventured forth on 27th June - the Madeleine Angevine 2 days later. Exactly the same timing as in 2006, which is a good omen - English wine's best ever year.

 

 

The inflorescence above is about 5 cm long, less than half its final length as a grape-bunch. The wind-pollinated, hermaphrodite flowers are less-than-spectacular and scent free, but just as eagerly-awaited as the roses and much more anxiously watched over.

 

Shoot-positioning is finished on the Madeleine, now grown up to well above the top wires and neatly tied in with the lower training wires in their final position. Just started moving up the wires on the top Kernling, which is slower-growing with an annoyingly individualistic growth habit - anywhere but up - so it's a trickier job. The high-level Kernling shoots will be left to their own devices this year - our efforts at shoot-positioning them straight downwards with wires last year broke too many.  We'll let them drop under their own weight and sort out by hand the wayward ones that grow along the wire instead of down. But not for a few weeks. By August they'll be strong enough to cope with hauling around. Now they're soft and their attachment fragile enough for the wind to take a toll - nature's thinning.