The shoots of the grapes grow from spring to autumn.

During the summer months great emphasis is placed on maintaining the canopy. Good canopy management contributes to the health of the vine. A healthy vine is in turn less prone to the diseases that are so much part and parcel of the life cycle of the vineyard.

A strict spray routine will minimise the risk of disease. To be effective the spraying ideally should start about ten days before bud burst, but not during flowering, and fortnightly thereafter, weather permitting, until at least a month before harvest.

Danebury Vineyard is in the process of converting to organic methods, so a mix of copper and sulphur are used to prevent the infection of powdery mildew, downy mildew and Botrytis.

Copper is the first and the last spray and is therefore used after harvest and early on in the growth of the vine. Copper has the effect of setting the crop back a week or ten days after each application.

Sulphur is at its most efficacious either in the cool of early morning or after the heat of the day.

The prevention of fungus infection is also helped by maintaining an open canopy and so encouraging air-flow. This reduces microclimates of warm humid conditions around the bunches of grapes and leaves.

By including leaf plucking around the bunches of grapes the quality of light intensity is increased, thus encouraging photosynthesis to increase the ultimate sugar content in the grape-must.

The practice of thinning the fruit is also undertaken. By thinning the crop the potential of early ripening of the remaining crop is increased.

Following the organic conversion practises, the use of herbicides is prohibited; the weeds and grass under the vines are rotavated and kept clear by hand. The grass in between the rows is cut to a height of about 6 inches. This height encourages the growth of clover, which in turns maintains the balance of nitrogen in the soil.

Nitrogen is essential for vine growth. Nitrogen is an important component of proteins, and also of chlorophyll.

By encouraging deep rooting plants such as clover the structure of the soil is kept aerated and so reducing impaction. This helps to build a healthy structure of life within the soil, thus contributing to the ecosystem of the soil and health of the vines.