Harvest 2024 update – a challenging year for the Surrey Hills
As you may have heard along the English wine grapevine, 2024 has been a challenging harvest year for English vineyards – and, here in the Surrey Hills, it has been no different.
Following last year’s record harvests, this year was one where you REALLY had to love what you do, as challenge after challenge presented itself through the growing season.
The year started warm and wet; then there was inclement weather at the end of June and early July, which resulted in poor fruit set for some varietals; heavy rain during the summer caused downy mildew in many English vineyards or, at the very least, heightened the risk of disease; and, in the end, the absence of an 'Indian Summer' meant it was difficult to ripen the fruit, which delayed the harvest.
Just to add to the challenges, a rare autumn frost hit some vineyards in the days before picking and, here in the Surrey Hills at least, pigeons developed a connoisseurs taste for grapes - an issue that our vineyards haven’t had serious problems with in previous years.
With all that said, the quality of the grapes picked has been high across the board, even if the quantities aren’t on the same scale as last year’s monster harvest.
All of our Surrey Hills vineyards are unique, with each facing different growing challenges and varying ambitions for their wine collections – from single vintage sparkling wines to elegant rosés, crisp whites and distinctive orange wines.
There are also plenty of opportunities to discover more about this year’s harvest, taste the current vintages and dive into the festive spirit at all our vineyards in the lead up to Christmas.
Below, you’ll find harvest highlights - and, let’s face it, lowlights - from each of our vineyards…
For press enquiries about Vineyards of the Surrey Hills
and any of our vineyards, please get in touch.
Photo: The team at Albury Organic Vineyard faced a challenging harvest year with a smile
Albury Organic Vineyard, near Guildford
Nick Wenman, vineyard owner
First planted in 2009, poor weather conditions led to Albury Organic Vineyard’s second lowest harvest on record.
As well as inclement weather at the end of June and early July, which resulted in poor fruit set for some varietals, heavy rain during the summer caused downy mildew and the absence of an 'Indian Summer' meant it was difficult to ripen the fruit which delayed the harvest.
However, two new challenges had a significant impact on this year's yields. An unusually early autumn frost that damaged the canopy and slowed the ripening process, and an influx of birds into the vineyard, predominantly wood pigeons looking for food.
Thirteen tonnes of fruit were harvested from the main Albury site compared to a usual average of 20. In total, 22 tonnes of grapes were picked across all three of their sites. Although the yield was 40% lower than average, this could have been a lot worse without the hard work of their exceptional vineyard team.
There were a record number of willing volunteers from the Albury Wine Club and the local community this year. Nearly 300 people were involved in the 2024 harvest.
The first wine to be released from the 2024 vintage will be Silent Pool Rosé next May, and Albury expects to make around 5,000 bottles. Albury Estate sparkling wines from this year's harvest will be available from 2027.
Read more about the Albury Organic Vineyard 2024 harvest here
Photo: Grape pickers at Chilworth Manor Vineyard celebrating harvest 2023 in the Surrey Hills
Chilworth Manor Vineyard, near Guildford
John MacRae-Brown, vineyard manager
At Chilworth Manor Vineyard, they actually recorded more warm growing days (averages above 10 degrees) during March, April and May this year than since they started recording in 2017 – the year of their very first small harvest.
While very wet ground conditions caused issues for many English vineyards with tractors unable to get much-needed base fertilisers to vines, Chilworth use a dripline fertigation system to deliver what is needed at the right time.
Then summer arrived. One week in particular swung from cold northerly winds to deluges of rain to extreme heat reaching the mid-thirties - a perfect combination for high humidity. For many vineyards across the country, this meant unusually heavy disease pressure (particularly Downy Mildew) from early on and a challenge to keep this from the ripening grapes.
As if this was not enough to contend with, an entire pigeon population decided that Chilworth Manor Vineyard was the finest eatery around - hence a prolonged (but unfortunately very necessary) season of bird-scaring bangs and booms this year.
With the help of Chilworth’s volunteers, they had three enjoyable days of picking to bring in their Pinot and Chardonnay grapes, having held on as long as they could for a later than usual harvest to ensure they had the quality they were looking for.
Read more about the Chilworth Manor Vineyard 2024 harvest here
Photo: Family and friends help out at High Clandon Estate Vineyard's harvest days
High Clandon Vineyard, near Guildford and Woking
Sibylla Tindale, vineyard owner
Harvest at High Clandon is a family affair and, this year, their volunteer crew set off on a glorious autumn day for a small but perfectly formed pick.
Compared to last year's whopper (a High Clandon record crop), quantity was much reduced but High Clandon’s quality controllers were delighted by the flavourful and clean grapes - all due to assiduous hand-manicuring through the growing season.
The plan for the 2024 vintage is to make a Cuvée Rosé, as this year's grapes had the same wonderful flavour and varietal characteristics as their 2011 vintage Aurora Cuvée.
You'll have to wait until at least 2028 to try the new wine, though.
Pickers at Denbies Wine Estate during harvest 2024 (Photo: The Big Ladder Photographer)
Denbies Wine Estate, Dorking
Andy Kershaw, cellar master
The challenges of harvest at Denbies Wine Estate were the same as those well documented elsewhere: rain, birds and absent sunshine...
The first Estate pick was Solaris, on October 1, with the last estate pick, Pinot Noir, clone 777, taking place on October 25.
More than 295 tonnes of fruit was processed through the Crush Pad – this compares to 525 tonnes of fruit in 2023.
One wine to look out for in the future is Wild Orange Solaris 2024, a wildly fermented version of their Orange Solaris.
Even though Vintage 2024 is over, the winery is still a busy place. All of the ‘24s need full analysis and, ideally, putting in tanks without ullage (or head space) before the end of the year. Many of the wines are starting to be stabilised for blending in the early part of 2025. Over the next couple of weeks, the winery team will bottle the final premiums of 2023.
Denbies Wine Estate’s indoor tours take you past the winery and into their wine cellars.
Determination and resilience was needed at Greyfriars Vineyard this harvest (Photo: @dan.the.wine.man)
Greyfriars Vineyard, between Farnham and Guildford
Mike Wagstaff, owner
This year’s harvest t-shirt tagline at Greyfriars Vineyard was: "Never underestimate the power of determination and resilience."
After an extraordinary harvest last year, 2023 was always going to be a difficult act to follow and so it proved.
This year has served as a reminder of how volatile it is growing grapes and making wine on the northern frontier of the wine world. In total, Greyfriars picked a shade under 90 tonnes of fruit this year. This represents less than half of the tonnage in 2023.
This year was the fourth year in which Greyfriars volunteers have turned out in droves despite the poor weather conditions to help bring in the vintage. In total over 230 helped to pick almost 25 tonnes of fruit constituting almost 30% of the entire harvest.
While this is both the latest, smallest and most difficult vintage they have had since their vines matured, Greyfriars are incredibly thankful that they had a harvest at all due to the challenges of the 2024 growing season – quite a few vineyards in the UK lost their entire crops to disease.
Greyfriars are very pleased with the quality of the fruit and juice which have now finished primary fermentation and are now undergoing malolactic fermentation. They are looking forward to tasting the wines and starting the process of blending over the next month or so.
