England’s largest vineyard has seen its harvest fall by 40% due to “thousands” of pigeons feasting on the harvest and bad weather.

Chris White, CEO of Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking, Surrey, says he believes poor conditions have prevented birds from finding berries in the hedgerows, forcing them to take his grapes instead.

“We work year-round on the farm, so it’s heartbreaking to see when we’re going to harvest,” said Mr. White, who explained that the high quality of the grapes was a redeeming factor this year.

He said about 20% of the crops were eaten by birds, while another 20% were lost to late blight and other natural factors.

“It was a surprise because we haven’t had any bird problems for 10 years, but we will be ready next year,” Mr White said.

He said the estate enjoyed a “bumper” harvest last year but had not been so lucky this time around.

“In one area of ​​the vineyard we grow our best variety of still wine,” Mr White said.

“One night we went to bed to prepare to harvest five tonnes of fruit and the next morning we woke up and half was gone.”

The winemaker explained that covering the 265-acre vineyard with netting to prevent pigeons from accessing the grapes was not an option due to its size.

Instead, Denbies will deter birds by using kites and firecrackers, or mini fireworks, which explode every 30 minutes and scare the birds.

Mr White said the poor harvests are not limited to his vineyard.

Marie Davies, of Stopham Vineyard, in Pulborough, West Sussex, said wine growers in her area had also seen a 40-50% reduction in their harvests.

“It’s been a challenge because of the rain, and the birds have been a problem this year,” she said.

Ms Davies says the vineyard relies on stocks from last year’s harvest, so the true impact of this year’s low yield is not yet apparent.