THE grape harvest has begun three weeks early at the Three Choirs Vineyard, where 2003 will be remembered as a vintage year.

But while the hot summer provided exactly the right conditions for grapes, early frosts hit fruit production on one Worcestershire farm producing fruit gins.

"The sun has brought on the damsons a week earlier this year, but hard frosts when they were flowering have cut the crop by about 50 per cent," said Colin Hingston, of Tipsage Farm, Newnham Bridge, near Tenbury Wells.

Nevertheless, Tipsage expects to increase production of damson gin from 4,000 to 6,000 litres this year, using fruit from other local smallholdings as well as that grown on their own land.

It will also produce about 5,000 litres of cherry, raspberry and blackcurrant gins, but the cherries will come from Denmark and the raspberries from Gloucestershire. "And this is the third year running that we have increased production," said Mr Hingston.

Winegrowers need plenty of summer sun to ripen and sweeten the grapes.

"We want small, concentrated grapes, full of sugars and low acidity, which is what we are getting," said managing director Tom Shaw, of Three Choirs.

"Conditions this year have been excellent.

"The roots of the vines go down 12 to 15ft, so we don't need lots of rain.

"We started picking on Friday - the earliest ever - and we will have a magnificent harvest.

"I would expect the quantity to be about the same as usual, but it's the quality that is important to produce the best wine."

The vineyard employs about 20 people to harvest 75 acres of grapes, which will produce about 250,000 bottles of wine.

At Tiltridge Vineyard, Upton-upon-Severn, the grapes are on target to be ready for picking in about three weeks' time.