After our assessment of the first day of picking yesterday, we quickly realised that the yields in 2011 were going to be high. The kilos that we estimated for our first vineyard site in Castrelo were easily surpassed, and the presses were working overtime to keep pace. We also have our biggest picking team ever, with around 60 people in total. Actually, calling them a picking team is not strictly true, as a number of these helpers are actually dedicated to logistics – collecting filled baskets, loading them on to our vehicles, and getting them into the presses as quickly as possible. It’s a never ending shuttle. With this combination of higher yields and more people it certainly added to the pressure on the bodega itself, but speaking on behalf of the bodega team, we console ourselves by remembering that the harvest only occurs once a year!

Obviously my reference to ‘red sky’ is taken from the old adage, “red sky in the morning, shepherds warning” (I think that in the U.S. they refer to sailors rather than shepherds), but either way it translates into possible bad weather on the way. As I’ve said before, forget all the satellite systems, barometric charts etc., etc., just stick your head out of the window and forecast the weather for yourself. Unfortunately for us it looks like this old proverb might well have come true this time around – by lunch time on day 2 the clouds were thickening, and it was looking bad for the afternoon. With this is mind we decided to suspend the picking, and sure enough, almost within minutes, the rain had started – not heavy, torrential rain, but still enough to soak the skins of the fruit. The forecast for day 3 is not that great either, so it might well be that we will wait for a new window before re-starting. Let’s see what tomorrow brings….

After our assessment of the first day of picking yesterday, we quickly realised that the yields in 2011 were going to be high. The kilos that we estimated for our first vineyard site in Castrelo were easily surpassed, and the presses were working overtime to keep pace. We also have our biggest picking team ever, with around 60 people in total. Actually, calling them a picking team is not strictly true, as a number of these helpers are actually dedicated to logistics – collecting filled baskets, loading them on to our vehicles, and getting them into the presses as quickly as possible. It’s a never ending shuttle. With this combination of higher yields and more people it certainly added to the pressure on the bodega itself, but speaking on behalf of the bodega team, we console ourselves by remembering that the harvest only occurs once a year!

Obviously my reference to ‘red sky’ is taken from the old adage, “red sky in the morning, shepherds warning” (I think that in the U.S. they refer to sailors rather than shepherds), but either way it translates into possible bad weather on the way. As I’ve said before, forget all the satellite systems, barometric charts etc., etc., just stick your head out of the window and forecast the weather for yourself. Unfortunately for us it looks like this old proverb might well have come true this time around – by lunch time on day 2 the clouds were thickening, and it was looking bad for the afternoon. With this is mind we decided to suspend the picking, and sure enough, almost within minutes, the rain had started – not heavy, torrential rain, but still enough to soak the skins of the fruit. The forecast for day 3 is not that great either, so it might well be that we will wait for a new window before re-starting. Let’s see what tomorrow brings….