Believe it or not my Harvest Report for the 2012 vintage is already well under way. Each month I add a few notes about the winter weather, that will quite naturally, have an impact on the growth cycle of the vines.

I remember quite well writing on this blog about the dry, sunny period that we experienced just after our harvest finished in 2011 (with locals still using the beaches until mid-October), but this dry period is now extending throughout January and February here in Galicia. I know that I am guilty of constantly using the UK as a reference for this blog (simply because I do try to stay in touch with what is happening in my country of birth), but I know that they too have some serious water issues in the south-east of the country. Even as early as February the UK have announced that there will be water shortages this summer as the reservoirs are well below the required levels for this time of year. So it would appear that Galicia is not alone.

As yet I have not heard any announcements from our local government about possible drought, but if the weather continues as is, then I have no doubt that this will happen sooner rather than later. Having said that, the reaction to dry weather is often quite different to that in the UK….. over here the first precaution is usually to ban lighting fires, whereas in the UK I believe they have already announced a restriction on the use of hosepipes (normally used for washing cars and watering gardens etc). Strange how the priorites appear to vary like this.

Anyway, we have yet to see how this lack of rainfall may or may not impact this year’s grapes – only time will tell (to use my favourite, well-worn phrase).

Believe it or not my Harvest Report for the 2012 vintage is already well under way. Each month I add a few notes about the winter weather, that will quite naturally, have an impact on the growth cycle of the vines.

I remember quite well writing on this blog about the dry, sunny period that we experienced just after our harvest finished in 2011 (with locals still using the beaches until mid-October), but this dry period is now extending throughout January and February here in Galicia. I know that I am guilty of constantly using the UK as a reference for this blog (simply because I do try to stay in touch with what is happening in my country of birth), but I know that they too have some serious water issues in the south-east of the country. Even as early as February the UK have announced that there will be water shortages this summer as the reservoirs are well below the required levels for this time of year. So it would appear that Galicia is not alone.

As yet I have not heard any announcements from our local government about possible drought, but if the weather continues as is, then I have no doubt that this will happen sooner rather than later. Having said that, the reaction to dry weather is often quite different to that in the UK….. over here the first precaution is usually to ban lighting fires, whereas in the UK I believe they have already announced a restriction on the use of hosepipes (normally used for washing cars and watering gardens etc). Strange how the priorites appear to vary like this.

Anyway, we have yet to see how this lack of rainfall may or may not impact this year’s grapes – only time will tell (to use my favourite, well-worn phrase).