Yesterday I decided that I would make a new post about progress in our vineyards, or should I say, the lack of it. My intention was to nip out into the vineyard that surrounds the bodega and snap a few photos of the vines slowly springing to life. Only one problem – it did not stop raining all day, not even for one second, and so my photography mission had to be postponed until today.

From this morning’s photo you will see that there is actually very little growth so far – the buds have only just started to break, as the cycle towards the 2013 harvest begins. In some vintages we might already see a few small leaves by this date, and so I think it would be fair to say that we could be perhaps a week or two behind schedule. Of course this protracted winter weather is not such a bad thing (except in our home where the central heating was out of commission for a while!), indeed it gives the plants longer to recover from their summer exertions, not to mention that it also kills off a few of the unwanted vineyard bugs.

There has certainly been no shortage of water this winter as the rain continues to fall, and we have seen precious little sunshine at all. The temperatures during March have continued to hover in the range between 10°-15°C (50°-60°F), and it is looking like our Easter holidays will be decidedly chilly. 

Yesterday I decided that I would make a new post about progress in our vineyards, or should I say, the lack of it. My intention was to nip out into the vineyard that surrounds the bodega and snap a few photos of the vines slowly springing to life. Only one problem – it did not stop raining all day, not even for one second, and so my photography mission had to be postponed until today.

From this morning’s photo you will see that there is actually very little growth so far – the buds have only just started to break, as the cycle towards the 2013 harvest begins. In some vintages we might already see a few small leaves by this date, and so I think it would be fair to say that we could be perhaps a week or two behind schedule. Of course this protracted winter weather is not such a bad thing (except in our home where the central heating was out of commission for a while!), indeed it gives the plants longer to recover from their summer exertions, not to mention that it also kills off a few of the unwanted vineyard bugs.

There has certainly been no shortage of water this winter as the rain continues to fall, and we have seen precious little sunshine at all. The temperatures during March have continued to hover in the range between 10°-15°C (50°-60°F), and it is looking like our Easter holidays will be decidedly chilly.