So when is the best time to start picking? In an ideal world there would be an easy answer to this problem…. it would simply be a question of when the grapes are ripe and all the component parts are in balance (sugar, acidity, pH). The complication is that we farm our grapes in Galicia, and for the last couple of years at least, it has not been quite so straightforward.

Unfortunately we do not control the weather, and here on the Atlantic Coast, it can become quite unpredictable as we move into the Autumn. This leaves us with a dilemma… do we leave our fruit on the vine until the last possible moment, eking out every last gram of sugar (whilst at the same time running the risk of bad weather closing in), or do we simply grab the fruit and run, whilst the going’s good? Obviously it’s a gamble, a face-off with the weather Gods if you will…. but who will back down first? The downside is that if we take the easy option, and collect the fruit sooner rather than later, then we might simply miss the opportunity to make an even better wine.

To pick or not to pick, that is the question.

So when is the best time to start picking? In an ideal world there would be an easy answer to this problem…. it would simply be a question of when the grapes are ripe and all the component parts are in balance (sugar, acidity, pH). The complication is that we farm our grapes in Galicia, and for the last couple of years at least, it has not been quite so straightforward.

Unfortunately we do not control the weather, and here on the Atlantic Coast, it can become quite unpredictable as we move into the Autumn. This leaves us with a dilemma… do we leave our fruit on the vine until the last possible moment, eking out every last gram of sugar (whilst at the same time running the risk of bad weather closing in), or do we simply grab the fruit and run, whilst the going’s good? Obviously it’s a gamble, a face-off with the weather Gods if you will…. but who will back down first? The downside is that if we take the easy option, and collect the fruit sooner rather than later, then we might simply miss the opportunity to make an even better wine.

To pick or not to pick, that is the question.