Thursday 10th September – When we opened our shutters this morning, the weather was pretty much as predicted – cloudy, cooler, but most importantly, dry. As I made my commute to the bodega, the temperature was registering about 15°C (59°F), and there was a mist hanging over much of the Salnés Valley. Of course I knew that this was only temporary, and that once the sun broke through, conditions would be good for harvesting.

By lunchtime the first two presses of the day had been loaded, as the grapes appeared to arrive faster than ever (all credit to our highly organised teams). Inevitably we couldn’t wait to taste the grape must as the first drops fell from the first pressing. Our suspicions surrounding the 2015 vintage seemed to be correct – quite a concentrated, viscose juice, with a lovely floral fruit and our usual piercing acidity to provide us with the required balance for a fabulous albariño.

Taking advantage of the good weather we decided to press as much fruit as we could handle, and consequently there was absolutely no break in the flow of fruit entering the cellar. Fortunately, by starting the presses early, our systems seemed to work quite well, and there were virtually no delays at any point of the day. The result was a record day of pressing – the biggest day in recent history (certainly since I started keeping my own records in 2002). Our plan is for another big day tomorrow to gather as much fruit as we can before any change in the weather.

By the way, our picture shows the very first grape must of 2015 (and yes, it is really that colour when it is first pressed!)Thursday 10th September – When we opened our shutters this morning, the weather was pretty much as predicted – cloudy, cooler, but most importantly, dry. As I made my commute to the bodega, the temperature was registering about 15°C (59°F), and there was a mist hanging over much of the Salnés Valley. Of course I knew that this was only temporary, and that once the sun broke through, conditions would be good for harvesting.

By lunchtime the first two presses of the day had been loaded, as the grapes appeared to arrive faster than ever (all credit to our highly organised teams). Inevitably we couldn’t wait to taste the grape must as the first drops fell from the first pressing. Our suspicions surrounding the 2015 vintage seemed to be correct – quite a concentrated, viscose juice, with a lovely floral fruit and our usual piercing acidity to provide us with the required balance for a fabulous albariño.

Taking advantage of the good weather we decided to press as much fruit as we could handle, and consequently there was absolutely no break in the flow of fruit entering the cellar. Fortunately, by starting the presses early, our systems seemed to work quite well, and there were virtually no delays at any point of the day. The result was a record day of pressing – the biggest day in recent history (certainly since I started keeping my own records in 2002). Our plan is for another big day tomorrow to gather as much fruit as we can before any change in the weather.

By the way, our picture shows the very first grape must of 2015 (and yes, it is really that colour when it is first pressed!)