It seems a little strange that we have some tanks in our cellars that are more or less half way through their fermentation, whilst out in the vineyards some other bodegas are only just gathering the last of their fruit. Of course this is the difference between those who picked before the storm, and the many who didn’t even start to pick until after. The only consolation is that the weather since the storm has been good, but then the obvious downside is that the warmth of the sun only helps to promote rot. Despite this burst of late sunshine it will not really help the overall concentration of the must caused by the volume of water absorbed by the fruit (which was quite considerable).

To prove my point, we did manage to take a few photos in a neighbouring vineyard (see today’s picture) after the rains, and the damage caused by rain and subsequent humidity is plain to see. Even if the bodega concerned uses a sorting table in their grape reception, they are going to be losing a considerable percentage of fruit. It must be soul destroying to see half of your year’s work end up in the bin….. Thank goodness it wasn’t Castro Martin!It seems a little strange that we have some tanks in our cellars that are more or less half way through their fermentation, whilst out in the vineyards some other bodegas are only just gathering the last of their fruit. Of course this is the difference between those who picked before the storm, and the many who didn’t even start to pick until after. The only consolation is that the weather since the storm has been good, but then the obvious downside is that the warmth of the sun only helps to promote rot. Despite this burst of late sunshine it will not really help the overall concentration of the must caused by the volume of water absorbed by the fruit (which was quite considerable).

To prove my point, we did manage to take a few photos in a neighbouring vineyard (see today’s picture) after the rains, and the damage caused by rain and subsequent humidity is plain to see. Even if the bodega concerned uses a sorting table in their grape reception, they are going to be losing a considerable percentage of fruit. It must be soul destroying to see half of your year’s work end up in the bin….. Thank goodness it wasn’t Castro Martin!