A year or so ago we discovered a problem in the ‘salon’ of our bodega – we have been attacked by wood boring insects! Of course we do not really know where they originated from, only that they have slowly but surely started to munch their way through chairs, tables and the beams in our roof. (Thankfully the beams are not structural, and are purely aesthetic, so removing them should not cause us a problem).

There are different ways of tackling this problem; insecticide is just one option, as is fumigation by professionals. Although this could probably done quite safely (even in a wine making environment), we are not taking any chances – we are simply going to remove all of the wood and burn it! This might seem quite dramatic, but the reality is that we have been thinking of modernising our reception room/function room for some time now.

Now that most of the post-harvest cleaning jobs have been completed, and before the long, tedious chore of pruning begins, we have a bit of a lull in activity (not forgetting that the wine making is still ticking-over in the background). This provides us with the perfect opportunity to start.

The first step was easy – removing all the furniture, fixture and fittings (see photo). The next step will be to tackle the beams.