Sunday. Yet another sunny morning, with a forecast for more high temperatures. In theory at least, we have almost reached the mid-point of the harvest, which is just as well as we have now seen some forecasts of rain for Monday night (any time after about 5pm).

Traditionally, the weekend is always the busiest time, but despite this slight increase Sunday passed off without a hitch. We had one minor issue with the temperature control in one tank, but this was quickly resolved by our own people.

When we talk of yield at this time of year, we are, in effect. talking about two different things. There is the yield in the vineyard which reflect the amount of fruit collected in each vineyard, expressed in kilos per hectare, and then there is the yield that relates to the amount of juice extracted from the grapes, simply the litres per kilo.

I think I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that yields from the vineyards are smaller this year. Each harvest we try to estimate in advance how many kilos that we might have from our own vineyards. This is done by counting the bunches in a measured area and then multiplying this by our total surface area. On many occasions this is reasonably accurate, and allows us to plan how many empty tanks we will need, and the quantities of materials that we will need for wine making. This year, not only was our own estimate quite inaccurate, but also that of nearly all of our grape suppliers. I understand that this applies to the region as a whole and not only ourselves.