After more than a month of sustained sunshine and high temperatures the weather finally changed around the middle of August. A few days of rain and grey skies transformed the completion of our summer completely, and hopefully might be of some benefit to our harvest. A little rain, at the right moment (especially after such a dry period), could add a little more substance to the fruit. The only danger being that if the berries are small and thick skinned, a burst of prolonged, heavy rain could cause the skins to split and allow rot to set in. Thankfully, this does not appear to be the case. At this time the bunches are slowly changing colour, and whilst we can taste our fruit now, it still has a week or two to evolve before we start picking. (It appears that we might start around 7th September).

Of course, this year’s harvest will have quite a different look, with many new rules imposed upon us as a result of the Covid crisis. Obviously, everyone will work in masks (which is obliged by law in Spain), and we will still have to maintain our social distances. There will also be copious amounts of hand gel used, albeit well away from the grapes! Authorities have also created a good deal of extra documentation attached to the harvest process, just for good measure, but that is a whole other story!