After two days of rain and a slightly grey start the sun finally returned to our vineyards. Tractor and trailers filled with grapes appeared on our streets once more. We are hoping that this period of rain might now be behind us, even though the forecast for the next day or two is variable, and differs between different websites. There is always a temptation to believe the most optimistic forecasts, but over the years I have more or less worked out which are the most reliable. Having said all that (perhaps because of our proximity to the Ocean), forecasts not only can change very quickly, but can also produce conditions that are very localised. An area of constant sunshine only 10Km from an area of persistent rain… very challenging!

The majority of outside growers (from whom we buy grapes) have largely finished their harvests now, with only a few stragglers outstanding now. Of course the ‘Lion’s Share’ of our harvest comes from our own fincas, and consequently our pickers as working as fast as they can (during yet another year when finding experienced and reliable pickers becomes more and more challenging). Today we are tackling one of our local vineyards known as Cuchidos, perhaps less than 2km from the bodega, and hopefully, we should be able to complete this in one day.

Today’s photo shows One Bunch (or Juan Racimo as he is known to his Spanish friends), that weighs in at nearly 1kg. As you can see, despite the adverse weather, it is still completely healthy.