Well, the absence of a post on Sunday was for a very simple reason…. more rain! The light rain that had started on Saturday night continued throughout Sunday, alternating between rain and ‘mizzle’ (mist/drizzle). Enforced, random rain breaks are not only annoying, but throw everything out of sync.  Normally there is a continuous workflow, from vineyard to cellar to vinification: this year it is much more staccato than legato.

Monday, was also slightly problematic, the mizzle continuing until about 10am. In the end we were able to pick for just a half day, starting after lunch at about 2pm and working through. Fortunately, from what we can see, the rain should now be behind us and we should be able to complete the last day or two without any further breaks.

One of the by-products of our production is the grape pomace (‘marc’ in French or ‘bagazo’ in Spanish), These are the grapes skins, pips and stalks left behind after pressing. Until recently, the pomace sold without any problem to distilleries, who paid a few cents a kilo for distillation into aguardiente, the Spanish equivalent of eau-de-vie or grappa. However, with the rapid decline of these spirit sales, we are no longer able to sell our pomace, and now have to pay to have it (ecologically) removed. Today’s video shows our presses (on the upper floor), being unloaded and delivering the pomace directly into containers below, ready to be removed.