Hopefully, we are now entering the last day or two of picking grapes – it has certainly been a long haul this year, seemingly never ending. The forecast for today and the next few days is for blue skies and warm sunshine, so the weather should no longer be an obstacle. Today’s picture serves as confirmation of the much improved conditions!

There is an interesting issue that has arisen in the last day or so; the yields. We have been quite lucky so far, in that, despite the rain, there has been no real sign of any rot….. however, we have noticed that the individual cases that we use for picking are getting heavier. The fruit has now started to absorb more of the rainwater, as it seeps down and finally reaches the roots. Obviously, this problem has only occurred during the last throws of the harvest, but we do at least, know a way in which we can compensate slightly – in the pressing. By reducing, the time of each pressing cycle, and also reducing the pressure that the machine actually uses, we can simply take more of the free run juice and that of the first pressings. In the end, it is simply a shorter more gentle pressing, only retaining the very best juice of each cycle.

At the end of the day, with more tanks filled, we have our fingers crossed that tomorrow could be our final day!