I apologise for the delay in this last post of the 2011 harvest, but I do have a good excuse…. I was not here! The last day of picking was conducted without me as I flew off for an important Trans-Atlantic appointment – more of that tomorrow.

In the meantime my poor, abandoned wife battled on, not only organising the picking, but also taking on a considerable amont of work in the bodega without her faithful side-kick…. me. To be honest, it transpired (or so I am told) that the picking itself was probably the easy part, as the majority of her difficulties during my absence occured inside the cellar. As though she did not have enough to think about, our temperature control system decided to pack up.

Angela arrived one morning to discover that the refrigerant had started to leak from the cold machine rendering it completely useless. To cut a long and complicated story short, after many urgent phone calls, a temporary repair was effected the same day, and no real damage was done to either man, machine, or more importantly, our wine.

During the fermentation, with the cooling system working flat out, the cellar itself gets pretty cold, and despite the natural heat generated by the reaction of yeast and sugar, the tanks will only increase in temperature by between 0.5°C and 1.0°C per day, even with the cold system out of action. It would take a good few days of zero cooling before the fermentation would rage out of control and damage the finished wine and therefore a few hours does not make too much difference. It is very worrying nonetheless, and simply adds to the stress of wine making.

Meanwhile, back in the vineyard, the last block of grapes was picked under blue skies, with some of the warmest temperatures we have seen this summer – up to 33°C (just over 90°F). Sugar levels were good, and as there was no shortage of fruit this year, only the very best grapes were selected.

Finally, it would seem, that the 2011 harvest has come to an end, nearly three weeks after we originally started. It has been an exhausting time for all concerned.

I apologise for the delay in this last post of the 2011 harvest, but I do have a good excuse…. I was not here! The last day of picking was conducted without me as I flew off for an important Trans-Atlantic appointment – more of that tomorrow.

In the meantime my poor, abandoned wife battled on, not only organising the picking, but also taking on a considerable amont of work in the bodega without her faithful side-kick…. me. To be honest, it transpired (or so I am told) that the picking itself was probably the easy part, as the majority of her difficulties during my absence occured inside the cellar. As though she did not have enough to think about, our temperature control system decided to pack up.

Angela arrived one morning to discover that the refrigerant had started to leak from the cold machine rendering it completely useless. To cut a long and complicated story short, after many urgent phone calls, a temporary repair was effected the same day, and no real damage was done to either man, machine, or more importantly, our wine.

During the fermentation, with the cooling system working flat out, the cellar itself gets pretty cold, and despite the natural heat generated by the reaction of yeast and sugar, the tanks will only increase in temperature by between 0.5°C and 1.0°C per day, even with the cold system out of action. It would take a good few days of zero cooling before the fermentation would rage out of control and damage the finished wine and therefore a few hours does not make too much difference. It is very worrying nonetheless, and simply adds to the stress of wine making.

Meanwhile, back in the vineyard, the last block of grapes was picked under blue skies, with some of the warmest temperatures we have seen this summer – up to 33°C (just over 90°F). Sugar levels were good, and as there was no shortage of fruit this year, only the very best grapes were selected.

Finally, it would seem, that the 2011 harvest has come to an end, nearly three weeks after we originally started. It has been an exhausting time for all concerned.