After many long hard hours in the vineyards, and now many more hours just beginning in the cellar, the picking has finally come to an end. In one sense we have been lucky in that all our machinery, vehicles and equipment worked exactly as they should. Our experienced team both inside and outside the cellar have worked with both enthusiasm and professionalism, for which we sincerely thank them. Of course the only negative to this year’s campaign has been the weather, with about three and a half days lost to rain; which has made it very frustrating and drawn-out for everyone involved. It’s sometimes difficult to remember that we are just, in fact, farmers, and as such, completely in the lap of the weather Gods. Having said that we have been lucky to dodge the extreme drought and arid conditions of some other parts of Spain, and in the end gathered in a bountiful and pretty good quality harvest. Exactly how good we have yet to see.

At the end of the last day, as always, we have to wait until the last grapes are gathered in before charging the presses. The smallest amount that we can load in any press is about 3,000 kilos; any less would result in serious and expensive damage to the machine. As if it had been planned in advance, the kilos that had actually arrived by the end of the day, were the perfect amount for pressing, and within an hour or two of being hanging on our our vines, the final kilos had been loaded, pressed, and the resulting grape must finally transferred to our tanks. With a collective sigh of relief, the 2025 harvest was finally over. (I can been seen here waving goodbye to yet another campaign!)