One of the features of the 2012 harvest (which I think I mentioned on day one), is that it is clear that the volume of wine that we produce will be significantly less than last year. The original forecasts of local Consello office claimed that we would be down by 50%, which at the time seemed a little over dramatic. The odd thing is that, despite our presses working flat out, as they always do, we simply do not appear to be filling that many tanks! It would appear therefore, that this forecast might not be too wide of the mark.

On this, the seventh day, with the traumas of our cooling system finally behind us and only a few thousand kilos left to pick, the end was clearly in sight. After the huge crop last year, the campaign of 2012 provided quite a contrast, and in the end the Consello prediction actually proved to be quite accurate, almost half the number of pressings and roughly half the number of kilos. However, before starting any panic regarding a ‘short’ vintage I should quickly remind customers that we are saying 50% down when compared to 2011 – a vintage that broke all records by some distance. So yes, this is a smallish vintage, but it is by no means a disaster, and from our tastings of the must, we should be compensated with a very good wine. As any good wine maker will tell you, a low yield nearly always produces higher quality.

By lunch time the final press was loaded and running, and by early evening the 2012 vintage was finally declared complete (or at least the picking element). As always we are now excited to see what we can create in the cellar!

One of the features of the 2012 harvest (which I think I mentioned on day one), is that it is clear that the volume of wine that we produce will be significantly less than last year. The original forecasts of local Consello office claimed that we would be down by 50%, which at the time seemed a little over dramatic. The odd thing is that, despite our presses working flat out, as they always do, we simply do not appear to be filling that many tanks! It would appear therefore, that this forecast might not be too wide of the mark.

On this, the seventh day, with the traumas of our cooling system finally behind us and only a few thousand kilos left to pick, the end was clearly in sight. After the huge crop last year, the campaign of 2012 provided quite a contrast, and in the end the Consello prediction actually proved to be quite accurate, almost half the number of pressings and roughly half the number of kilos. However, before starting any panic regarding a ‘short’ vintage I should quickly remind customers that we are saying 50% down when compared to 2011 – a vintage that broke all records by some distance. So yes, this is a smallish vintage, but it is by no means a disaster, and from our tastings of the must, we should be compensated with a very good wine. As any good wine maker will tell you, a low yield nearly always produces higher quality.

By lunch time the final press was loaded and running, and by early evening the 2012 vintage was finally declared complete (or at least the picking element). As always we are now excited to see what we can create in the cellar!