Saturday 12th September – All the original weather predictions for Saturday were for rain, but owing to the unpredictability of our weather we decided to set up for picking anyway – and just as well we did. It wasn’t perhaps the sunniest of days, albeit that there were odd glimpses, but the most important thing is that it remained dry. Having completed our Castrelo and Cunchidos vineyards in the first two days, we moved on to our home vineyard, surrounding the bodega. Planted more than ten years ago, and benefiting from a southwesterly aspect, the fruit we gather from this site improves with every year that passes.

Of course the big advantage of harvesting on ‘home soil’ is quite simply the proximity – the fruit is in the bodega within a matter of minutes, and into the presses quite soon after that. As I have said in the past, we work hard on our logistics during the picking – once the bunches have been clipped from the vines, then we do everything humanly possible to speed them through the presses, converting them into grape must and getting this into our tanks. Heat and fruit oxidation are always our biggest enemies in white wine production.

After two record breaking days the pace slowed just a little, still harvesting a good quantity, but slightly more relaxed after two quite frenetic days. Our motivation throughout this period was (as it very often is at this time of year), the weather forecast. With more rain forecast for Sunday, and the tail end of a hurricane arriving on Tuesday, we prefer to gather our fruit now, whilst still healthy and before it gets a good soaking.Saturday 12th September – All the original weather predictions for Saturday were for rain, but owing to the unpredictability of our weather we decided to set up for picking anyway – and just as well we did. It wasn’t perhaps the sunniest of days, albeit that there were odd glimpses, but the most important thing is that it remained dry. Having completed our Castrelo and Cunchidos vineyards in the first two days, we moved on to our home vineyard, surrounding the bodega. Planted more than ten years ago, and benefiting from a southwesterly aspect, the fruit we gather from this site improves with every year that passes.

Of course the big advantage of harvesting on ‘home soil’ is quite simply the proximity – the fruit is in the bodega within a matter of minutes, and into the presses quite soon after that. As I have said in the past, we work hard on our logistics during the picking – once the bunches have been clipped from the vines, then we do everything humanly possible to speed them through the presses, converting them into grape must and getting this into our tanks. Heat and fruit oxidation are always our biggest enemies in white wine production.

After two record breaking days the pace slowed just a little, still harvesting a good quantity, but slightly more relaxed after two quite frenetic days. Our motivation throughout this period was (as it very often is at this time of year), the weather forecast. With more rain forecast for Sunday, and the tail end of a hurricane arriving on Tuesday, we prefer to gather our fruit now, whilst still healthy and before it gets a good soaking.