Whilst the weather is actually warm, bright and sunny, we start our second day under a bit of a cloud, as we hear stories from the Rioja region of spreading virus and further lockdowns. As if a harvest is not challenging enough, I cannot begin to imagine what it might be like with even more strict controls than we already have. Hard, physical work wearing a mask is not easy, especially when the weather is hot and sunny.

So today we continue picking in our second biggest vineyard, Castrelo, which provides some of the fruit for our Family Estate wine (the rest coming from El Pazo). This year we have modified our transport system a little, which not only makes it more efficient, but also helps to reduce our carbon footprint. Castrelo is our most distant vineyard, about 10km from the bodega by road, and in the past we have transported our fruit using a tractor with trailer. We can load 110 cases on a full tractor/trailer, and each round trip takes about 40 minutes (excluding loading and unloading).

This year we are palletising our 20kg cases in the vineyard, and then loading 12 full pallets of grapes onto a medium sized truck. One truck load is the equivalent of four tractor loads, and so this will obviously help in reducing our carbon footprint – not to mention that when the fruit arrives it is already on pallets and easier to manipulate in our grape reception.

For the technically minded, the balance of our grape must is very good this year – pH and acidity at the levels we would normally hope for. As with the last couple of vintages, the only slight anomaly is the alcohol, which, after a long, hot summer is just a little high again. At this point my guess is that we will probably land somewhere between 12.5% and 13% alc., but with the acidity that we have, this should not present any problem.

Yesterday (Sunday) every person in our picking team went to hospital….. for a Covid test (happily no one tested positive).

On a bright, sunny, albeit windy Monday morning we kicked off the 2020 campaign, with yet more health checks! This time it was a simple temperature test, with every detail carefully noted. This was followed by a brief training session about the various Covid protocols in the vineyard, mostly to do with the handling of equipment and social distancing. This year there will be no picking in groups, every individual will be distributed evenly throughout the vineyard. (Probably quite boring for our team, with not too much opportunity for social interaction, but in 2020 this is our ‘new normal’, at least for the time being). We are, of course, obliged to take this pandemic very seriously.

By the afternoon, our presses were already working, with their familiar droning motors echoing throughout the bodega. This is really the moment that you know the harvest is underway.

The tasting of the first juice revealed a bright, intense fruit, typical of the albariño grape, and backed by a very good level of acidity. It will be some time before we can assess the yield of the 2020 harvest (volume of litres per kilo of grapes). We are especially cautious after last year’s low yield, and a very dry summer this year. Only time will tell.

There is no doubt that 2020 has been slightly surreal so far, and getting back into any sort of routine has been difficult, however this week will be used for brushing off those cobwebs…. quite literally! It’s time to prepare the bodega for action.

Over the last week or two we have been trying to work out the volume of wine that we might make this year, obviously by calculating the kilos of fruit that we might take in. Despite reduced sales this summer tank space will not be a problem, as you may recall, 2019 was quite a small crop. However, every tank and every piece of equipment has to be spotless, especially this year (for obvious reasons).

We have also been busy ordering the wine making products that we will require – yeasts, enzymes, nutrients etc., again according to the anticipated volume of fruit that we will gather.

Now is the time to begin our annual “weather watch” (not that there is anything we can do to influence this). It looks good at the moment, and clearly we would prefer the current dry conditions to continue for the coming weeks. However, we also have to be realistic and simply work with what the weather Gods decide to give us! As I say every year, fingers crossed.

After more than a month of sustained sunshine and high temperatures the weather finally changed around the middle of August. A few days of rain and grey skies transformed the completion of our summer completely, and hopefully might be of some benefit to our harvest. A little rain, at the right moment (especially after such a dry period), could add a little more substance to the fruit. The only danger being that if the berries are small and thick skinned, a burst of prolonged, heavy rain could cause the skins to split and allow rot to set in. Thankfully, this does not appear to be the case. At this time the bunches are slowly changing colour, and whilst we can taste our fruit now, it still has a week or two to evolve before we start picking. (It appears that we might start around 7th September).

Of course, this year’s harvest will have quite a different look, with many new rules imposed upon us as a result of the Covid crisis. Obviously, everyone will work in masks (which is obliged by law in Spain), and we will still have to maintain our social distances. There will also be copious amounts of hand gel used, albeit well away from the grapes! Authorities have also created a good deal of extra documentation attached to the harvest process, just for good measure, but that is a whole other story!

Of course, we are already well into the month of August, but I have to mention that our July weather was quite extraordinary. Not only was it hot and sunny but we hardly witnessed a cloud in the sky for the entire duration of the month. Whilst this would be quite normal in the South of Spain, for Galicia it is perhaps, something of a rarity.

With temperatures regularly hovering around 30°C (86°F) or above, and as far as I recall, not a drop of rain touched the ground. It would be easy to assume that these are perfect conditions for grape growing, and whilst it is true, that these conditions are far better than damp, humid weather, a little precipitation now and again never goes amiss. As with many things in wine making, it is really a question of balance.

Fortunately the winter of 19/20 had been quite wet, and so the water deep under the surface had been topped up, meaning that the deep roots of the vines, could at least, source a little moisture.

Looking at the vineyards now, the bunches are still small and tightly packed and there is no sign of veraison (when the grapes change colour from vibrant green, to a slightly more yellow/golden green, or in some cases deep gold.

This week the town of Cambados would normally be bracing itself for the start of the Annual Albariño Festival…. but not this year. At great economic cost to the town, the vast majority of events have been cancelled, for obvious reasons. The centrepiece, and biggest money-spinner, would normally be the Festival itself, whereby the town square would be lined with stands from the various bodegas offering the chance to sample their wares (albeit ‘sample’ is perhaps something of a euphemism that others might describe as more of a ‘binge’).

The tasting competition is still happening, although the big celebration lunch and presentation of prizes, normally held at the end of the festival, has also fallen victim.

One of the few surviving events is the tunnel of wine, for me at least, the most worthwhile part of the whole festival. An opportunity to taste a large number of albariños all under one roof, in a relatively peaceful environment.

Now, how a large tasting will work under social distancing rules is another matter, but I will let you know next week. The only thing that I can say for sure is that I will have to remove my mask for tasting (although it is now compulsory for us to wear masks in all public places, subject to strict on-the-spot fines for non-compliance)!

Owing to this year’s exceptional circumstances we are somewhat delayed in some of our chores. One process that would normally have been completed a month or two ago is racking the tanks of our 2019 vintage (removing the clean wine from it’s ‘bed’ of fine lees where it has been quietly resting). Now that we have returned we are systematically working through the backlog.

There is nothing particularly exciting about the racking process, indeed, the majority of our time is spent simply waiting for wine to be moved from one tank to another. The only real task is to monitor the turbidity of the wine (visually) using a special glass joint that connects the tank to the hose.

Meanwhile, outside the bodega, we are slowly being baked. Pretty much since the beginning of July we have been experiencing wall-to-wall sunshine, with temperatures regularly hovering around the 30°C (86°F) mark. Of course, sunshine is much better than wet weather for our vines, as long as the extreme temperatures don’t continue for too long.

In the coming days Europe is opening it’s air corridors to International travel, although there are still a few exceptions. To be honest it’s really a bit complicated – some countries are, apparently, still subject to quarantine restrictions, depending on where you are travelling from. On top of this, it is evident that some countries are applying these rules far more strictly than others.

Until recently, Galicia has been isolated from the rest of Spain as travel between the different Spanish provinces was banned almost completely. Our local beaches, normally thronging with Madrileños (many of whom have holiday homes and apartments here), have been pretty quiet for the time of year…. until now. Much to the chagrin of locals, the people of Madrid are now filtering back. The reason for their disquiet is simple – Madrid has been the epicenter of Coronavirus, whilst Galicia has escaped comparatively lightly. Galicians simply do not want ‘outsiders’ carrying potential danger into their region.

Having said that, a large part of our local income is from domestic tourism, and so the bars and restaurants are, understandably, quite keen to have them back (with just one or two small reservations). I have to confess that this should mean a revival of sales for our wine too, and so, in the end, we have to be happy about this…..

As publicity to encourage visitors, our local tourist board have produced this rather nice video.

Although my beloved Liverpool FC dominated the English Football League in the 1970’s and 1980’s, they have not won the Premier League for exactly 30 years… until last night! I think it’s true to say that they are the most successful English club ever, winning 19 League titles, 6 Champions League titles, 3 UEFA Cups (now known as the Europa League) and countless domestic trophies.

This season 2019/20 we are Premier League Champions, European Champions and World Club Champions – apart from the virus not a bad year for Liverpool fans!

Last night our manager Jurgen Klopp was in tears as they tried to interview him…. he was not alone, and will Never Walk Alone!

Champions!