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Harvest 2023 – Day 7

September 9th, 2023 | Bodega

Grapes harvesting vehicles come in all shapes and sizes

Today we are seeding our first tanks. After a day to chill the tanks and a couple more of  ‘cold settling’ they are then racked into clean tanks. At this point the temperature of the grape must is quite low, indeed, too low to start or sustain fermentation, and so consequently we need to wait until they recover sufficiently to begin. As the tanks are so large and the ambient temperature inside the bodega is also quite cold (obviously other tanks are still being refrigerated), raising the temperature of the tanks is also quite slow.

At this time, when harvesting and seeding are happening simultaneously the workload becomes quite intense. There is a lot going on, both physically and mentally. We are constantly up and down three flights of stairs – grapes arriving at the top level, the pressing room in the middle, and the tank room itself at ground level. Apart from the stairs, there is also temperature to take into account – working on the top two levels can be quite warm, whilst the tank room feels almost like a refrigerator by comparison. You always need to keep a jacket or body warmer handy!

Thankfully today was a little busier, and it finally feels like the end of the picking might be in sight. Having said that the forecast for tomorrow does not look good, with some heavy rain predicted. So much for making progress.

Harvest 2023 – Day 6

September 8th, 2023 | Bodega

Thankfully another bright day to continue our campaign. Most of our more distant vineyards (no more than 10km) have been completed, and now we are working a little nearer to home. This being the case it makes transporting our fruit much more easily. Today we are not relying on any big trucks, but have reverted to our more ‘traditional’ method of a shuttle between the bodega and the vineyards using our tractors and vans. The downside of this is that we are moving individual cases by hand rather that using pallets and forklifts in the vineyard. In this way, it is a bit more labour intense, but then on the upside, with smaller, more regular grape deliveries it means that we can keep our presses ‘fed’ and working. (Using the truck method, we have periods of inactivity, until suddenly, we are faced with a delivery of 14 full pallets – about 10,000 kg).

Today we picked our ‘Bodega’ vineyard, just a small 1 hectare plot surrounding the wine cellar. Our tractors shuttle grapes straight into the grape reception, and so from picking to the presses can almost be measured in minutes, rather than hours! If only all of our vineyards we so close, it would make logistics a whole lot easier (and many a bit cheaper too).

Of course, the advantage of not having to wait very long for our fruit to arrive is that we can load the presses much earlier than some other days, especially when we are waiting for growers to deliver their crop at the end of their working day. Instead of finishing the presses in the early hours of the morning, our last press was completed shortly after midnight (albeit there is still quite a lot of cleaning to do after that).

Today’s photo shows the ‘bagazo’, or pomace as it is known in English. This is simply the remnants of the grape bunches after pressing (sent to the distillery to make ‘aguardiente’ (eau de vie or grappa in other countries).

Harvest 2023 – Day 5

September 7th, 2023 | Bodega

Well, it’s been slow progress so far, and we’re barely half way through our harvest. Having said that, judging by the volume of tractors and trailers in the street today, there are many bodegas that are only just starting. I have no idea why they would delay for so long?

In bright, sunny conditions we continued to pick our vineyards (selected in order of maturity of the fruit, and overall quality). When bad weather looms all around us we certainly don’t want to ‘leave the best ’til last’, our attitude is quite the opposite in fact!

As mentioned, progress in 2023 is not quite as  quick as we would have liked, not just because of the weather, but probably more to do with being able to recruit experienced, quality pickers. In many industries throughout Spain there are already labour shortages, and so trying to find people to work for just a week or so is quite difficult to say the least. Apart from paying them a competitive rate, we try to look after them with a supply of drinks and small snacks (also the occasional ice cream when the weather is hot). Small gestures, but usually well appreciated.

Today’s picture shows just a couple of minor mishaps where cases have been damaged in transit. When our forklifts load and unload the trucks it is more or less inevitable that with such volume there will be a few incidents along the way. (Luckily the grapes are still useable!)

Inside the bodega, tastings of our first musts are very favourable. Ripe, fruity and surprisingly unctuous, but not forgetting an underlying acidity which is not always so obvious when there is so much sugar present.

 

Harvest 2023 – Day 4

September 6th, 2023 | Bodega

Many forecasts said that last night’s rain would continue well into this morning, effectively stopping at about midday. As it turns out they were all completely wrong. It stopped raining yesterday evening after only a couple of hours, rained a little during the night, but by this morning it had dried up completely. Admittedly, the day started heavily overcast with dark grey clouds on virtually every side – far too threatening to start picking, and so we decided to hold off until the afternoon, condensing our work into a half day.

I know that the English are reputed to have an obsession with the weather, but this year, I have to say that it is a healthy obsession. Having said that, I can only say that there is not one single website that has proved to be accurate this year, and indeed, the forecasts simply change each time you look at them.

Although there was nothing happening in the vineyard work started today inside the bodega. After a day or two of cold settling (when all the soil, skins, stalks etc. fall to the bottom of the tank), it is time to start racking the grape must into clean tanks. Today’s photo show the ‘fangos’ (sediment) that is left once the racking is complete. Fangos from all the tanks is collected in another tank, allowed to settle again, and clean grape must can be drawn off.

Owing to the bad weather hardly any of our grape suppliers decided to harvest, consequently it was a very quiet day indeed. With yet more rain forecast in the coming days, it’s just a shame that more people didn’t take advantage of this short window.

 

Harvest 2023 – Day 3

September 5th, 2023 | Bodega

After last night’s rainfall, we opened our shutters to discover a bright, sunny morning, and so we headed out to the vineyards with our fingers well and truly crossed that it would remain unchanged.

We are still rushing to gather our very best grapes before they get damaged or diluted by either rain or mildew – it is still a very dangerous time for the fruit, and if mildew does take hold then there is nothing that we can do to stop it. It simply means that we lose good, healthy grapes. If this happens then it is obviously a very big blow for our vineyard teams who have spent the last 9 or 10 months, pruning, treating, taking care of the canopy etc. Seeing all the ‘fruits’ of their labour being consumed by rot it clearly something that we are working hard to avoid (as much as we can).

In the end our third day was very uneventful, with no unusual incidents, until, say perhaps, around 5.30pm, when the rain forecast for 6pm actually started. Certainly the amount of rainfall was too significant to ignore, picking stopped, grapes were hastily covered and a truck was loaded to deliver them quickly to the bodega. In reality, perhaps only one or two hours of picking were lost.

Today’s picture is actually from our first day, when a pallet that was being unloaded, unfortunately collapsed. I posted the picture on Instagram and made a very bad joke, saying that spilling fruit on the floor has no influence at all on “terroir”. (Maybe some would argue that it does!!!)

Harvest 2023 – Day 2

September 4th, 2023 | Bodega

In the end, it took nearly all night to clear the backlog of grapes, so it was actually quite stressful on day one.

We move into day two with a slightly overcast sky, and of course the threat on rain looming on the horizon. Most of the weather websites agree that rain will come, but the big questions are, when and in what areas (rainfall can be very localised and unpredictable being so close to the Ocean).

The thing that is perhaps puzzling me the most is that the majority of bodegas have not even started picking yet, and plan to start next week. It can’t be a question of maturity, because the grapes that we have gathered so far and quite healthy and ripe. I simply don’t understand why other producers would delay?

This year, for some reason, Sunday turned out to be quite quiet and uneventful, whereas normally weekends are our busiest days. This is the time when our grape suppliers have family and friends available to help with their harvest, but apparently not so much in 2023.

The good news is that, apart from a very short sprinkling in the afternoon, we managed to dodge the rain, until that is (once all of our fruit was safely inside), it did start raining steadily as we prepared to leave for the day.

2023 Harvest – Day 1

September 3rd, 2023 | Bodega

After all the trials and tribulations of this year’s growing season, we anxiously watched all the local forecasts (albeit they were changing with every passing minute). With rain surrounding us on all sides the first suitable window appeared on Saturday 2nd September, and with deteriorating conditions threatening, we simply had to jump at the chance.

On a fairly bright and sunny morning we sent our team out into the vineyards to pick as fast as humanly possible. As we now use trucks for moving grapes the first pallets didn’t arrive until around lunchtime. We loaded the first press and the machine whirred into action…. for about a minute…. and then it stopped! Despite having both or our presses fully serviced only a week ago, it transpired that one of the circuits blew, and to cut a long story short, it took about an hour and a half to get it fixed. So then we loaded the second press…. same result… but this time a different piece. What a start!

The problem is that when the presses stop working, for whatever reason, we start to accumulate a backlog of grapes in the reception. Once this backlog occurs we never really catch up, and end up playing Tetris with pallets of grapes to fit them all in.

The good news is that after the first pressings the grape must looks very good, surprisingly viscous and sweet, after all the problems of our summer weather. Clearly, it is only the first day and we will have to wait to see if we can dodge the rain before we can make any definitive judgement on our 2023 vintage.

Harvest 2023

September 2nd, 2023 | Bodega

So today, we are finally ready to start our 2023 harvest. This year’s growing season has been complicated to say the least, and even in the run up to today, it still is!

Pretty much since the moment our vines sprang into life in March it has been one of the most difficult and unpredictable years, meteorologically, that we have ever had. Temperatures have been up and down, rainfall has been on and off, and weather forecasts have been largely useless, changing on almost an hourly basis. Of course, these are largely the worst possible conditions for grape growing. Indeed, very recently I heard one of my favourite quotes ever (made by another producer). He said that it was like “a jacuzzi for mildew”!! (If it wasn’t so serious, and so true, I would be having a good laugh). Suffice to say that, very much against our natural instincts, we have been obliged to give treatments, if only to preserve our crop.

The last few weeks have been largely dry, but with some wild fluctuations of temperature. Two weeks ago we had a couple of days at around 38°C (100°F), and then just a few days later it was down to 21°C (38°F). As the fruit started to reach full maturity we started to take samples (by this time we already knew that the harvest would be early), with a view to planning the actual picking. We decided that the very start of September seemed most likely, but then we looked at the forecasts! At more or less the exact time that we had projected, days of rain were forecast.

The solution we decided, would be to wait until the last possible moment, and then throw every resource possible at getting our fruit in as quickly as possible. So that is our mission for today – fingers crossed.

5 Top albariño wines that should be on your radar…..

August 23rd, 2023 | International News

THE BUYER MAGAZINE – August 2023

5 Top albariño wines that should be on your radar…..

Bodegas Castro Martin, Family Estate 2020, Cambados, Val Do Salnés

One of the 30 founding wineries of the DO, this producer celebrated its first vintage in 1982. This was a time where it was widely accepted that wines from Rías Baixas needed to be drunk within 6 to 12 months. Bodegas Castro Martin went against tradition, ageing their wines on the lees for 6-8 months and not releasing them to the market until May the following year. Their mantra that Albariño does have ageing potential has finally been accepted by some producers across the region, and they remain one of the champions of this style. On the nose you’re still getting fresh apples, pears, peaches, lemons, but this time with a touch of smoke. Regardless of ageing, there is saltiness and this fabulous acidity and minerality from the soil. Apparently an utter joy with a plate of oysters.

Túnel vision!

August 9th, 2023 | Denomination

Well, last weekend we celebrated the annual Albariño Festival here in Galicia, or in Cambados to be more precise. The programme of events included one of my very favourite tastings of the year, when it is possible to taste more than 150 wines (mostly albariño) under one roof. It is known as the Tunnel of Wine, and has grown in popularity over the last 12 years, since the idea was originally conceived. Entry is now controlled to a maximum number of tasters during each session, but for me the solution is, and always has been, to arrive early and start at 11am prompt when the doors open. In this way I can normally taste in relative peace and quite for the first hour or so, and by that time I usually completed a few tables and so am well away from the entrance door.

I think that I have always said, since my very first taste of the tanks, that I consider the 2022 vintage to be pretty good, and this was indeed reflected in my notes. Overall the standard of 2022 wines is quite a bit higher than 2021 (which, after all, had proved to be quite a difficult vintage), and I believe that there were quite a few potential stars in the making – including our own Castro Martin wines, of course!

As more and more consumers are coming to realise, albariño wines from the Rias Baixas denomination can, and do improve with age, albeit some much better than others (it really depends on the producer and the style of wine they make). I fully believe however, that our own Family Estate wine could evolve into something really exceptional over the next year or two. Only time will tell.

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