I think I mentioned a week or two ago that the launch or our new website and blog was imminent, and at that time it was. However, the last few stages of the process have been slightly more complicated than we thought, and getting pages and links to work exactly as we want is not that easy. Of course it is compounded slightly (well, actually a lot), by adding an online shop and the fact that everything has to be duplicated in two languages, making it all just that bit more complex. Recent legislation regarding cookies, privacy etc have also meant that these pages have to be reviewed by lawyers before they are finally added. It all takes time.

The good news is however, that we should go live at the beginning of next week (30th or 31st July). I should warn however, that as the site is being updated and final tests are run, we could be out of action for an hour or two. The changeover is however, planned for night time, so hopefully it will not inconvenience too many of our friends and customers.

My weekly ramblings (sorry, blog), will continue unabated, and now we are only left to watch your orders come flooding in!

We have only just started to sell our 2017 vintage, and once again it is officially classified as ‘Very Good’ – but is is typical?

Every few weeks we taste every tank in the cellar, and a few days ago we re-tasted the 2017’s. These are my observations:

The first thing to say is that the 2017’s are very good wines, full stop. The only question I ask myself is “are they typical of the albariños we normally see?” For example, I would never usually consider an albariño to be full-bodied, and whilst that is still true, this year’s wines are certainly quite a mouthful. Of course, we had already recognised at harvest that the potential alcohol was a shade higher, an average between 12.5% and 13% (normally between 12.0 and 12.5%), and that the grape must was concentrated and viscous. These factors alone would tend to suggest a very rich wine with more glycerol and therefore a greater mouthfeel that will linger on the palate.

Our 2017 wine is intense, some people might describe it as being ‘fruit driven’, which is true – notes of peach, apricot and other ripe fruits dominate. However, the most important factor is that these concentrated fruit flavours are still nicely balanced with the level of acidity that we would normally associate with albariño (the slight difference being that the acidity is slightly masked and not quite as prominent). Having said all this, the wines are still well-structured, and owing to the depth and concentration have a long, complex finish. I have no doubt that they will be well received by our customers whatever my personal ideas might be!

I need to research the origin of the expression ‘Indian Summer’, but in the meantime I can tell you that we are having one. It’s kind of ironic that after a poor summer here in Galicia, we now find ourselves bathed in warm sunshine – in October! Average daytime temperatures so far this month have been around 25-27°C (77-80°F), with not one single drop of rain in sight – to be honest, we’ve barely even seen a cloud.

Meanwhile, back in the bodega, we can almost start to relax a little, as the last few tanks reach the end of their alcoholic fermentation. As always it’s been a long, slow process, with monitoring on a daily basis – 7 days a week (unfortunately the yeast doesn’t take weekends off). We have yet to make the final analysis, but it looks like there will be no malolactic required in 2011.

The other development is that I have finished our annual vintage report, and this can now be found on the download page of this website. Great bedtime reading!

I need to research the origin of the expression ‘Indian Summer’, but in the meantime I can tell you that we are having one. It’s kind of ironic that after a poor summer here in Galicia, we now find ourselves bathed in warm sunshine – in October! Average daytime temperatures so far this month have been around 25-27°C (77-80°F), with not one single drop of rain in sight – to be honest, we’ve barely even seen a cloud.

Meanwhile, back in the bodega, we can almost start to relax a little, as the last few tanks reach the end of their alcoholic fermentation. As always it’s been a long, slow process, with monitoring on a daily basis – 7 days a week (unfortunately the yeast doesn’t take weekends off). We have yet to make the final analysis, but it looks like there will be no malolactic required in 2011.

The other development is that I have finished our annual vintage report, and this can now be found on the download page of this website. Great bedtime reading!