Having been absent in New York for a few days I am now playing catch-up. As I have said many times before, there is still a lot of hard work to do following the actual picking before Angela and I can even think about putting our feet up for a while.

The cellar is a very cool place to be at the moment, and I mean that quite literally. With our temperature control system working over time it is actually quite a chilly place to work, and despite the sun outside, you will often find us walking around in jackets and fleeces.

Although we still firmly believe in true quality being derived from the vineyard, the wine making itself certainly has a big influence in the style of wine that we create. Our objective is to always to make a wine that is typical of our denomination, but at the same time giving the wine a structure that will stand the test of time. Now, I’m not saying for one moment that our albariño will keep for ten years in bottle, but we certainly don’t want to make something that will fall apart after six months either. This is all determined by our vinification,  that gives our different wines their distinctive Castro Martin character – known and loved by all who drink them! 

Angela would kill me if I started to give away her wine making secrets, but suffice to say that quality is not created by accident, but by people who are obsessed by what they do.

Having been absent in New York for a few days I am now playing catch-up. As I have said many times before, there is still a lot of hard work to do following the actual picking before Angela and I can even think about putting our feet up for a while.

The cellar is a very cool place to be at the moment, and I mean that quite literally. With our temperature control system working over time it is actually quite a chilly place to work, and despite the sun outside, you will often find us walking around in jackets and fleeces.

Although we still firmly believe in true quality being derived from the vineyard, the wine making itself certainly has a big influence in the style of wine that we create. Our objective is to always to make a wine that is typical of our denomination, but at the same time giving the wine a structure that will stand the test of time. Now, I’m not saying for one moment that our albariño will keep for ten years in bottle, but we certainly don’t want to make something that will fall apart after six months either. This is all determined by our vinification,  that gives our different wines their distinctive Castro Martin character – known and loved by all who drink them! 

Angela would kill me if I started to give away her wine making secrets, but suffice to say that quality is not created by accident, but by people who are obsessed by what they do.

Having completed the harvest (or at least most of it), I had to make a quick dash accross the Atlantic for a meeting and tasting with our U.S. importer. Of course, under normal circumstances, Angela and I would travel together, but naturally one of us had to stay behind to take care of the wine making, and unfortunately Angela drew the short straw. She did however compensate by giving me a shopping list, to take advantage of any spare moment that I may have had during my short stay in the Big Apple!

The morning after my arrival I woke up in the early hours as my body clock attempted to adjust, and so decided to take a trip downtown to the site of the World Trade Centre. In the year and a half since our last visit the progress was quite astounding with the new Tower One already dominating the lower Manhattan skyline. Only two days before, on Sunday 11th September 2011, the site had been the centre of attention as the world remembered those who had tragically lost their lives exactly ten years earlier. The focal point of the site is now the 9/11 memorial itself, opened in an emotional ceremony – two huge square cascading waterfalls built within the footprints of the original twin towers. Access to the memorial is currently restricted to ticket holders only, and had been fully subscribed for months in advance – it seemed that I would have little chance of gaining entry. I was wrong……

By pure chance, being in the right place at the right time, I was gifted an entry ticket and soon found myself standing on hallowed ground. The two huge pools are spectacular and are bordered with the names of every person that died on 9/11 carved into beautiful bronze panels. In my own opinion the memorial is a very fitting tribute, a very sombre place, but still well worth a visit the next time you find yourself in NYC.

Having completed the harvest (or at least most of it), I had to make a quick dash accross the Atlantic for a meeting and tasting with our U.S. importer. Of course, under normal circumstances, Angela and I would travel together, but naturally one of us had to stay behind to take care of the wine making, and unfortunately Angela drew the short straw. She did however compensate by giving me a shopping list, to take advantage of any spare moment that I may have had during my short stay in the Big Apple!

The morning after my arrival I woke up in the early hours as my body clock attempted to adjust, and so decided to take a trip downtown to the site of the World Trade Centre. In the year and a half since our last visit the progress was quite astounding with the new Tower One already dominating the lower Manhattan skyline. Only two days before, on Sunday 11th September 2011, the site had been the centre of attention as the world remembered those who had tragically lost their lives exactly ten years earlier. The focal point of the site is now the 9/11 memorial itself, opened in an emotional ceremony – two huge square cascading waterfalls built within the footprints of the original twin towers. Access to the memorial was restricted to ticket holders only, and had been fully subscribed for months in advance – it seemed that I would have little chance of gaining entry. I was wrong……

By pure chance, being in the right place at the right time, I was gifted an entry ticket and soon found myself standing on hallowed ground. The two huge pools are spectacular and are bordered with the names of every person that died on 9/11 carved into beautiful bronze. In my own opinion the memorial is a very fitting tribute, a very sombre place, but still well worth a visit the next time you find yourself in NYC.

I apologise for the delay in this last post of the 2011 harvest, but I do have a good excuse…. I was not here! The last day of picking was conducted without me as I flew off for an important Trans-Atlantic appointment – more of that tomorrow.

In the meantime my poor, abandoned wife battled on, not only organising the picking, but also taking on a considerable amont of work in the bodega without her faithful side-kick…. me. To be honest, it transpired (or so I am told) that the picking itself was probably the easy part, as the majority of her difficulties during my absence occured inside the cellar. As though she did not have enough to think about, our temperature control system decided to pack up.

Angela arrived one morning to discover that the refrigerant had started to leak from the cold machine rendering it completely useless. To cut a long and complicated story short, after many urgent phone calls, a temporary repair was effected the same day, and no real damage was done to either man, machine, or more importantly, our wine.

During the fermentation, with the cooling system working flat out, the cellar itself gets pretty cold, and despite the natural heat generated by the reaction of yeast and sugar, the tanks will only increase in temperature by between 0.5°C and 1.0°C per day, even with the cold system out of action. It would take a good few days of zero cooling before the fermentation would rage out of control and damage the finished wine and therefore a few hours does not make too much difference. It is very worrying nonetheless, and simply adds to the stress of wine making.

Meanwhile, back in the vineyard, the last block of grapes was picked under blue skies, with some of the warmest temperatures we have seen this summer – up to 33°C (just over 90°F). Sugar levels were good, and as there was no shortage of fruit this year, only the very best grapes were selected.

Finally, it would seem, that the 2011 harvest has come to an end, nearly three weeks after we originally started. It has been an exhausting time for all concerned.

I apologise for the delay in this last post of the 2011 harvest, but I do have a good excuse…. I was not here! The last day of picking was conducted without me as I flew off for an important Trans-Atlantic appointment – more of that tomorrow.

In the meantime my poor, abandoned wife battled on, not only organising the picking, but also taking on a considerable amont of work in the bodega without her faithful side-kick…. me. To be honest, it transpired (or so I am told) that the picking itself was probably the easy part, as the majority of her difficulties during my absence occured inside the cellar. As though she did not have enough to think about, our temperature control system decided to pack up.

Angela arrived one morning to discover that the refrigerant had started to leak from the cold machine rendering it completely useless. To cut a long and complicated story short, after many urgent phone calls, a temporary repair was effected the same day, and no real damage was done to either man, machine, or more importantly, our wine.

During the fermentation, with the cooling system working flat out, the cellar itself gets pretty cold, and despite the natural heat generated by the reaction of yeast and sugar, the tanks will only increase in temperature by between 0.5°C and 1.0°C per day, even with the cold system out of action. It would take a good few days of zero cooling before the fermentation would rage out of control and damage the finished wine and therefore a few hours does not make too much difference. It is very worrying nonetheless, and simply adds to the stress of wine making.

Meanwhile, back in the vineyard, the last block of grapes was picked under blue skies, with some of the warmest temperatures we have seen this summer – up to 33°C (just over 90°F). Sugar levels were good, and as there was no shortage of fruit this year, only the very best grapes were selected.

Finally, it would seem, that the 2011 harvest has come to an end, nearly three weeks after we originally started. It has been an exhausting time for all concerned.

We have finally reached the end of the 2011 harvest……. for now. I think it’s fair to say that this year’s campaign has not been the easiest, stopping and starting on a few occasions, but the reason for stopping now, with some grapes still on the vine, is quite different. This time it’s more a question of maturity (and I don’t mean my own!). We have one large block of fruit that is still improving in this weeks warm weather, and so, as always, we have decided to do what’s best to improve quality. Quite frankly, it’s a bit of a pain, as we can’t really start any deep cleaning in the cellar, but we are convinced that, despite a bit of inconvenience, our decision will ultimately benefit the finished wine.

On the positive side our tight organisation and the experience of our staff  helped keep our grapes flowing through the cellar in a very timely and efficient manner. Over the entire 7 days of picking there were only one or two minor glitches in our equipment, but thankfully these were all resolved without any real delay. In fact I should mention that, owing to the reduced time that we used during the pressing process, the whole cycle was speeded up considerably, and on the last couple nights we were able to finish much earlier than usual. I’m not suggesting for a moment that we will retain this new shortened timing in the future, but we will be looking closely at the results, and studying the benefits before we pass judgement. With every vintage that passes we continue to learn and improve both our efficiency and wine making techniques, noting minor changes that we will incorporate in the future. We never rest on our laurels!

Now that the work has finished outside, we now move indoors to start our strictly controlled wine making.

We have finally reached the end of the 2011 harvest……. for now. I think it’s fair to say that this year’s campaign has not been the easiest, stopping and starting on a few occasions, but the reason for stopping now, with some grapes still on the vine, is quite different. This time it’s more a question of maturity (and I don’t mean my own!). We have one large block of fruit that is still improving in this weeks warm weather, and so, as always, we have decided to do what’s best to improve quality. Quite frankly, it’s a bit of a pain, as we can’t really start any deep cleaning in the cellar, but we are convinced that, despite a bit of inconvenience, our decision will ultimately benefit the finished wine.

On the positive side our tight organisation and the experience of our staff  helped keep our grapes flowing through the cellar in a very timely and efficient manner. Over the entire 7 days of picking there were only one or two minor glitches in our equipment, but thankfully these were all resolved without any real delay. In fact I should mention that, owing to the reduced time that we used during the pressing process, the whole cycle was speeded up considerably, and on the last couple nights we were able to finish much earlier than usual. I’m not suggesting for a moment that we will retain this new shortened timing in the future, but we will be looking closely at the results, and studying the benefits before we pass judgement. With every vintage that passes we continue to learn and improve both our efficiency and wine making techniques, noting minor changes that we will incorporate in the future. We never rest on our laurels!

Now that the work has finished outside, we now move indoors to start our strictly controlled wine making.

After the first day or so of this year’s harvest, we quickly discovered that there were more grapes than we anticipated. Indeed, it had already been mentioned in the local press that previous records were likely to be broken.

I did write very recently that in the case of kilos produced that biggest, quite simply, does not mean best. Obviously there are ways of controlling this in the vineyard – the system of pruning, green harvesting, selective picking etc. However, even by the time that fruit arrives at the cellar door there are still options available for improving quality, one of which is in the pressing.

Our two pneumatic presses are electronically controlled, which means that we are able to adjust any single action of the pressing cycle that we require. The two most basic aspects of this are time and pressure.

In an ideal world we would make wine using only the first ‘free run’ juice (pretty much the juice that escapes when the grapes are pressed under their own weight before any pressure is applied), but unfortunately that would not be economically viable.

So in the end, when the yields are a little high, one option is to reduce the time of the pressing cycle, and more significantly, the pressure used to crush the fruit. In reality we never use the maximum pressure anyway, as this will simply extract the phenolic compounds from the grape seeds and stalks that cause bitterness and astringency in wine. In this way we extract better quality juice which obviously helps to improve the finished product.

After the first day or so of this year’s harvest, we quickly discovered that there were more grapes than we anticipated. Indeed, it had already been mentioned in the local press that previous records were likely to be broken.

I did write very recently that in the case of kilos produced that biggest, quite simply, does not mean best. Obviously there are ways of controlling this in the vineyard – the system of pruning, green harvesting, selective picking etc. However, even by the time that fruit arrives at the cellar door there are still options available for improving quality, one of which is in the pressing.

Our two pneumatic presses are electronically controlled, which means that we are able to adjust any single action of the pressing cycle that we require. The two most basic aspects of this are time and pressure.

In an ideal world we would make wine using only the first ‘free run’ juice (pretty much the juice that escapes when the grapes are pressed under their own weight before any pressure is applied), but unfortunately that would not be economically viable.

So in the end, when the yields are a little high, one option is to reduce the time of the pressing cycle, and more significantly, the pressure used to crush the fruit. In reality we never use the maximum pressure anyway, as this will simply extract the phenolic compounds from the grape seeds and stalks that cause bitterness and astringency in wine. In this way we extract better quality juice which obviously helps to improve the finished product.

Each time we have attempted to eat outside this summer we have been pestered by a seemingly huge number of wasps. Under normal circumstances it would be flies, but for some reason, this year, it has been our little black and yellow friends instead – and they are very persistent! Of course it is quite normal for flies to abound at harvest time, obviously due to the vast amount of sweet grape juice that we have around. Wasps are however, a little more dangerous – on Saturday I was taking a sample from a case of grapes as they arrived in our reception, ready to send to Angela for analysis (we take literally hundreds over the period of the picking), and instead of taking a handful of fruit, I took a handful of wasp instead! Ouch!

After the overnight rain on Saturday we skipped yet another day in this stop-start vintage, to allow the fruit to dry out. The good news was that Sunday heralded the start of a more settled, sunny period, and so by the time we re-started on Monday morning, we could focus more on collecting grapes than looking up at the sky. Now, one might ask the obvious question – so why didn’t we wait until this latest period of fine weather? The answer – acidity.

Whilst alcoholic degree is important, by far the most important characteristic of albariño is the fresh, zesty acidity. If we allow the acidity to drop too much we will simply lose the ‘typicity’ of our beloved grape variety. In this way it becomes a matter of personal choice – do we sacrific a bit of alcohol to help retain the usual freshness? The answer from Castro Martin is an emphatic “yes”.

(By the way, the word for wasp in Spanish is avispa, in Italian it is vespa!)

Each time we have attempted to eat outside this summer we have been pestered by a seemingly huge number of wasps. Under normal circumstances it would be flies, but for some reason, this year, it has been our little black and yellow friends instead – and they are very persistent! Of course it is quite normal for flies to abound at harvest time, obviously due to the vast amount of sweet grape juice that we have around. Wasps are however, a little more dangerous – on Saturday I was taking a sample from a case of grapes as they arrived in our reception, ready to send to Angela for analysis (we take literally hundreds over the period of the picking), and instead of taking a handful of fruit, I took a handful of wasp instead! Ouch!

After the overnight rain on Saturday we skipped yet another day in this stop-start vintage, to allow the fruit to dry out. The good news was that Sunday heralded the start of a more settled, sunny period, and so by the time we re-started on Monday morning, we could focus more on collecting grapes than looking up at the sky. Now, one might ask the obvious question – so why didn’t we wait until this latest period of fine weather? The answer – acidity.

Whilst alcoholic degree is important, by far the most important characteristic of albariño is the fresh, zesty acidity. If we allow the acidity to drop too much we will simply lose the ‘typicity’ of our beloved grape variety. In this way it becomes a matter of personal choice – do we sacrific a bit of alcohol to help retain the usual freshness? The answer from Castro Martin is an emphatic “yes”.

(By the way, the word for wasp in Spanish is avispa, in Italian it is vespa!)

I seem to spend my time moaning about inaccurate weather forecasts, and day 4 of this year’s harvest only served to illustrate my feelings perfectly. As we went to bed on day 3 the sky was clear and predictions for the following day indicated a fine day with the chance of rain increasing towards the evening. No problem. The following morning I opened the shutters, and within half an hour the drizzle had started! Fortunately this fine rain was not heavy and did not last for too long, but still long enough to leave the canopy damp (although the fruit itself remained perfectly dry). Of course we cannot work with any water present, and so our start to the day was delayed until lunch time.

Thankfully some warm sunshine and a fresh breeze soon had the desired effect, and picking was resumed. Again it was a game of catch up, as we tried to take advantage of the dry spell, and once again our pickers swarmed like locusts over our ‘Bodega’ vineyard. As they did I was thrilled to discover that I had a supporter (well, there had to be one somewhere), a very attractive young lady sporting a t-shirt with my name on it. Naturally, I grabbed my camera, but only to photograph the t-shirt I hasten to add…..

By the end of the day we had somehow managed, miraculously, to gather pretty much the same quantity of grapes that we would expect on a full working day. (I should add that grapes were arriving from growers vineyards too). At one brief point during the evening our grape reception was almost swamped, but at least we managed to get every grape inside before the rain returned once again. It was then simply down to our pressing team to do their stuff during the night.

I seem to spend my time moaning about inaccurate weather forecasts, and day 4 of this year’s harvest only served to illustrate my feelings perfectly. As we went to bed on day 3 the sky was clear and predictions for the following day indicated a fine day with the chance of rain increasing towards the evening. No problem. The following morning I opened the shutters, and within half an hour the drizzle had started! Fortunately this fine rain was not heavy and did not last for too long, but still long enough to leave the canopy damp (although the fruit itself remained perfectly dry). Of course we cannot work with any water present, and so our start to the day was delayed until lunch time.

Thankfully some warm sunshine and a fresh breeze soon had the desired effect, and picking was resumed. Again it was a game of catch up, as we tried to take advantage of the dry spell, and once again our pickers swarmed like locusts over our ‘Bodega’ vineyard. As they did I was thrilled to discover that I had a supporter (well, there had to be one somewhere), a very attractive young lady sporting a t-shirt with my name on it. Naturally, I grabbed my camera, but only to photograph the t-shirt I hasten to add…..

By the end of the day we had somehow managed, miraculously, to gather pretty much the same quantity of grapes that we would expect on a full working day. (I should add that grapes were arriving from growers vineyards too). At one brief point during the evening our grape reception was almost swamped, but at least we managed to get every grape inside before the rain returned once again. It was then simply down to our pressing team to do their stuff during the night.

During the harvest, which is obviously quite physically demanding and therefore very tiring, we like to try to keep a smile on our faces as much as we can. Sometimes it is very stupid, slightly infantile things that keep us happy, such as this sketch of a grape picking Sponge Bob on our blackboard.

On the wall of our pressing room we have an enormous blackboard, where we keep an informal record of every pressing that we make before it is transferred on to computer. This is where our cartoon character made his appearance (I removed the reference to Angela before I took the picture as a mark of respect!)

On a more serious note, after a wait of two days (one day of rain showers and one day of drier, brighter weather), we eventually ventured back into the vineyards. In an effort to do a bit of catching up we used every resource to gather grapes as quickly as possible, and before lunch time had even arrived, we already had both presses working flat out. 

This early momentum was carried throughout the day, and by the early hours of the morning the last few presses of the day were already being prepared. Our super human effort had paid off, and we ended the night with a very repectable total of kilos under our belts.

During the harvest, which is obviously quite physically demanding and therefore very tiring, we like to try to keep a smile on our faces as much as we can. Sometimes it is very stupid, slightly infantile things that keep us happy, such as this sketch of a grape picking Sponge Bob on our blackboard.

On the wall of our pressing room we have an enormous blackboard, where we keep an informal record of every pressing that we make before it is transferred on to computer. This is where our cartoon character made his appearance (I removed the reference to Angela before I took the picture as a mark of respect!)

On a more serious note, after a wait of two days (one day of rain showers and one day of drier, brighter weather), we eventually ventured back into the vineyards. In an effort to do a bit of catching up we used every resource to gather grapes as quickly as possible, and before lunch time had even arrived, we already had both presses working flat out. 

This early momentum was carried throughout the day, and by the early hours of the morning the last few presses of the day were already being prepared. Our super human effort had paid off, and we ended the night with a very repectable total of kilos under our belts.

After an energetic start to the 2011 campaign on Monday, we have now come to a grinding halt – the weather refuses to play it’s part. The stop-start periods of rain prevent us from re-starting the picking as the fruit has no chance of drying between the showers. It’s very frustating….

Having cleared our desks in anticipation of the harvest we now find oursleves with little to do, except sift our way through the various weather forecasts. Unfortunately this is not helping too much as every one of them seems to come up with a slightly different prediction. In the circumstances all we can do is sit, watch and wait.

We did at least make it into the local paper on Tuesday, as they reported our exploits in our Castrelo vineyard of the previous day. Indeed, we did rather well with several photos and a full page spread. All free publicity is very welcome!

After an energetic start to the 2011 campaign on Monday, we have now come to a grinding halt – the weather refuses to play it’s part. The stop-start periods of rain prevent us from re-starting the picking as the fruit has no chance of drying between the showers. It’s very frustating….

Having cleared our desks in anticipation of the harvest we now find oursleves with little to do, except sift our way through the various weather forecasts. Unfortunately this is not helping too much as every one of them seems to come up with a slightly different prediction. In the circumstances all we can do is sit, watch and wait.

We did at least make it into the local paper on Tuesday, as they reported our exploits in our Castrelo vineyard of the previous day. Indeed, we did rather well with several photos and a full page spread. All free publicity is very welcome!

After our assessment of the first day of picking yesterday, we quickly realised that the yields in 2011 were going to be high. The kilos that we estimated for our first vineyard site in Castrelo were easily surpassed, and the presses were working overtime to keep pace. We also have our biggest picking team ever, with around 60 people in total. Actually, calling them a picking team is not strictly true, as a number of these helpers are actually dedicated to logistics – collecting filled baskets, loading them on to our vehicles, and getting them into the presses as quickly as possible. It’s a never ending shuttle. With this combination of higher yields and more people it certainly added to the pressure on the bodega itself, but speaking on behalf of the bodega team, we console ourselves by remembering that the harvest only occurs once a year!

Obviously my reference to ‘red sky’ is taken from the old adage, “red sky in the morning, shepherds warning” (I think that in the U.S. they refer to sailors rather than shepherds), but either way it translates into possible bad weather on the way. As I’ve said before, forget all the satellite systems, barometric charts etc., etc., just stick your head out of the window and forecast the weather for yourself. Unfortunately for us it looks like this old proverb might well have come true this time around – by lunch time on day 2 the clouds were thickening, and it was looking bad for the afternoon. With this is mind we decided to suspend the picking, and sure enough, almost within minutes, the rain had started – not heavy, torrential rain, but still enough to soak the skins of the fruit. The forecast for day 3 is not that great either, so it might well be that we will wait for a new window before re-starting. Let’s see what tomorrow brings….

After our assessment of the first day of picking yesterday, we quickly realised that the yields in 2011 were going to be high. The kilos that we estimated for our first vineyard site in Castrelo were easily surpassed, and the presses were working overtime to keep pace. We also have our biggest picking team ever, with around 60 people in total. Actually, calling them a picking team is not strictly true, as a number of these helpers are actually dedicated to logistics – collecting filled baskets, loading them on to our vehicles, and getting them into the presses as quickly as possible. It’s a never ending shuttle. With this combination of higher yields and more people it certainly added to the pressure on the bodega itself, but speaking on behalf of the bodega team, we console ourselves by remembering that the harvest only occurs once a year!

Obviously my reference to ‘red sky’ is taken from the old adage, “red sky in the morning, shepherds warning” (I think that in the U.S. they refer to sailors rather than shepherds), but either way it translates into possible bad weather on the way. As I’ve said before, forget all the satellite systems, barometric charts etc., etc., just stick your head out of the window and forecast the weather for yourself. Unfortunately for us it looks like this old proverb might well have come true this time around – by lunch time on day 2 the clouds were thickening, and it was looking bad for the afternoon. With this is mind we decided to suspend the picking, and sure enough, almost within minutes, the rain had started – not heavy, torrential rain, but still enough to soak the skins of the fruit. The forecast for day 3 is not that great either, so it might well be that we will wait for a new window before re-starting. Let’s see what tomorrow brings….