My guess is that this guy was once a boy scout!

2007 Harvest – Day 2 – Sunday 16th September

They say that grape pickers are nomadic, but one of the guys working for us this year takes all the prizes! Take a look at his 4×4 pictured above (click on the picture to enlarge) – he appears to be prepared for all the perils of the Galician outback.

OK, so now back to the serious business of harvesting grapes. The weather forecast for today was not perfect, but we did at least start in bright sunshine. As the day wore on however, the sky did become a little overcast, mostly high cloud, and we did experience just a few spots of rain that fell in the late morning, but not even enough to dampen the pavement.

The grapes collected so far are very healthy, with good sugar levels, and perhaps just a hint more acidity than last year, although it is very difficult to judge this so early on. Our first look at the grape ‘must’ (which is in the midst of ‘settling’) reveals a nose of apricot and peach, with the same fruits appearing on the palate, together with apple and pear – very typical of the variety. It appears to have good weight and concentration, balanced by a fresh acidity, but obviously we will know more accurately after fermentation.

After a reasonably relaxed weekend, we await the onslaught of the new week.

As wine making decisions go, deciding upon the optimum moment to start the harvest is probably one of the most difficult.

Casal Caeiro – a wine of ‘Distinction’

As you may have gathered if you have read my blog over the last year or so, I am not a great fan of wine competitions – there are often too many inconsistencies, both in the samples submitted, and the wide range of tasting categories.

The GALLAECIA is a local competition, tasted in Santiago de Compostela by 65 sommeliers and professionals who travel from all around Spain to judge the wines. Over 400 Galician wines are submitted, and these are whittled down to a final selection, that in turn are judged by 5 top sommelieres and 5 members of the local Consello Regulador.

There are no gold or silver medals as such, just a Certificate of Distinction, which is recognised by the Xunta of Galicia, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, and the European Union.

For me at least, the most significant accolades are those bestowed by sommeliers who really understand our wines and denomination, and accredited journalists who make unsolicited tasting notes about our Albariño.

Only buy wine that is formally dressed!

When I first arrived in Spain a few years ago one of the things that first struck me when eating out was the number of unlabelled bottles served to the tables – not carafe wine, but wine bottled, with a cork, simply missing any form of identification. This was not an ‘under the counter’ operation, but very open and blatant, and an offer taken up by the large majority of customers. I have no doubt that this wine even tasted a little ‘sweeter’ to these consumers as they enjoyed a cheaper price as a result of not paying any tax!

Whilst this type of ‘deal’ is probably offered all around the vineyards of Europe, I cannot imagine it happening too much in the New World. The real shock for me however, was the sheer volume and audacity of the practice (especially when I consider the stringent controls that we face as wine producers, not only to guarantee the quality of our product, but also to dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’ on the label). In the past, for example, we have actually been pulled up for having a typeface that is 1mm too small, let alone not having any label at all! So it would hardly seem fair, to say the least…..

Possibly out of guilt, but more likely owing to the loss of taxes, our local Government has now started an initiative to stop the practice of unlabelled wine by printing a brochure. How this will help I am not quite sure, as it always the enforcement that seems to be a bit lacking here in Spain. I can only hope that we enjoy more success than the no-smoking law which appears to have made almost no difference whatsoever!

Our fleet of modern vehicles will speed orders to your cellar door…

We are probably just over a month away from the start of the 2007 harvest, and whilst we are still ‘open for business’ during this period, we strongly encourage all our customers to order well in advance to avoid possible delay.

Whilst the grapes are still ripening on the vines it is impossible to know the exact date that we will start picking, but my best guestimate would be around the second or third week of September – not quite as early as last year, and perhaps a bit closer to ‘norm’.

The summer so far has not been very kind to our region, as we have experienced a lot of rain and humidity – not the best weather for growing fruit. To be very honest we have been obliged to use some anti-mildew and oidium treatments, but our careful management of the vine canopy has at least helped to minimise the amount of intervention. Other growers have perhaps been a little less fortunate, as the ‘vine vigour’ (created by the additional rainfall) has only served to trap moisture and exaggerate the problem.

We are currently experiencing a hot, dry period, so we have our fingers crossed that this will now continue for the rest of the summer!

The press in Venezuela appear to quite like our wine, which of course could be for several different reasons. The first and most obvious reason is that Angela was born there. Secondly it could be that we have a very good distributor, who makes sure that our wine is regularly presented to the press. And finally, it goes without saying that the most likely reason is that we make a really good Albariño!

Our Casal Caeiro 2006 (which has only recently been released in South America) is described as having “a rich, powerful, aromatic nose, displaying an array of citrus fruits and salty, mineral notes. Clean and intense in the mouth with a lively, fresh acidity and a long, persistent finish.”