Day three (Sunday) started very overcast, with the ground wet from overnight rain. After two pretty busy days for our picking team, we decided to delay our start until the early afternoon, affording them a short respite and some hours with their families. By 2pm the clouds had  cleared a little and and our fruit had dried completely, and so our harvest was underway once more.

Inside the bodega is was time to start racking the grape must from our first day, drawing off the clean, settled juice into new tanks (leaving any residues (fangos) at the bottom of the original tank). At this point the must is still quite cold from settling and will take a day or two before it reaches a temperature suitable for starting fermentation.

By comparison to our first two days, Sunday appeared to be much less intense, but perhaps this was more because it was a half-day, rather than our grape pickers working more slowly. We are still, of course, very conscious that the rain is approaching and that we could end up with a ‘harvest of two halves’! Apart from causing complications with the picking itself, a split harvest can also cause gaps in the wine making process, as different tanks can be at completely different stages of their development during the fermentation process.

The day started well enough, slightly grey skies, but still dry for the time being. Having said that, the race was still on to gather everything as quickly as possible. In a way, our second day was almost a repeat of the day before; a steady stream of grapes arriving throughout the afternoon feeding the presses with just about the perfect frequency. It wasn’t really until the very end of the day that we had a bit of a glitch. It was due to a problem with transport whereby we had agreed to collect cases from one of our producers, but didn’t have any vehicle available to make the run. By the time our first vehicle became available it was already quite late, meaning that there was a certain amount of waiting around for the final grapes to arrive. Not really a big issue, but just the sort of delay that we want at the end of a long, busy day. The very end of the day also saw the first drops of predicted rain, although really just a few drops (with our fruit already safe inside the cellar)

The only other slight issue with 2025 so far, is a problem that we have been facing for the last vintage or two…. finding enough good, reliable to meet our needs. This is not just a Galician issue, as fruit pickers around the country constantly battle the same problem. Of course, the problem with a grape harvest is that we need a large group of (preferably) experienced people, for just a reasonably short period. This is compounded by the fact that there are maybe 50-100 other large bodegas in Rias Baixas all looking the the same time.

Activity inside the bodega will start tomorrow, as we start to rack the first tanks after 48 hours settling.

After a long, hot summer, concluding with about one week of rain, we finally started to pick on Friday 5th September. The blue skies that we enjoyed might, however, be short lived, as a forecast of rain has suddenly appeared on the horizon. Normally we would try to ease ourselves into the routine, but now it has become more a mad scramble to pick as much fruit as possible, from all sources. By mid-afternoon vans, tractors and trailers were queuing at our doors.

Despite the rush, all the different vehicles appeared to arrive as if by prior arrangement – one after another, but quite evenly spaced, leaving just enough time to discharge their precious cargo, and then move on to the next. This steady stream also provided us with a perfect flow of fruit for our presses – no sooner was one press emptied, than we had just enough fruit to re-fill it. Purely by chance it was like a well synchronised ‘ballet’. This pattern continued throughout the afternoon and evening until it was finally time to leave, exhausted but strangely satisfied by a busy but successful first day.

Our tasting of the first must revealed the usual, floral perfumed fruit character, with quite a good concentration. Our only slight concern would be that the acidity might be slightly lower than we would normally expect (obviously due to the heat), but of course we will need to make a full analysis of the must before we draw too many conclusions.

With the forecast of another dry for tomorrow, our race to gather fruit will continue.

After one of the driest summers for years, the weather finally broke during the last week of August. Since then we have had a few days of rain; not excessively heavy, but enough to have some impact. Under normal circumstances we would be cursing wet weather at this time, but after such a long, dry spell this actually helps. Over time the bunches become a little dusty, and so this rain will help to clean the fruit before picking. Also, the small amounts that will have been absorbed into the soil will help to fill-out the fruit a little. The berries were quite small and almost a little dehydrated, so this should help to plump them up without being too detrimental to the quality.

The long and short of it is that we will start picking this Friday, 5th September (it had been my opinion for a month or two that we would start in the first week of September). The cellar is now almost completely ready, all equipment thoroughly cleaned and all machines serviced and (hopefully) ready to go. In the next few days the cellar will be filled with the constant drone of the presses, which is always the sign that harvest is upon us!

Whilst it might seem pretty boring, banging on about the weather in every post, we are still farmers, and weather is a critical factor in determining the final quality of our crop. I can probably sum up the summer of 2025 in three words – hot and dry! I think the last time that we had any real precipitation was probably June, and in the last month, not only zero rain, but many, many days around the 30°C mark (86°F), and a number even higher than this – last week up to 36°C (96°F). The lack of water means that the bunches are there, and starting to ripen, but the berries have not really expanded in size; bunches are still small and tightly packed. It is likely that this will have an impact on our yields, and we will have to monitor the acidity and sugars in the fruit very closely. Of course there are still a few weeks before harvest, but the long range weather forecast is not too promising…. just more of the same.

The only respite has come from the Ocean, with a few breezes to at least lower the ‘perceived’ temperature by a degree or two, and lately, a few days of sea fog. Today, for example, we have quite a thick fog (more than just a mist), and thankfully the temperature has dropped to around 22°C. There is also a very fine mist of moisture hanging in the air, but I am sad to say that this might be the nearest we come to rain before we start picking.

Inside the bodega, we are already starting to prepare tanks, before we enjoy a short summer break later this week. I still believe that we will pick during the first week of September, so we have to move quickly.

The weather in Rias Baixas has been largely dry since the middle of May. Yes, there have been odd days of rain, but nothing very significant. In mid-June we experienced the first real heat, with temperatures into the low 30’s°C (86°F) and apart from one cooler, grey week during July, the hot summer weather has continued. The protracted wet conditions during spring 2025 has meant that our vines are not showing any signs of stress as yet, but if these 30°+ temperatures continue unabated, then we might start to have a few problems. Small berries, high sugar (alcohol) and low acidity.

In the meantime, this extended dry spell, with little moisture at all, means that Galicia’s extensive forests are tinder dry, and only need on small spark to set them off. About 30% of our forests are actually eucalyptus (which is not indigenous to this part of the world, and was only introduced in the 19th Century). The big problem with eucalyptus is that it is a ‘pyrophyte’ species, and needs fire to survive and reproduce. They grow very quickly, survive fire (which many other species do not) and the vegetation, bark and branches that fall provide perfect fuel for any flame or spark. The oil in the eucalyptus trees mean that fires can burn and spread twice as fast as those burning in other forests. They are now so prevalent (and durable), that it would be quite impossible to replant and replace them.

In the last few days we have seen a significant fire burning break out in the Meano area, only a few kilometres from our bodega, shrouding some local towns and villages in smoke… thankfully it was contained reasonably quickly, but still serves as a warning.

Pretty much the whole of Europe has been experiencing extreme temperatures for the last few weeks. Having said that, the Galician coast is usually a bit cooler than the rest of the continent, being moderated by the effects of the Atlantic Ocean. Despite this, we have still experienced a prolonged period with temperatures hovering around the 30°C (86°F) mark. At the moment our grapes are thriving, but if this hot, dry weather persists, then it could well have a detrimental effect on the fruit. In these extreme conditions we could potentially see small, thick skinned berries giving us a much lower yield. Some time ago, I had also predicted quite an early harvest, perhaps the first week of September, but if we start to see excessive ripeness and acidity dropping, there is an outside chance that our harvest date could be a bit nearer to the end of August. As always we are in the lap of the weather Gods…

Today’s picture highlights a promotion recently held in the Candida Restaurant near Malaga, which is not only famous for it’s use of local produce, including fish, but most especially it’s fresh tuna. Unfortunately, just too far to go for lunch!

After a cool, wet and very changeable spring, we are finally enjoying a settled period of warm, dry, sunny weather (touch wood!) Since more or less the middle of May we have experienced blue skies and much warmer temperatures as it finally feels like summer might be on the way.

During the last couple of months we have had a few sunny days, but until now the temperatures had always remained stubbornly low, mostly in the mid-high teens °C (mid 60’s°F). This week, however, the thermometer has climbed by several degrees and we are now experiencing temperatures between 25° and 30°C (77° – 86°F).

The result of this sudden  burst of good weather is that flowering has more or less happened in a flash; from flowers first appearing in the last week or two, there are now a number of areas where we already have fruit set, when the tiny pea-like grapes first appear. If this carries on over the next week (which it is forecast to do), then it is likely that we will have an early harvest. If the rest of the season progresses normally (whatever that is these days!) we are looking at probably around the first week of September to start picking. It is actually a little daunting to be thinking of harvest already, it seems to arrive more and more quickly every year!

At 11.30am on a regular Monday morning the lights suddenly went out (which is not an unusual occurrence in this part of the world). Little did we know, this time it was to be very different; it was not just local, but a National power cut! At that point nobody knew what had caused it, or how long it was likely to last.

As it became known that the outage was likely to take several hours to restore, businesses that had not already stopped trading, soon decided to close their doors and call it a day. Shop tills were down, goods could not be scanned, and paying by card or mobile became impossible. So much for a cashless society!

After a few hours the mobile network also started to collapse. Communication was almost completely compromised, and the resultant sense of isolation almost reminiscent of the dark days of Covid. FM radio (battery operated, of course) was the only real source of information.

We had hoped that power might be restored by evening, but as darkness fell there was little else to do but have an early night.

The following morning it was not until 07.30 that the grid was reconnected, some 20 hours after the initial failure. However, the mobile network and internet was not restored until much later, the phone signal was spasmodic, and it was not until late evening that full service was resumed. It was a difficult day all round.

Well, it would be true to say that our blog has been a little abandoned this winter, but actually this is mainly because once the holidays are behind us, there is really not too much to write about! Apart from sending out orders, the only main activity has been pruning (although I feel that this subject has been pretty much exhausted over the years!) Anyway, this is thankfully now behind us for another year and our vineyards are primed and now ready for some warm spring sunshine (see today’s photo).

The month of February was quite cold and damp, but although it rained on quite a number of days, there didn’t appear to be too many days that produced heavy, saturating rain. Many days of light rain and drizzle, and also the fine ‘mizzle’ that hangs in the air and sticks to your clothes. Yes, we had some stormy days, with high winds and driving rain, but overall I wouldn’t classify this winter as being overly wet (perhaps the stats will prove me wrong?). March has started with a number of bright, sunny days, but with deceptively chilly breezes and temperatures not much higher that 15° or 16°C (almost 60°F). As a result, there is no real sign of budding just yet, but probably starting very soon.

Our 2024 wines are, of course, still sitting quietly on their lees, and have been subject to regular tasting by Angela and myself. They still look quite promising, and we will soon have to plan the different permutations of tanks for blending. (Yes, we do blend tanks, even with just one single varietal, to give our customers some ‘uniformity of style’ across the coming year, each tank being slightly different to the next).