In these days of political correctness I am never quite sure exactly what greeting we should use over the winter holidays. These days it appears that whatever we say that we run the risk of offending someone, and so the only possible solution is to find something transgression-neutral!

A few days ago I was in a shop when I saw a sign that said “Merry Everything and a Happy Always!”. OK, it sounds like something straight out of a Disney movie (and perhaps it could be?), but then I thought that not only was it appropriate, but that it also appeared to cover all the bases too. So I requisitioned this phraseology for my own purposes!

In the hope that you are not offended in any way, I would now invite you to read this article that I think reflects perfectly what I am attempting to say about our attitudes to religion and how that relates to political correctness.

Happy holidays!

For the last couple of weeks our team have been out in the vineyards starting the long, labourious task of pruning our vines. As I say nearly every year, this really is a neck/back breaking, thankless job, especially as we appear to have returned to our more traditional Galician autumn/winter weather – cold and wet!

I mentioned a few days ago that during the first days of December we finally welcomed a little sunshine (after a month or more of continuous rain). Well, this respite was short-lived. The rain has now returned, and once again our guys will be working with the rain in their faces!

I keep repeating in my posts that we are not great supporters of wine competitions, and it seems that no sooner have I said this that we win another medal! In fairness I should say to say that we do sometimes submit wines to tastings and publications that we really believe in, or in some instances the tastings that a particular importer might believe is important to their market (or sector of their market). For example, many of of importers work in the hotel/restaurant sector, and so it would make perfect sense to enter our wines into tastings or competitions organised, or perhaps judged by sommeliers from their locality.

In the last week or so we have picked up a further two gold medals (one for each of the two wines that we entered), awarded to us by the Guia Paadín 2020. Whilst many people will not know this particular guide, it is a local entity that focuses entirely on local wines, and is therefore highly respected in our region, and around Spain.

I guess that, in the end, we must be doing something right!

I think that it would be fair to say that November was the wettest month that we have had for some time – probably even wetter than any single month of last winter. There was hardly a day that passed when it didn’t rain. It was grey, damp and cold; all the characteristics of a typical Galician winter. However, after two very dry summers, it was really what we needed, in order to at least begin the job of replenishing our somewhat depleted water table. Having said that I rather suspect that we will need even more rain over the coming months to complete the task.

The beginning of December has at least provided at least a little respite. For the last couple of days the sky has been blue and the late autumn landscape has taken on a whole new complexion. (It’s amazing how just a little sun can change the whole atmosphere of a place – especially after such a prolonged dull and damp period).

Inevitably, with the bright skies come the cold temperatures, and today we witnessed our first ground frost of the year. With our pruning already underway I am sure that our guys working in the vineyard will prefer cold and sunny to grey and wet!

Today is, of course, Cyber Monday, an opportunity for retailers to offer even more discounts supposedly on ‘tech’ goods, albeit the reality is that this now includes any other product or service under the sun. My two favourite reductions to date have been seen in a local car park offering discounted parking, and a hairdresser with a 2 for 1 offer (although I’m not quite sure how that would work – two haircuts on the same day, or maybe bring a friend?).

Anyway, it seems that more and more observers (including the press), are now viewing these ‘Black’ days and ‘Cyber’ days as just a cynical exploitation of consumers, and that many of the bargains on offer are simply not bargains at all. In addition to this, the larger retailers are not simply restricting it to a one day, one-off sale, but they are extending their Black days into a week or sometimes even more.

The latest development I have noticed is that a few traders are already trying to re-invent this slightly over exploited concept by changing the name. For example, last week I received discounted offers for Black Friday, Yellow Friday, Blue Friday and Green Friday!

I guess that normal business might not resume until January, after all the holidays are done for the year….

We wish all our friends and customers in the United States a very Happy Thanksgiving!

So what are we in Europe thankful for? Perhaps for Donald J. Trump for keeping us all entertained? (I was very tempted to post the photo of his latest incarnation as Rock Balboa, but decided that I should add a serious picture instead!)

Today’s picture features the latest marketing campaign from our D.O. office, claiming that the albariño of Rias Baixas “Goes with everything”…. Whilst I might not personally agree 100% with that claim, it would certainly not go too badly with your Thanksgiving turkey!

Our Christmas/Holiday orders here at Castro Martin can usually be split into more or less two main categories – palletised orders that are shipped overseas, and the domestic gift market.

Our overseas orders are already long-gone, indeed, the planning and preparation of these orders started some months ago. Of course transit times vary according to where the importer is located, but obviously they have to make sure that their stock is already in place long before the holiday rush begins. (Bear in mind that for our restaurant customers the office Christmas party season starts long before 25th December).

On the other hand our Christmas gift market here in Spain is quite another story. Whilst we are very grateful for every order that we get, we actually receive quite a number of them at the last minute. In these circumstances all we can do is to make sure that we have all the materials (and people) available to set up our mini ‘production line’ for making gift packs. Today’s photo shows a large, recent order, thankfully received in plenty of time and already with our customer.

Only a few days ago I said that points and medals were not our ‘raison d’être’ here at Castro Martin. Of course, as luck would have it, just a few days later, we win accolades for two or our wines!

Back in the summer I submitted a couple of bottles to the Wines from Spain Awards, organised by ICEX in London. These awards were quite different in that they were judging all the wines of Spain and not only albariños. Of course, the wines were categorised and tasted in organised flights, but the objective was to simply identify the best wines of Spain, regardless of whether their origin was Catalonia, La Mancha or Galicia.

In the end, there were no Gold, Silver of Bronze medals, just the top 100 Wine from Spain (judged by a few notable MW’s) Result?……

The two wines that we submitted were BOTH voted into the top 100, and we were the only Bodega in Galicia to achieve this distinction!

In recent times I have noticed that a few reputable journalists have started to question our popular, and sometimes long-held beliefs about wine. Some of the doubts being raised are, for example, the use of points to rate wines, and more recently, the development and definition of ‘natural’ wines.

As you may already know I have never been a big fan of wines being rated or categorised by points – there are just too many possible anomalies. Some fear that the worldwide influence of the points system will eventually mean that certain styles will dominate (and possibly all taste that same), and that lighter wines could lose out, simply because they are less likely to get a attract good scores. Wine shop managers sometimes dismiss ratings as overly simplistic — numbers devoid of context, such as a wine merchant’s sense and knowledge of individual customer tastes. Finally, I have to add that over the years, points and medals have occasionally (in a few proven cases) been abused in order to mislead consumers. Conclusion? That the points system just might not be as effective as we have all come to expect.

It is the lack of official regulation or certification for using the phrase “natural wine” that has now created something of an existential crisis. It’s up to winemakers and those who sell, promote and drink their wines to decide whether a bottle fits the ‘natural’ bill. In an effort to distance themselves from this watered-down, misused and sometimes abused term, some producers who truly work with minimal intervention are now turning their backs on this new movement as a whole. For consumers, that only results in further muddying of a term and ideology that’s already steeped in confusion.

In our business we already have organic, biodynamic and sustainable wine making – the first two of these can be certified, and the third simply relies on producers to use common-sense and mindful wine making practices. However, this should not mean that we abandon or ignore the advances in wine making technology that has been made over the last decades – certainly we all want wines with character, but we also want wines that are reasonably stable and will not fall-apart too quickly!

The UK Prime Minister has aged noticeably during his short term in office!

…….that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them: to die, face down in a ditch…..

Sorry! I studied Shakespeare many years ago at school, and could not resist taking this well-known soliloquy and giving my own twist at the end. If you have been following Brexit then you might just understand my ditch reference.

My point is that Brexit was scheduled for today, and in the end it simply did not happen. It all now hinges on a UK General Election, the result of which is also in the balance. To say that it is a period of uncertainty would be something of an understatement. The only thing that I can say for sure is that both Castro Martin and our UK importers are prepared (or at least as best we can be)!