Now I think I’ve seen it all. The latest invention to hit the market….. wine flavoured popcorn! Spain is, of course, the creator of  the tapas phenomena, and having a bite sized snack with your wine is a very common practice. Indeed, it would be almost unthinkable to have a drink without some small, delicious titbit to accompany it. Nearly every bar in Spain, no matter how small, will automatically give you something with your drink, whether it be some olives, a piece of bread with a ham or cheese topping, or sometimes even a warm dish of rice, lentils or some other creation. All in all it’s actually a very civilised practice, and the fact that it is given free makes it even more agreeable.

This new wine popcorn has been created by a New York based company called Populence. Apparently its founder noticed that an increasing number of people were eating popcorn whilst they enjoyed their glass of wine and so created two (non-alcoholic) flavours to go with two selected Kim Crawford wines from New Zealand. They have suggested that the popcorn would be best enjoyed with a glass of the corresponding wine. The flavours in question (or should that be grape varieties?) are Pinot Noir Chocolate Drizzle and Sauvignon Blanc Kettle.

Personally I have never tried popcorn with wine, but that could be because I just don’t like popcorn. Having said that I guess it could make life a bit more interesting for cinema goers, but at a price of £23 for a one gallon tin ($36 or €27) I rather doubt it!

Now I think I’ve seen it all. The latest invention to hit the market….. wine flavoured popcorn! Spain is, of course, the creator of  the tapas phenomena, and having a bite sized snack with your wine is a very common practice. Indeed, it would be almost unthinkable to have a drink without some small, delicious titbit to accompany it. Nearly every bar in Spain, no matter how small, will automatically give you something with your drink, whether it be some olives, a piece of bread with a ham or cheese topping, or sometimes even a warm dish of rice, lentils or some other creation. All in all it’s actually a very civilised practice, and the fact that it is given free makes it even more agreeable.

This new wine popcorn has been created by a New York based company called Populence. Apparently its founder noticed that an increasing number of people were eating popcorn whilst they enjoyed their glass of wine and so created two (non-alcoholic) flavours to go with two selected Kim Crawford wines from New Zealand. They have suggested that the popcorn would be best enjoyed with a glass of the corresponding wine. The flavours in question (or should that be grape varieties?) are Pinot Noir Chocolate Drizzle and Sauvignon Blanc Kettle.

Personally I have never tried popcorn with wine, but that could be because I just don’t like popcorn. Having said that I guess it could make life a bit more interesting for cinema goers, but at a price of £23 for a one gallon tin ($36 or €27) I rather doubt it!

OK, I know, we’re a Spanish bodega and I’m using a French wine expression to describe our ‘green harvest’ – it’s just an old habit that dies hard (and I have to admit that it’s not the only French term that I use quite regularly). For example, ‘fiche technique’ is another one…. I think in the U.S. this is sometimes known as a ‘cheat sheet’, which I’m afraid doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

Anyway, the subject of today’s post, as you might have guessed, is the green harvest that we are making in our vineyards. Despite a difficult, late and extended flowering period, we have actually arrived with (potentially) quite a good crop of fruit. Yes, there are a few uneven bunches (that we would remove anyway), but in addition to this we are also removing some of the excess fruit before it starts to consume too much sugar. In other years this practice might take place a little earlier, but as this year’s vineyard cycle is running a little late we now anticipate the end of September as our expected harvest date.

Clearly there is still a lot of time between now and start of picking and so removing bunches at this stage is always a risky business, but the long-term benefits are quite clear. As with any fruit or vegetable, bigger does not always mean better, and perhaps explains the British obsession with baby vegetables (although I have to admit that in many cases the baby veggies do actually taste better). The point is that if we remove some of the small, green bunches now then the energy of the vine is concentrated into the remaining fruit and we will end up with better grapes….. simple!

The difficulty is, as always, persuading a few of our grape suppliers that this is the best course of action. It’s quite understandable that they can view it as simply throwing potential profit on the floor.

OK, I know, we’re a Spanish bodega and I’m using a French wine expression to describe our ‘green harvest’ – it’s just an old habit that dies hard (and I have to admit that it’s not the only French term that I use quite regularly). For example, ‘fiche technique’ is another one…. I think in the U.S. this is sometimes known as a ‘cheat sheet’, which I’m afraid doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

Anyway, the subject of today’s post, as you might have guessed, is the green harvest that we are making in our vineyards. Despite a difficult, late and extended flowering period, we have actually arrived with (potentially) quite a good crop of fruit. Yes, there are a few uneven bunches (that we would remove anyway), but in addition to this we are also removing some of the excess fruit before it starts to consume too much sugar. In other years this practice might take place a little earlier, but as this year’s vineyard cycle is running a little late we now anticipate the end of September as our expected harvest date.

Clearly there is still a lot of time between now and start of picking and so removing bunches at this stage is always a risky business, but the long-term benefits are quite clear. As with any fruit or vegetable, bigger does not always mean better, and perhaps explains the British obsession with baby vegetables (although I have to admit that in many cases the baby veggies do actually taste better). The point is that if we remove some of the small, green bunches now then the energy of the vine is concentrated into the remaining fruit and we will end up with better grapes….. simple!

The difficulty is, as always, persuading a few of our grape suppliers that this is the best course of action. It’s quite understandable that they can view it as simply throwing potential profit on the floor.

I mentioned just the other day that there had been much serious drinking at the Albariño Festival, and questioned whether this was really a positive advertisement for our denomination or not. It is claimed that some 90,000 bottles of our local wine were consumed in four days, and if this figure is correct, then it is perhaps understandable why there were so many “happy” people falling about! This number represents roughly 6 full 40ft containers of wine, which in turn equates to 30 pallets a day, sold by only 44 stands….. not bad going!

On Saturday night/Sunday morning there was a very interesting and somewhat usual occurrence in the Ria of Arousa. Many of the river estuaries (Rias) of Galicia are dotted with large wooden platforms used for farming mussels – beams made from eucalyptus trees fastened on top of several floats and anchored to the sea bed by a concrete block. From each raft hang a number of ropes where the mussels grow. During the spawning season the mussel larvae float downstream until they attach themselves to the ropes of the platforms, or sometimes they are transferred there by hand by the mussel farmers themselves.

Last Sunday morning at 1.30am one of the platforms had a rather unusual visit when it was ‘mounted’ by a motor cruiser travelling at speed down the river! The boat hit with such force that it was left completely high and dry on top of the platform. There were twelve people on board at the time, and two of them were injured (we don’t know how seriously), but suffice to say that the survivors had to be evacuated by an air-sea rescue helicopter.

The occupants of the cruiser had been attending the albariño festival….. probably enough said. 

I mentioned just the other day that there had been much serious drinking at the Albariño Festival, and questioned whether this was really a positive advertisement for our denomination or not. It is claimed that some 90,000 bottles of our local wine were consumed in four days, and if this figure is correct, then it is perhaps understandable why there were so many “happy” people falling about! This number represents roughly 6 full 40ft containers of wine, which in turn equates to 30 pallets a day, sold by only 44 stands….. not bad going!

On Saturday night/Sunday morning there was a very interesting and somewhat usual occurrence in the Ria of Arousa. Many of the river estuaries (Rias) of Galicia are dotted with large wooden platforms used for farming mussels – beams made from eucalyptus trees fastened on top of several floats and anchored to the sea bed by a concrete block. From each raft hang a number of ropes where the mussels grow. During the spawning season the mussel larvae float downstream until they attach themselves to the ropes of the platforms, or sometimes they are transferred there by hand by the mussel farmers themselves.

Last Sunday morning at 1.30am one of the platforms had a rather unusual visit when it was ‘mounted’ by a motor cruiser travelling at speed down the river! The boat hit with such force that it was left completely high and dry on top of the platform. There were twelve people on board at the time, and two of them were injured (we don’t know how seriously), but suffice to say that the survivors had to be evacuated by an air-sea rescue helicopter.

The occupants of the cruiser had been attending the albariño festival….. probably enough said. 

For the last few days our local seaside town of Cambados has been taken over by the 61st Albariño Festival, so much so that many roads in the town centre were actually closed to traffic. For four days the home of the albariño grape variety has played host to much merriment, but I’m afraid to say that the word ‘merriment’ might just be a euphemism for lots of serious drinking. 

Apart from visiting the tunnel of wine I actually made a point of avoiding the main part of the albariño festival, chosing to stay away. My worst fears were confirmed by speaking to people who did attend, not for the drinking I hasten to add, but simply to take their children to the fairground attractions. The stories that they told did not make good listening I’m afraid. Even by 8.30pm (which is very, very early evening for Spanish festivals) there were already many drunken people falling about in the street. The seafront was taken over by impromptu parties, with loud music, lots of bottles, and not just albariño.

At the tunnel tasting on the first day we had met some wine makers from Austria, who made the journey especially to familiarise themselves with our grape variety. They had been given to understand that the Festival would be an ideal opportunity to come and taste the wines (which in the case of the tunnel was no doubt true), but what they made of the rest of the celebration would be interesting to know. I’m sure that they probably didn’t expect the kind of ‘frivolities’ that they may have encountered, and I’m quite confident that the wine festivals in Austria would be somewhat more conservative!

I certainly commented last year, and possibly even the year before, that I’m really not too sure how healthy it is for the image of the albariño grape variety to be associated with heavy drinking in the streets. The original concept of the celebration is in real danger of becoming hijacked, and abused by the few who inevitably spoil it for the many….. Or it could just be that I’m becoming an old fuddy-duddy!

For the last few days our local seaside town of Cambados has been taken over by the 61st Albariño Festival, so much so that many roads in the town centre were actually closed to traffic. For four days the home of the albariño grape variety has played host to much merriment, but I’m afraid to say that the word ‘merriment’ might just be a euphemism for lots of serious drinking. 

Apart from visiting the tunnel of wine I actually made a point of avoiding the main part of the albariño festival, chosing to stay away. My worst fears were confirmed by speaking to people who did attend, not for the drinking I hasten to add, but simply to take their children to the fairground attractions. The stories that they told did not make good listening I’m afraid. Even by 8.30pm (which is very, very early evening for Spanish festivals) there were already many drunken people falling about in the street. The seafront was taken over by impromptu parties, with loud music, lots of bottles, and not just albariño.

At the tunnel tasting on the first day we had met some wine makers from Austria, who made the journey especially to familiarise themselves with our grape variety. They had been given to understand that the Festival would be an ideal opportunity to come and taste the wines (which in the case of the tunnel was no doubt true), but what they made of the rest of the celebration would be interesting to know. I’m sure that they probably didn’t expect the kind of ‘frivolities’ that they may have encountered, and I’m quite confident that the wine festivals in Austria would be somewhat more conservative!

I certainly commented last year, and possibly even the year before, that I’m really not too sure how healthy it is for the image of the albariño grape variety to be associated with heavy drinking in the streets. The original concept of the celebration is in real danger of becoming hijacked, and abused by the few who inevitably spoil it for the many….. Or it could just be that I’m becoming an old fuddy-duddy!

This is the time of year that we celebrate the Festival of Albariño in Cambados (the spiritual home of our beloved grape variety). 2013 is the 61st time that the event has been held and it runs for four days from 1st – 4th August. For perhaps the second or third time at the festival, the D.O. have opened their doors to the ‘Tunnel of Wine’ tasting. Many of you reading this will already understand the concept of a tasting tunnel, but for those who don’t it is actually very simple. The tunnel comprises a series of tables containing rows of opened bottles, each bottle accompanied by a fiche technique (cheat sheet) giving details of how each wine is vinified. It is entirely self-service and so each taster is able to work at their own pace, but more importantly, completely unhindered, allowing the taster to concentrate completely on the task in hand. This year there are 114 wines on show and so it’s an ideal opportunity to assess the progress of many of the wines in our denomination – all under one roof.

I should mention that there is a 15 Euro entry fee, which is perhaps designed to deter some from taking advantage and simply turning the tunnel into a subsidised drinking session. This is a professional tasting and completely separate from the main fiesta which enjoys much more of an informal party atmosphere. For me at least, the tunnel is a much better option.

Today’s photo is lifted from the Facebook page of the Rias Baixas D.O. and shows Angela and myself hard at work doing what we do best – tasting wine. Please note my ‘trendy’ t-shirt “Keep calm and drink albariño” – good advice I think!

This is the time of year that we celebrate the Festival of Albariño in Cambados (the spiritual home of our beloved grape variety). 2013 is the 61st time that the event has been held and it runs for four days from 1st – 4th August. For perhaps the second or third time at the festival, the D.O. have opened their doors to the ‘Tunnel of Wine’ tasting. Many of you reading this will already understand the concept of a tasting tunnel, but for those who don’t it is actually very simple. The tunnel comprises a series of tables containing rows of opened bottles, each bottle accompanied by a fiche technique (cheat sheet) giving details of how each wine is vinified. It is entirely self-service and so each taster is able to work at their own pace, but more importantly, completely unhindered, allowing the taster to concentrate completely on the task in hand. This year there are 114 wines on show and so it’s an ideal opportunity to assess the progress of many of the wines in our denomination – all under one roof.

I should mention that there is a 15 Euro entry fee, which is perhaps designed to deter some from taking advantage and simply turning the tunnel into a subsidised drinking session. This is a professional tasting and completely separate from the main fiesta which enjoys much more of an informal party atmosphere. For me at least, the tunnel is a much better option.

Today’s photo is lifted from the Facebook page of the Rias Baixas D.O. and shows Angela and myself hard at work doing what we do best – tasting wine. Please note my ‘trendy’ t-shirt “Keep calm and drink albariño” – good advice I think!

Roughly ten years ago we planted a new vineyard around the bodega. Any new vineyard yields virtually no usable fruit for the first few years, and it takes much longer than that to produce high quality grapes, so the return on investment can be quite protracted. Even at ten years old this ‘finca’ is still very young – the fruit that it produces now is not bad, but the very good news is that it is going to get much better in the years to come. Of course it goes without saying that all the vines that we plant, whether it be in new vineyards, or to replace old or damaged vines, are the very best clones of the albariño grape variety that we can lay our hands on.

 Although today’s photo is just another boring shot of the new bodega vineyard, I wanted to put it in as a tribute to David, Juan and Freddie, our young  and enthusiastic team who work very hard, often in inclement weather, to keep all our vineyards in tip-top condition. Our fincas are quite deliberately manicured like gardens in order to fully support our philosophy that ‘quality begins in the vineyard’.

The expression that I use to describe the state of this finca is ‘Ship-shape and Bristol fashion’ which is an old English nautical term, or to be more accurate, two separate terms from the 17th and 18th centuries which over the years have become married together. The city of Bristol is a port in the south west of England. Situated inland on the River Severn it experiences the second highest rise and fall of tides of anywhere in the world (I believe that this can be up to 40ft or 12/13metres). The old wooden Royal Navy ships that used the port had to be extremely strong as at low tide they would be left beached, resting on their keels, and therefore tilting over. Before they could use the port they had to ensure that everything was lashed down and secured, so that when it tilted its contents would not simply be strewn across the ship. 

The term ‘ship-shape’ refers to neat order; ‘Bristol fashion’ refers to the critical specifications that ships had to meet before entering Bristol. The phrase in its entirety therefore comes to mean ‘neat, tidy and well-ordered’. Some old phrases can be quite interesting, we often use them without really knowing their true origins…..

Roughly ten years ago we planted a new vineyard around the bodega. Any new vineyard yields virtually no usable fruit for the first few years, and it takes much longer than that to produce high quality grapes, so the return on investment can be quite protracted. Even at ten years old this ‘finca’ is still very young – the fruit that it produces now is not bad, but the very good news is that it is going to get much better in the years to come. Of course it goes without saying that all the vines that we plant, whether it be in new vineyards, or to replace old or damaged vines, are the very best clones of the albariño grape variety that we can lay our hands on.

 Although today’s photo is just another boring shot of the new bodega vineyard, I wanted to put it in as a tribute to David, Juan and Freddie, our young  and enthusiastic team who work very hard, often in inclement weather, to keep all our vineyards in tip-top condition. Our fincas are quite deliberately manicured like gardens in order to fully support our philosophy that ‘quality begins in the vineyard’.

The expression that I use to describe the state of this finca is ‘Ship-shape and Bristol fashion’ which is an old English nautical term, or to be more accurate, two separate terms from the 17th and 18th centuries which over the years have become married together. The city of Bristol is a port in the south west of England. Situated inland on the River Severn it experiences the second highest rise and fall of tides of anywhere in the world (I believe that this can be up to 40ft or 12/13metres). The old wooden Royal Navy ships that used the port had to be extremely strong as at low tide they would be left beached, resting on their keels, and therefore tilting over. Before they could use the port they had to ensure that everything was lashed down and secured, so that when it tilted its contents would not simply be strewn across the ship. 

The term ‘ship-shape’ refers to neat order; ‘Bristol fashion’ refers to the critical specifications that ships had to meet before entering Bristol. The phrase in its entirety therefore comes to mean ‘neat, tidy and well-ordered’. Some old phrases can be quite interesting, we often use them without really knowing their true origins…..

Roughly ten years ago we planted a new vineyard around the bodega. Any new vineyard yields virtually no usable fruit for the first few years, and it takes much longer than that to produce high quality grapes, so the return on investment can be quite protracted. Even at ten years old this ‘finca’ is still very young – the fruit that it produces now is not bad, but the very good news is that it is going to get much better in the years to come. Of course it goes without saying that all the vines that we plant, whether it be in new vineyards, or to replace old or damaged vines, are the very best clones of the albariño grape variety that we can lay our hands on.

 Although today’s photo is just another boring shot of the new bodega vineyard, I wanted to put it in as a tribute to David, Juan and Freddie, our young  and enthusiastic team who work very hard, often in inclement weather, to keep all our vineyards in tip-top condition. Our fincas are quite deliberately manicured like gardens in order to fully support our philosophy that ‘quality begins in the vineyard’.

The expression that I use to describe the state of this finca is ‘Ship-shape and Bristol fashion’ which is an old English nautical term, or to be more accurate, two separate terms from the 17th and 18th centuries which over the years have become married together. The city of Bristol is a port in the south west of England. Situated inland on the River Severn it experiences the second highest rise and fall of tides of anywhere in the world (I believe that this can be up to 40ft or 12/13metres). The old wooden Royal Navy ships that used the port had to be extremely strong as at low tide they would be left beached, resting on their keels, and therefore tilting over. Before they could use the port they had to ensure that everything was lashed down and secured, so that when it tilted its contents would not simply be strewn across the ship. 

The term ‘ship-shape’ refers to neat order; ‘Bristol fashion’ refers to the critical specifications that ships had to meet before entering Bristol. The phrase in its entirety therefore comes to mean ‘neat, tidy and well-ordered’. Some old phrases can be quite interesting, we often use them without really knowing their true origins…..

Roughly ten years ago we planted a new vineyard around the bodega. Any new vineyard yields virtually no usable fruit for the first few years, and it takes much longer than that to produce high quality grapes, so the return on investment can be quite protracted. Even at ten years old this ‘finca’ is still very young – the fruit that it produces now is not bad, but the very good news is that it is going to get much better in the years to come. Of course it goes without saying that all the vines that we plant, whether it be in new vineyards, or to replace old or damaged vines, are the very best clones of the albariño grape variety that we can lay our hands on.

 Although today’s photo is just another boring shot of the new bodega vineyard, I wanted to put it in as a tribute to David, Juan and Freddie, our young  and enthusiastic team who work very hard, often in inclement weather, to keep all our vineyards in tip-top condition. Our fincas are quite deliberately manicured like gardens in order to fully support our philosophy that ‘quality begins in the vineyard’.

The expression that I use to describe the state of this finca is ‘Ship-shape and Bristol fashion’ which is an old English nautical term, or to be more accurate, two separate terms from the 17th and 18th centuries which over the years have become married together. The city of Bristol is a port in the south west of England. Situated inland on the River Severn it experiences the second highest rise and fall of tides of anywhere in the world (I believe that this can be up to 40ft or 12/13metres). The old wooden Royal Navy ships that used the port had to be extremely strong as at low tide they would be left beached, resting on their keels, and therefore tilting over. Before they could use the port they had to ensure that everything was lashed down and secured, so that when it tilted its contents would not simply be strewn across the ship. 

The term ‘ship-shape’ refers to neat order; ‘Bristol fashion’ refers to the critical specifications that ships had to meet before entering Bristol. The phrase in its entirety therefore comes to mean ‘neat, tidy and well-ordered’. Some old phrases can be quite interesting, we often use them without really knowing their true origins…..

People who know me, or perhaps those who have read our blog before, will know that I am a pretty huge Liverpool F.C. supporter, and that we actually have one small corner of our wine cellar dedicated to my favourite team…. a small shrine if you will.

A week or two ago I was browsing the LFC website, when I came across a t-shirt design that made me smile. By complete co-incidence it was almost a carbon copy of our new A2O label design – a sort of  ‘Da Vinci-esque’ logo, using architectural construction lines. Of course I could not resist, I had found yet another perfect excuse to add to my already substantial collection of Liverpool shirts!

What is it they say? Great minds think alike (or is it that fools seldom differ?)

People who know me, or perhaps those who have read our blog before, will know that I am a pretty huge Liverpool F.C. supporter, and that we actually have one small corner of our wine cellar dedicated to my favourite team…. a small shrine if you will.

A week or two ago I was browsing the LFC website, when I came across a t-shirt design that made me smile. By complete co-incidence it was almost a carbon copy of our new A2O label design – a sort of  ‘Da Vinci-esque’ logo, using architectural construction lines. Of course I could not resist, I had found yet another perfect excuse to add to my already substantial collection of Liverpool shirts!

What is it they say? Great minds think alike (or is it that fools seldom differ?)

If you look back at our blogs or vintage reports over the last few years you will probably find a photo or two of Fran (our cellar guy) balancing precariously on top of the presses during harvest. His task at this point is simply to distribute the grapes evenly inside the press as they tumble from the reception area on the level above, which is much more difficult than it sounds. To be completely honest, clambering up on a ladder and then straddling the machine is very far from ideal, some might say, even a little dangerous.

Finding a solution to alleviate the danger was never going to be easy, and whatever we decided would certainly have to be a customised design and build to fit into a very tight space. Indeed, we quickly realised that short of removing the roof, it was probably a design that would have to be built in situ. Our planners (Fran and myself) got our heads together, and based on our experience of working together on the presses over the last decade, came up with a plan of what was needed.

Having missed the window to do this last year (we left it to late!), we got an early start this year, and presto! Our design has now come to fruition. It is an in-house build (as Fran is also very handy with a welding torch), but I’m sure you will agree from today’s photograph, that the finished platform looks both very solid and very professional. Of course the one thing that you don’t really appreciate is that this new working areas is actually 1.80m (nearly 6ft) above the floor, and that the top of the press is nearly 3.0m (over 9ft), which would be a long way to fall onto the tiled concrete floor below!

The genius of the design (that you can just about make out from the photo) are the two side platforms that pull up from each side of the main platform, rather like a draw bridge, allowing the press to be closed up and to turn freely once it has been charged with grapes. 

It’s so impressive that maybe we should give up making wine and move into light engineering!

If you look back at our blogs or vintage reports over the last few years you will probably find a photo or two of Fran (our cellar guy) balancing precariously on top of the presses during harvest. His task at this point is simply to distribute the grapes evenly inside the press as they tumble from the reception area on the level above, which is much more difficult than it sounds. To be completely honest, clambering up on a ladder and then straddling the machine is very far from ideal, some might say, even a little dangerous.

Finding a solution to alleviate the danger was never going to be easy, and whatever we decided would certainly have to be a customised design and build to fit into a very tight space. Indeed, we quickly realised that short of removing the roof, it was probably a design that would have to be built in situ. Our planners (Fran and myself) got our heads together, and based on our experience of working together on the presses over the last decade, came up with a plan of what was needed.

Having missed the window to do this last year (we left it to late!), we got an early start this year, and presto! Our design has now come to fruition. It is an in-house build (as Fran is also very handy with a welding torch), but I’m sure you will agree from today’s photograph, that the finished platform looks both very solid and very professional. Of course the one thing that you don’t really appreciate is that this new working areas is actually 1.80m (nearly 6ft) above the floor, and that the top of the press is nearly 3.0m (over 9ft), which would be a long way to fall onto the tiled concrete floor below!

The genius of the design (that you can just about make out from the photo) are the two side platforms that pull up from each side of the main platform, rather like a draw bridge, allowing the press to be closed up and to turn freely once it has been charged with grapes. 

It’s so impressive that maybe we should give up making wine and move into light engineering!

The long, cool spring of 2013 has certainly had a profound effect in the vineyard. One of the most significant consequences was the delayed and unusually protracted flowering period. Indeed, in some vineyards (not ours) many potential bunches were lost completely as pollination simply didn’t happen.

The knock-on effect of this is of course, that as a direct result, we will probably have a very late harvest too. Clearly it is very early days and a lot can change over the next month or two, but it would seem that we are now looking at collecting our fruit closer to the end of September, rather than the beginning of the month.

As for the bus in the photo advertising the Summer White festival here in Galicia…… Well, I just happened to have a couple of spray cans in my backpack and couldn’t resist a bit of artistic modification. (Only joking – just Photoshop, click on image to enlarge)

The long, cool spring of 2013 has certainly had a profound effect in the vineyard. One of the most significant consequences was the delayed and unusually protracted flowering period. Indeed, in some vineyards (not ours) many potential bunches were lost completely as pollination simply didn’t happen.

The knock-on effect of this is of course, that as a direct result, we will probably have a very late harvest too. Clearly it is very early days and a lot can change over the next month or two, but it would seem that we are now looking at collecting our fruit closer to the end of September, rather than the beginning of the month.

As for the bus in the photo advertising the Summer White festival here in Galicia…… Well, I just happened to have a couple of spray cans in my backpack and couldn’t resist a bit of artistic modification. (Only joking – just Photoshop, click on image to enlarge)