Today started badly. The part arrived from Madrid to repair our cooling system, and yes, you’ve already guessed….. it was the wrong piece! From there the news got worse – the circuit board that we actually need is no longer made, we would need to find an electronic engineer and have a custom board made from scratch. Having said that, there was also a little bit of good news. The temporary repair appeared to be holding out, and the temperature of our tanks was still under control.

Out in the vineyards the news was not that great either. The sun had disappeared and the sky was very overcast and a little threatening. By lunch time a fine drizzle turned into light rain, and so, quite understandably, we decided to suspend operations for the day. Perhaps if we hadn’t lost four or five hours of picking during yesterday’s fine weather, we would already be nearing the end of the 2012 harvest, but at the end of day five we still had at least one full day of grape collection still outstanding.

Perhaps not our most satisfying day from an operational point of view, but we are compensated in the knowledge that the fruit we have collected so far is of very high quality.

Today started badly. The part arrived from Madrid to repair our cooling system, and yes, you’ve already guessed….. it was the wrong piece! From there the news got worse – the circuit board that we actually need is no longer made, we would need to find an electronic engineer and have a custom board made from scratch. Having said that, there was also a little bit of good news. The temporary repair appeared to be holding out, and the temperature of our tanks was still under control.

Out in the vineyards the news was not that great either. The sun had disappeared and the sky was very overcast and a little threatening. By lunch time a fine drizzle turned into light rain, and so, quite understandably, we decided to suspend operations for the day. Perhaps if we hadn’t lost four or five hours of picking during yesterday’s fine weather, we would already be nearing the end of the 2012 harvest, but at the end of day five we still had at least one full day of grape collection still outstanding.

Perhaps not our most satisfying day from an operational point of view, but we are compensated in the knowledge that the fruit we have collected so far is of very high quality.

Just when we started to think that things were going well – a minor disaster occurred to bring us back down to earth. This morning when we opened for business we quickly discovered that all was not well in the cellar…. our refrigeration system had broken down during the night! The problem is that although we use one part of this cooling system for the cold stabilisation of our wines throughout the year, the rest of the system, that we use for chilling the tanks, is really only used once a year (for three or four weeks during the harvest and wine making period). Ask any winemaker and they will tell you that probably the single most important piece of kit during the wine making process is temperature control. Without it, wine making would be a total lottery, and making a good, fresh, crisp white wine, almost impossible.

Of course we should not forget that our equipment is more than 20 years old, and as mentioned before, is only used extensively once a year – it should hardly come as a surprise therefore, that it is going to break down now and again.

The difficultly is that during the harvest, once the grapes are pressed we have to cool the juice very quickly. If we don’t have a cooling system, we really can’t press grapes, and so the whole cycle of picking and pressing  comes to a grinding halt.

It was not until lunch time that the engineers gave us their verdict. Some burnt out circuits had to be replaced, and these come from Madrid! Thanks to express overnight courier services we would have the parts quickly, and in the meantime, they were able to make a temporary repair. The downside was that we lost at least half a days grape collecting in almost perfect weather conditions with cloud fast closing in from the south-west.

Just when we started to think that things were going well – a minor disaster occurred to bring us back down to earth. This morning when we opened for business we quickly discovered that all was not well in the cellar…. our refrigeration system had broken down during the night! The problem is that although we use one part of this cooling system for the cold stabilisation of our wines throughout the year, the rest of the system, that we use for chilling the tanks, is really only used once a year (for three or four weeks during the harvest and wine making period). Ask any winemaker and they will tell you that probably the single most important piece of kit during the wine making process is temperature control. Without it, wine making would be a total lottery, and making a good, fresh, crisp white wine, almost impossible.

Of course we should not forget that our equipment is more than 20 years old, and as mentioned before, is only used extensively once a year – it should hardly come as a surprise therefore, that it is going to break down now and again.

The difficultly is that during the harvest, once the grapes are pressed we have to cool the juice very quickly. If we don’t have a cooling system, we really can’t press grapes, and so the whole cycle of picking and pressing  comes to a grinding halt.

It was not until lunch time that the engineers gave us their verdict. Some burnt out circuits had to be replaced, and these come from Madrid! Thanks to express overnight courier services we would have the parts quickly, and in the meantime, they were able to make a temporary repair. The downside was that we lost at least half a days grape collecting in almost perfect weather conditions with cloud fast closing in from the south-west.

After a brief visit to our ‘El Pazo’ vineyard yesterday evening, Angela confirmed that our fruit there was ripe and ready for picking. Traditionally, Sunday had always been a quiet day, when we either reduced the number of pickers, or perhaps worked a half day, but this year it has been treated as a normal working day. Of course the main reason behind this is the weather – we are in one of those horrible, unpredictable periods where the weather forecasts changes on almost an hourly basis. At these times my own method for prediction is to open the shutters in the morning and look out of the window!

Yesterday evening also provided our first, thankfully minor, hiccup in the bodega. We discovered that one of our presses was malfunctioning and not reaching the required pressure during its working cycle. Further investigation revealed that a small piece of wire had been loaded among the grapes and punctured the membrane of the press. It is this membrane that inflates and squeezes the fruit, and obviously, even a small hole causes a loss of pressure, meaning that the grapes are not properly crushed. The last time this happened was in 2002, but the solution was just the same – one phone call, one hour, one over-sized bicycle repair kit. Et voila! Repaired!

Sunday provided us with another bright, sunny morning, giving us excellent conditions in which to work. Our well-organised team wasted no time in taking full advantage, and yet again the presses were working prior to lunch. (The maximum length of time from vine to press is probably less than 2 hours). Apart from the juice being slightly thicker than the last couple of vintages we have also noticed a much more prominent smell of fruit in the pressing room itself – All very promising signs for a good wine….. 

After a brief visit to our ‘El Pazo’ vineyard yesterday evening, Angela confirmed that our fruit there was ripe and ready for picking. Traditionally, Sunday had always been a quiet day, when we either reduced the number of pickers, or perhaps worked a half day, but this year it has been treated as a normal working day. Of course the main reason behind this is the weather – we are in one of those horrible, unpredictable periods where the weather forecasts changes on almost an hourly basis. At these times my own method for prediction is to open the shutters in the morning and look out of the window!

Yesterday evening also provided our first, thankfully minor, hiccup in the bodega. We discovered that one of our presses was malfunctioning and not reaching the required pressure during its working cycle. Further investigation revealed that a small piece of wire had been loaded among the grapes and punctured the membrane of the press. It is this membrane that inflates and squeezes the fruit, and obviously, even a small hole causes a loss of pressure, meaning that the grapes are not properly crushed. The last time this happened was in 2002, but the solution was just the same – one phone call, one hour, one over-sized bicycle repair kit. Et voila! Repaired!

Sunday provided us with another bright, sunny morning, giving us excellent conditions in which to work. Our well-organised team wasted no time in taking full advantage, and yet again the presses were working prior to lunch. (The maximum length of time from vine to press is probably less than 2 hours). Apart from the juice being slightly thicker than the last couple of vintages we have also noticed a much more prominent smell of fruit in the pressing room itself – All very promising signs for a good wine….. . 

Amidst all the excitement of starting the 2012 harvest yesterday, I forgot to mention that this year celebrates our 30th harvest in the current Castro Martin bodega. Although it was actually constructed in 1981, the first vintage was not produced until 1982. At that time our cellar was certainly one of the biggest in the area, and also the first to employ stainless steel tanks in the winemaking. Not so remarkable you might think, but it’s easy to forget that the denomination of Rias Baixas itself was not actually created until 1987. Not only was this a huge investment, but also was something of a major gamble on the part of Angela’s father, Domingo. It was a gamble that we would like to believe has certainly paid off, as our wines are now widely available around the world…..

In the meantime, back in 2012, today’s weather is fine and dry, again with a strong breeze, providing very good conditions for collecting healthy albariño grapes.

By the way, today’s photo shows Fran’s latest invention – a trailer! However, this is a special trailer made from an old, re-cycled chasis (saved from the scrap heap) designed especially for collecting grapes. Whilst we use large trailers and vans for moving fruit to the bodega, we still have to move the fruit from between the rows of vines to those waiting vehicles. Because we have an overhead canopy this means that there is limited headroom, and the vast majority of vehicles cannot enter between the vines. We therefore needed a special ‘low slung’ trailer to navigate up and down each row. Our multi-talented cellar hand Fran came up with the answer once again – not only is it a custom build, but we also saved quite a bit of money by using re-cycled materials….

Our second day, a Saturday, was busy by design. Again we worked hard to maximise the fine weather, and by lunch time the third pressing was already under way. We find that the secret to a smoother harvest is to get the presses working as quickly as possible, meaning at the other end of the day we will reap the benefit and finish that bit earlier too.

Amidst all the excitement of starting the 2012 harvest yesterday, I forgot to mention that this year celebrates our 30th harvest in the current Castro Martin bodega. Although it was actually constructed in 1981, the first vintage was not produced until 1982. At that time our cellar was certainly one of the biggest in the area, and also the first to employ stainless steel tanks in the winemaking. Not so remarkable you might think, but it’s easy to forget that the denomination of Rias Baixas itself was not actually created until 1987. Not only was this a huge investment, but also was something of a major gamble on the part of Angela’s father, Domingo. It was a gamble that we would like to believe has certainly paid off, as our wines are now widely available around the world…..

In the meantime, back in 2012, today’s weather is fine and dry, again with a strong breeze, providing very good conditions for collecting healthy albariño grapes.

By the way, today’s photo shows Fran’s latest invention – a trailer! However, this is a special trailer made from an old, re-cycled chasis (saved from the scrap heap) designed especially for collecting grapes. Whilst we use large trailers and vans for moving fruit to the bodega, we still have to move the fruit from between the rows of vines to those waiting vehicles. Because we have an overhead canopy this means that there is limited headroom, and the vast majority of vehicles cannot enter between the vines. We therefore needed a special ‘low slung’ trailer to navigate up and down each row. Our multi-talented cellar hand Fran came up with the answer once again – not only is it a custom build, but we also saved quite a bit of money by using re-cycled materials….

Our second day, a Saturday, was busy by design. Again we worked hard to maximise the fine weather, and by lunch time the third pressing was already under way. We find that the secret to a smoother harvest is to get the presses working as quickly as possible, meaning at the other end of the day we will reap the benefit and finish that bit earlier too.

Almost exactly one month later than last year, the 2012 harvest finally started under blue skies, and temperatures in the low 20’s (70°F). A fresh breeze in the vineyard also ensured that the fruit was completely dry, and free from any residues of morning mist. With a changeable forecast for the coming week we have thrown as many pickers at the harvest as we dare, with an excess of 50 working in our vineyards alone. As you might imagine, with such desperate unemployment rife throughout Spain at the moment, we had absolutely no problem in finding good people this year. My only wish is that we could pay them a bit more than we do for such backbreaking work, but the amount is, as always, dictated by the local market – if we start paying anything over and above, we will simply cause problems for our neighbours. Suffice to say that the calibre is very high and we have some very experienced pickers on our team.

With the first grapes hitting the presses shortly before midday our first impression was of small berries, with highly concentrated, viscous pulp, producing a very low yield in litres/kilo. Our local denomination office has already (quite dramatically) claimed that this will be the highest quality for 20 years, but for Angela and I, well, we are cautiously optimistic. Another few thousand kilos, and couple of dozen presses, and we will have a much better idea.

Almost exactly one month later than last year, the 2012 harvest finally started under blue skies, and temperatures in the low 20’s (70°F). A fresh breeze in the vineyard also ensured that the fruit was completely dry, and free from any residues of morning mist. With a changeable forecast for the coming week we have thrown as many pickers at the harvest as we dare, with an excess of 50 working in our vineyards alone. As you might imagine, with such desperate unemployment rife throughout Spain at the moment, we had absolutely no problem in finding good people this year. My only wish is that we could pay them a bit more than we do for such backbreaking work, but the amount is, as always, dictated by the local market – if we start paying anything over and above, we will simply cause problems for our neighbours. Suffice to say that the calibre is very high and we have some very experienced pickers on our team.

With the first grapes hitting the presses shortly before midday our first impression was of small berries, with highly concentrated, viscous pulp, producing a very low yield in litres/kilo. Our local denomination office has already (quite dramatically) claimed that this will be the highest quality for 20 years, but for Angela and I, well, we are cautiously optimistic. Another few thousand kilos, and couple of dozen presses, and we will have a much better idea.

I didn’t mention it earlier, probably just out of embarrassment, but I have injured myself on the very eve of the harvest! To cut a very long story short I had a boating accident at the weekend, which not only damaged my spine, but has left me wearing a back brace. Not the most attractive piece of clothing that I have in my wardrobe. 

The irony of the whole thing is that I was actually out with friends doing some water skiing, but the accident that hurt me happened when we had finished skiing for the day, and we were heading back to shore.

I pride myself on keeping reasonably fit, and being so handicapped at this time of year is really a major blow. What’s the expression? There’s no fool like an old fool…..

I didn’t mention it earlier, probably just out of embarrassment, but I have injured myself on the very eve of the harvest! To cut a very long story short I had a boating accident at the weekend, which not only damaged my spine, but has left me wearing a back brace. Not the most attractive piece of clothing that I have in my wardrobe. 

The irony of the whole thing is that I was actually out with friends doing some water skiing, but the accident that hurt me happened when we had finished skiing for the day, and we were heading back to shore.

I pride myself on keeping reasonably fit, and being so handicapped at this time of year is really a major blow. What’s the expression? There’s no fool like an old fool…..

At the beginning of last month I wrote about the scandal surrounding the former Master of Wine Pancho Campo and his relationship with Jay Miller, writer for the Wine Advocate. Whatever the definitive truth behind this story, Jay Miller eventually resigned from his post as a contributor for Robert Parker Jr. and has since been replaced by the English writer Neal Martin.

Shortly before Mr Miller resigned we received notice that he would be visiting the offices of our denomination to make an extensive tasting of our Rias Baxias wines. At first the tasting was postponed, until it was eventually cancelled completely later in the year. We were never given any official explanation and heard nothing more until now – a new tasting would be conducted by a new taster, or ’emissary’ as he was described in our local press.

From my days in the UK trade I am fortunate to know many English wine writers on a personal basis, but I have to confess that Neal Martin is a name that is new to me. After working in Japan, Mr Martin discovered wine more or less by accident, working for a Japanese export company where one of the commodities on their export list just happened to be wine. After completing various courses with the WSET he set up his own wine blog wine-journal.com, and then, just a few short years later was approached by Robert Parker Jr. to become a contributor to the Wine Advocate, covering Spain and parts of South America. He is also a keen music lover.

At the beginning of last month I wrote about the scandal surrounding the former Master of Wine Pancho Campo and his relationship with Jay Miller, writer for the Wine Advocate. Whatever the definitive truth behind this story, Jay Miller eventually resigned from his post as a contributor for Robert Parker Jr. and has since been replaced by the English writer Neal Martin.

Shortly before Mr Miller resigned we received notice that he would be visiting the offices of our denomination to make an extensive tasting of our Rias Baxias wines. At first the tasting was postponed, until it was eventually cancelled completely later in the year. We were never given any official explanation and heard nothing more until now – a new tasting would be conducted by a new taster, or ’emissary’ as he was described in our local press.

From my days in the UK trade I am fortunate to know many English wine writers on a personal basis, but I have to confess that Neal Martin is a name that is new to me. After working in Japan, Mr Martin discovered wine more or less by accident, working for a Japanese export company where one of the commodities on their export list just happened to be wine. After completing various courses with the WSET he set up his own wine blog wine-journal.com, and then, just a few short years later was approached by Robert Parker Jr. to become a contributor to the Wine Advocate, covering Spain and parts of South America. He is also a keen music lover.

By this time last year our harvest had already been collected and fermentations were well under way. What a difference 12 months can make – today we are still waiting to start. Over the last few days Angela has busy in the lab analysing grape samples, and whilst the potential alcohol is looking good, the acidity is still a bit too elevated……. not to mention that, for the last two days, it has been raining! It’s perhaps an odd thing to say, but a little rain just before we start to pick is not necessarily a bad thing. During long, dry periods the grapes gather dust on the skins, and obviously a drop of rain can actually help to clean the fruit. Of course we don’t want too much otherwise this will simply serve to dilute the must (grape juice).

According to our local denomination office the 2012 harvest will only be 50% of last year’s volume, but until we have the fruit safely gathered this is only their estimate. Certainly our own vineyards have produced less, and regrettably one or two of our suppliers have said that their yield is so small that they won’t even bother to pick. After last years huge harvest I have always said that I would prefer a smaller, good quality campaign, and so far it would seem that at least half of my wish has been granted. Quality? We will have to wait and see…..

By this time last year our harvest had already been collected and fermentations were well under way. What a difference 12 months can make – today we are still waiting to start. Over the last few days Angela has busy in the lab analysing grape samples, and whilst the potential alcohol is looking good, the acidity is still a bit too elevated……. not to mention that, for the last two days, it has been raining! It’s perhaps an odd thing to say, but a little rain just before we start to pick is not necessarily a bad thing. During long, dry periods the grapes gather dust on the skins, and obviously a drop of rain can actually help to clean the fruit. Of course we don’t want too much otherwise this will simply serve to dilute the must (grape juice).

According to our local denomination office the 2012 harvest will only be 50% of last year’s volume, but until we have the fruit safely gathered this is only their estimate. Certainly our own vineyards have produced less, and regrettably one or two of our suppliers have said that their yield is so small that they won’t even bother to pick. After last years huge harvest I have always said that I would prefer a smaller, good quality campaign, and so far it would seem that at least half of my wish has been granted. Quality? We will have to wait and see…..

At the end of August the vast majority of tourists packed up and left Galicia, back to their homes in Madrid or other parts of Spain. Perhaps if they had seen the weather forecast they might have stayed, or maybe postponed their holidays for a week or two. After a fairly miserable summer we have finally witnessed a period of dry, settled weather – indeed, by far the best we have seen this year. Blue skies and temperatures regularly in the high 20’s C (80’s F). For the grapes that survived the ravages of mildew and oidium earlier in the year this late sun has certainly provided a helping hand, raising the sugar levels higher than we dared hope only a month or two before. On the other hand some vineyards had already been decimated by disease (fortunately not our own), and for them this late sun arrived far too late to save the crop. The success of growing healthy grapes in 2012 rested firmly on giving preventative treatments at the right time. Never an ideal scenario, but sometimes desperate measures are required in order to save the fruit. I have always maintained that with the exception of one or two vintages, it would be almost impossible to make a completely organic or biodynamic wine in our climate.

The rest of this week will be dedicated to gathering grape samples, and then my annual weather watch will begin as we search for the optimum moment to start picking.

At the end of August the vast majority of tourists packed up and left Galicia, back to their homes in Madrid or other parts of Spain. Perhaps if they had seen the weather forecast they might have stayed, or maybe postponed their holidays for a week or two. After a fairly miserable summer we have finally witnessed a period of dry, settled weather – indeed, by far the best we have seen this year. Blue skies and temperatures regularly in the high 20’s C (80’s F). For the grapes that survived the ravages of mildew and oidium earlier in the year this late sun has certainly provided a helping hand, raising the sugar levels higher than we dared hope only a month or two before. On the other hand some vineyards had already been decimated by disease (fortunately not our own), and for them this late sun arrived far too late to save the crop. The success of growing healthy grapes in 2012 rested firmly on giving preventative treatments at the right time. Never an ideal scenario, but sometimes desperate measures are required in order to save the fruit. I have always maintained that with the exception of one or two vintages, it would be almost impossible to make a completely organic or biodynamic wine in our climate.

The rest of this week will be dedicated to gathering grape samples, and then my annual weather watch will begin as we search for the optimum moment to start picking.

You may have wondered why I did not make the post about our Olympic success the very moment that the Paralympic Games finished last week. The reason is quite simply that first thing last Monday morning I was on a flight to New York – one of my favourite cities on earth. To be honest I’m not sure that I would actually like to live there, but an occasional visit to the Big Apple once in a while certainly gives me a bit of a lift, and provides a stark contrast to rural life here in Galicia.

With our harvest looming it was hardly the best time to be jetting off, but we deem it very important to support our importers whenever we can, and an annual tasting is always a very difficult invitation to decline. I may have mentioned this in previous years, but as Angela was unable to accompany me (owing to her vineyard commitments), she compensated by sending me with an enormous shopping list! Consequently any free moment was spent rushing around Manhattan from shop to shop….

I’m pleased to say that our 2011 wines were very well received, and the new presentation of our A2O label certainly created some interest. A tiring few days perhaps, but worth the effort I think. 

You may have wondered why I did not make the post about our Olympic success the very moment that the Paralympic Games finished last week. The reason is quite simply that first thing last Monday morning I was on a flight to New York – one of my favourite cities on earth. To be honest I’m not sure that I would actually like to live there, but an occasional visit to the Big Apple once in a while certainly gives me a bit of a lift, and provides a stark contrast to rural life here in Galicia.

 With our harvest looming it was hardly the best time to be jetting off, but we deem it very important to support our importers whenever we can, and an annual tasting is always a very difficult invitation to decline. I may have mentioned this in previous years, but as Angela was unable to accompany me (owing to her vineyard commitments), she compensated by sending me with an enormous shopping list! Consequently any free moment was spent rushing around Manhattan from shop to shop….

 I’m pleased to say that our 2011 wines were very well received, and the new presentation of our A2O label certainly created some interest. A tiring few days perhaps, but worth the effort I think.