Now that the 2012 Games are behind us we can finally tell the world! Bodegas Castro Martin was the only bodega to supply albariño to the London Olympics! So why are we only telling you now I can hear you ask? Well, the truth is that LOCOG (the London organising committee that selected the wines for the Olympics), made us sign a confidentially agreement prior to shipping the wine. The reason being that we were simply an official ‘supplier’ and not an official ‘sponsor’, meaning that we did not pay for the listing. The difference is that being a ‘sponsor’ (such as McDonalds or Coca Cola), firstly you have to pay millions to be there, but then by doing so, you are at least allowed to mention the fact in your advertising, and also print the Olympic Rings logo all over your products. As a ‘supplier’ you have the honour of being there, for visitors to buy, but other than that you are not allowed to use your connection with the Games to promote your products in any way. A desperate shame, and believe me, keeping a secret such as this is an incredibly difficult thing to do. Only two or three people in our entire business knew about it until after the event!

Naturally we were extremely proud and honoured to be chosen for the Olympic Games, and despite the fact that we couldn’t shout about it, we still had the satisfaction of knowing that people were enjoying our fantastic albariño at this global event. A once in a lifetime opportunity, and a gold medal for every single one of the hard working team at Castro Martin!

Now that the 2012 Games are behind us we can finally tell the world! Bodegas Castro Martin was the only bodega to supply albariño to the London Olympics! So why are we only telling you now I can hear you ask? Well, the truth is that LOCOG (the London organising committee that selected the wines for the Olympics), made us sign a confidentially agreement prior to shipping the wine. The reason being that we were simply an official ‘supplier’ and not an official ‘sponsor’, meaning that we did not pay for the listing. The difference is that being a ‘sponsor’ (such as McDonalds or Coca Cola), firstly you have to pay millions to be there, but then by doing so, you are at least allowed to mention the fact in your advertising, and also print the Olympic Rings logo all over your products. As a ‘supplier’ you have the honour of being there, for visitors to buy, but other than that you are not allowed to use your connection with the Games to promote your products in any way. A desperate shame, and believe me, keeping a secret such as this is an incredibly difficult thing to do. Only two or three people in our entire business knew about it until after the event!

Naturally we were extremely proud and honoured to be chosen for the Olympic Games, and despite the fact that we couldn’t shout about it, we still had the satisfaction of knowing that people were enjoying our fantastic albariño at this global event. A once in a lifetime opportunity, and a gold medal for every single one of the hard working team at Castro Martin!

I suppose I could tell you that all is quiet in the bodega at the moment (apart from starting to make our preparations for the harvest). The “lull before the storm”, you might say. I deliberately used this expression as I thought it might make a clever link to today’s topic. Tornadoes, Hurricanes and Storm Chasers!

There have been quite a number of extreme weather situations in recent months, and in the wake of Hurricane Isaac in New Orleans, it remains a highly topical subject. If you ever watch the Discovery Channel on your TV you will also know that Storm Chasing has become quite a fashionable past-time in some parts of the U.S. (if not a very dangerous one too). All in the name of science we are led to believe, although I can’t help but think that some treat it more like a form of extreme sport and/or adrenaline rush. Before I go any further I should at least reassure you that, despite a day or two of strong wind in our region, we are not expecting any extreme storms here in Galicia – albeit it appears that some might be preparing for it……

Over the last year or so, about 200 metres from our front door, the construction of a private house has been taking place. Nothing unusual you might think, but it the manner in which the house has been built that caught my attention. Even in the infamous ‘Tornado Alley’ houses are not built with such a solid, sturdy construction. Solid granite walls and a roof secured by one of the most elaborate steel frames I think I have ever seen on a private dwelling. To say that this house would be hurricane proof is perhaps the understatement of the year.

Just to complete the story, the one thing that I didn’t realise is that this house is actually being built by Angela’s uncle, for his son Jorge – perhaps he knows something about the local weather that we don’t!

I suppose I could tell you that all is quiet in the bodega at the moment (apart from starting to make our preparations for the harvest). The “lull before the storm”, you might say. I deliberately used this expression as I thought it might make a clever link to today’s topic. Tornadoes, Hurricanes and Storm Chasers!

There have been quite a number of extreme weather situations in recent months, and in the wake of Hurricane Isaac in New Orleans, it remains a highly topical subject. If you ever watch the Discovery Channel on your TV you will also know that Storm Chasing has become quite a fashionable past-time in some parts of the U.S. (if not a very dangerous one too). All in the name of science we are led to believe, although I can’t help but think that some treat it more like a form of extreme sport and/or adrenaline rush. Before I go any further I should at least reassure you that, despite a day or two of strong wind in our region, we are not expecting any extreme storms here in Galicia – albeit it appears that some might be preparing for it……

Over the last year or so, about 200 metres from our front door, the construction of a private house has been taking place. Nothing unusual you might think, but it the manner in which the house has been built that caught my attention. Even in the infamous ‘Tornado Alley’ houses are not built with such a solid, sturdy construction. Solid granite walls and a roof secured by one of the most elaborate steel frames I think I have ever seen on a private dwelling. To say that this house would be hurricane proof is perhaps the understatement of the year.

Just to complete the story, the one thing that I didn’t realise is that this house is actually being built by Angela’s uncle, for his son Jorge – perhaps he knows something about the local weather that we don’t!

There are some debates and discussions that simply appear to go around in circles, and never reach any definitive conclusion. For example, I often write about the various studies that are conducted advising us which foods we should or shouldn’t eat, or perhaps whether a moderate daily consumption of wine can be beneficial to our health or not. It seems that there is always one ‘expert’ or another who is willing to dispel our popular beliefs (or perhaps simply to contradict expert advice of the past). In the end, we can only scratch our heads, not really knowing what to do, and make our own decisions based on common sense and experience.

This week the discussion about wine closures has come to the fore again, as Davis University in California embarks on yet another study on the effectiveness (or not) of screw caps. Backed by a local Napa Valley winery, this two year project will at least use new equipment in the form of a CT scanner, to measure the wine’s evolution. A professor of Davis was apparently quoted as saying “Oxygen is the biggest culprit for wine — it affects taste, colour and the ageing process” – which I have to admit did not come as any great shock to me.

Thus, using my own common sense for a moment, I can tell you that we will not be making any changes to our own tried and tested (Nomacorc) closures at any time in the near future. In the words of one of my very favourite quotes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it!”

There are some debates and discussions that simply appear to go around in circles, and never reach any definitive conclusion. For example, I often write about the various studies that are conducted advising us which foods we should or shouldn’t eat, or perhaps whether a moderate daily consumption of wine can be beneficial to our health or not. It seems that there is always one ‘expert’ or another who is willing to dispel our popular beliefs (or perhaps simply to contradict expert advice of the past). In the end, we can only scratch our heads, not really knowing what to do, and make our own decisions based on common sense and experience.

This week the discussion about wine closures has come to the fore again, as Davis University in California embarks on yet another study on the effectiveness (or not) of screw caps. Backed by a local Napa Valley winery, this two year project will at least use new equipment in the form of a CT scanner, to measure the wine’s evolution. A professor of Davis was apparently quoted as saying “Oxygen is the biggest culprit for wine — it affects taste, colour and the ageing process” – which I have to admit did not come as any great shock to me.

Thus, using my own common sense for a moment, I can tell you that we will not be making any changes to our own tried and tested (Nomacorc) closures at any time in the near future. In the words of one of my very favourite quotes “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it!”

As if to add insult to injury, after being trapped in my house yesterday by the Vuelta de España, today I am blocked in at the bodega! Well, that’s perhaps a slight exaggeration, but I do have to take a rather large detour (in the wrong direction) to get home. Today they are holding individual time trials between Cambados and Pontevedra, passing through the village of Barrantes (the exact location of our bodega), closing the majority of roads around us.

To give this post something of a wine flavour, I should tell you that they are riding through the very heart of albariño country, and that Cambados (where they start) is of course the location of our annual albariño festival. The Provincial capital of Pontevedra, where they finish, is also the home of the Rias Baixas denomination headquarters. The route map of today’s time trial will tell you that they only travel 39,4km between the two towns, but what it doesn’t tell you is that there is a rather large hill in between! It rises to about 500 metres above sea level, but with a rather steep gradient – about 4.4% for 10km (I have only ever done it in a car, never on a bicycle).

To complete the tale, a couple of months ago we were actually invited to become the official wine supplier of the Vuelta, but as I didn’t want to encourage the cyclists to drink and ride, I politely declined.

As if to add insult to injury, after being trapped in my house yesterday by the Vuelta de España, today I am blocked in at the bodega! Well, that’s perhaps a slight exaggeration, but I do have to take a rather large detour (in the wrong direction) to get home. Today they are holding individual time trials between Cambados and Pontevedra, passing through the village of Barrantes (the exact location of our bodega), closing the majority of roads around us.

To give this post something of a wine flavour, I should tell you that they are riding through the very heart of albariño country, and that Cambados (where they start) is of course the location of our annual albariño festival. The Provincial capital of Pontevedra, where they finish, is also the home of the Rias Baixas denomination headquarters. The route map of today’s time trial will tell you that they only travel 39,4km between the two towns, but what it doesn’t tell you is that there is a rather large hill in between! It rises to about 500 metres above sea level, but with a rather steep gradient – about 4.4% for 10km (I have only ever done it in a car, never on a bicycle).

To complete the tale, a couple of months ago we were actually invited to become the official wine supplier of the Vuelta, but as I didn’t want to encourage the cyclists to drink and ride, I politely declined.

It’s been a pretty good year for British cycling – our first win ever in the Tour de France, quickly followed by a veritable cascade of gold medals at the London Olympics (plus a huge number of world records on the velodrome track). Of course, as a Brit, this makes me immensely proud, but unfortunately it still doesn’t make me a cycling fan. Yes, we have a cycling machine at home, but that’s about as far as it goes.

The reason that I write about this today is because I am quite literally trapped in the house by the Vuelta de España! It passes right in front of our door, indeed I should have a bird’s eye view from our terrace later today, so no doubt I will be poised with my camera. Considering that we live in a comparatively small seaside town during the summer, we don’t do too badly for major sporting events. Today we have the Vuelta, and it wasn’t too many years ago that the Volvo Ocean Race made it’s home here in Sanxenxo. The problem is that the huge circus that follows this event, together with the construction of spectator stands etc., has closed all the roads around our house, and even if we could leave, I have no idea when we could get back in……”Working from home” I think it will officially be called – so thanks to laptops, mobile phones, the internet and wi-fi, it should not be too difficult (for a day at least).

Diagonally opposite where we live is the Hotel Sanxenxo, which last night and tonight is the home of the Danish cycling team – Team Saxo Bank Tinkoff Bank. (I confess that I’d never heard of them, and had to Google the name!) To the educated cycling follower they will immediately recognise this as being the team of Spain’s favourite cycling hero, and former Tour de France winner, Alberto Contador. I thought that I should hang around the door of the hotel (like an ageing cycling groupie), to get a photo, and then it occurred to me that I have no idea what he looks like! I guess I will have to stick to football.

It’s been a pretty good year for British cycling – our first win ever in the Tour de France, quickly followed by a veritable cascade of gold medals at the London Olympics (plus a huge number of world records on the velodrome track). Of course, as a Brit, this makes me immensely proud, but unfortunately it still doesn’t make me a cycling fan. Yes, we have a cycling machine at home, but that’s about as far as it goes.

The reason that I write about this today is because I am quite literally trapped in the house by the Vuelta de España! It passes right in front of our door, indeed I should have a bird’s eye view from our terrace later today, so no doubt I will be poised with my camera. Considering that we live in a comparatively small seaside town during the summer, we don’t do too badly for major sporting events. Today we have the Vuelta, and it wasn’t too many years ago that the Volvo Ocean Race made it’s home here in Sanxenxo. The problem is that the huge circus that follows this event, together with the construction of spectator stands etc., has closed all the roads around our house, and even if we could leave, I have no idea when we could get back in……”Working from home” I think it will officially be called – so thanks to laptops, mobile phones, the internet and wi-fi, it should not be too difficult (for a day at least).

Diagonally opposite where we live is the Hotel Sanxenxo, which last night and tonight is the home of the Danish cycling team – Team Saxo Bank Tinkoff Bank. (I confess that I’d never heard of them, and had to Google the name!) To the educated cycling follower they will immediately recognise this as being the team of Spain’s favourite cycling hero, and former Tour de France winner, Alberto Contador. I thought that I should hang around the door of the hotel (like an ageing cycling groupie), to get a photo, and then it occurred to me that I have no idea what he looks like! I guess I will have to stick to football.

It’s been a pretty good year for British cycling – our first win ever in the Tour de France, quickly followed by a veritable cascade of gold medals at the London Olympics (plus a huge number of world records on the velodrome track). Of course, as a Brit, this makes me immensely proud, but unfortunately it still doesn’t make me a cycling fan. Yes, we have a cycling machine at home, but that’s about as far as it goes.

The reason that I write about this today is because I am quite literally trapped in the house by the Vuelta de España! It passes right in front of our door, indeed I should have a bird’s eye view from our terrace later today, so no doubt I will be poised with my camera. Considering that we live in a comparatively small seaside town during the summer, we don’t do too badly for major sporting events. Today we have the Vuelta, and it wasn’t too many years ago that the Volvo Ocean Race made it’s home here in Sanxenxo. The problem is that the huge circus that follows this event, together with the construction of spectator stands etc., has closed all the roads around our house, and even if we could leave, I have no idea when we could get back in……”Working from home” I think it will officially be called – so thanks to laptops, mobile phones, the internet and wi-fi, it should not be too difficult (for a day at least).

Diagonally opposite where we live is the Hotel Sanxenxo, which last night and tonight is the home of the Danish cycling team – Team Saxo Bank Tinkoff Bank. (I confess that I’d never heard of them, and had to Google the name!) To the educated cycling follower they will immediately recognise this as being the team of Spain’s favourite cycling hero, and former Tour de France winner, Alberto Contador. I thought that I should hang around the door of the hotel (like an ageing cycling groupie), to get a photo, and then it occurred to me that I have no idea what he looks like! I guess I will have to stick to football.

It’s been a pretty good year for British cycling – our first win ever in the Tour de France, quickly followed by a veritable cascade of gold medals at the London Olympics (plus a huge number of world records on the velodrome track). Of course, as a Brit, this makes me immensely proud, but unfortunately it still doesn’t make me a cycling fan. Yes, we have a cycling machine at home, but that’s about as far as it goes.

The reason that I write about this today is because I am quite literally trapped in the house by the Vuelta de España! It passes right in front of our door, indeed I should have a bird’s eye view from our terrace later today, so no doubt I will be poised with my camera. Considering that we live in a comparatively small seaside town during the summer, we don’t do too badly for major sporting events. Today we have the Vuelta, and it wasn’t too many years ago that the Volvo Ocean Race made it’s home here in Sanxenxo. The problem is that the huge circus that follows this event, together with the construction of spectator stands etc., has closed all the roads around our house, and even if we could leave, I have no idea when we could get back in……”Working from home” I think it will officially be called – so thanks to laptops, mobile phones, the internet and wi-fi, it should not be too difficult (for a day at least).

Diagonally opposite where we live is the Hotel Sanxenxo, which last night and tonight is the home of the Danish cycling team – Team Saxo Bank Tinkoff Bank. (I confess that I’d never heard of them, and had to Google the name!) To the educated cycling follower they will immediately recognise this as being the team of Spain’s favourite cycling hero, and former Tour de France winner, Alberto Contador. I thought that I should hang around the door of the hotel (like an ageing cycling groupie), to get a photo, and then it occurred to me that I have no idea what he looks like! I guess I will have to stick to football.

Wine aroma kits have been around for some time, indeed I remember buying my first ‘Nez du Vin’ roughly 20 years ago. The kit consisted of small vials of oils impregnated with some of the more common fragrances found in wine. Indeed some of the kits were actually regionalised, and you could buy one that represented a specific (French) wine region – in other words the smells associated with the grape varieties of that particular region. Nicely packaged, with colour pictures (like large playing cards) explaining each individual aroma. They were not cheap, and also did not last that long once they had been opened for the first time – like fine perfumes they would eventually age and start to fade.

However, there is now a new kid on the aroma block – the Aroxa sensory kit. The way that this kit performs is completely different to its predecessors, and aimed more at the profession wine taster who wants to train his or her palate. The system contains a series of capsules, each one containing a purified form of the molecule responsible for some of the more common flavours and taints found in wine. To use them you quite simply break the capsule and pour it into a wine. The capsules are not actually given the name of a particular smell such as honey, violet or vanilla, but they are give the chemical name of the molecule instead e.g. ethyl phenylacetate, β-ionone or vanillin (the latter example being the most obvious of the three). The system’s creator, Dr Bill Simpson, thinks that his method will help to unify the way in which wines are described, replacing the current somewhat vague, but elegantly crafted prose. For example, one person might say grapefruit, whilst another will say citrus, but then using Dr Simpson’s system, both would be trained to say ‘linalool’. Accurate perhaps, but certainly not quite as lyrical…. Dr Simpson argues that a professional taster should first know the real name of the compound, and then find a way to convey it to their own particular target audience.

The real beauty of this Aroxa kit is that it allows trainers to actually test the sensitivity of any given group of students, and their ability to detect particular aromas. As the molecules are actually added to the wines then it also allows them to be tasted blind, giving a much more objective result.

The downside? Price! Ten small capsules for a single tasting will set you back £69 (approx $110). A kit of eight flavours for a group tasting of ten people (viable for only 20 hours), is a ‘snip’ at only £499 (nearly $800), but at least it does include free shipping! It’s on my Christmas list….. 

Wine aroma kits have been around for some time, indeed I remember buying my first ‘Nez du Vin’ roughly 20 years ago. The kit consisted of small vials of oils impregnated with some of the more common fragrances found in wine. Indeed some of the kits were actually regionalised, and you could buy one that represented a specific (French) wine region – in other words the smells associated with the grape varieties of that particular region. Nicely packaged, with colour pictures (like large playing cards) explaining each individual aroma. They were not cheap, and also did not last that long once they had been opened for the first time – like fine perfumes they would eventually age and start to fade.

However, there is now a new kid on the aroma block – the Aroxa sensory kit. The way that this kit performs is completely different to its predecessors, and aimed more at the profession wine taster who wants to train his or her palate. The system contains a series of capsules, each one containing a purified form of the molecule responsible for some of the more common flavours and taints found in wine. To use them you quite simply break the capsule and pour it into a wine. The capsules are not actually given the name of a particular smell such as honey, violet or vanilla, but they are give the chemical name of the molecule instead e.g. ethyl phenylacetate, β-ionone or vanillin (the latter example being the most obvious of the three). The system’s creator, Dr Bill Simpson, thinks that his method will help to unify the way in which wines are described, replacing the current somewhat vague, but elegantly crafted prose. For example, one person might say grapefruit, whilst another will say citrus, but then using Dr Simpson’s system, both would be trained to say ‘linalool’. Accurate perhaps, but certainly not quite as lyrical…. Dr Simpson argues that a professional taster should first know the real name of the compound, and then find a way to convey it to their own particular target audience.

The real beauty of this Aroxa kit is that it allows trainers to actually test the sensitivity of any given group of students, and their ability to detect particular aromas. As the molecules are actually added to the wines then it also allows them to be tasted blind, giving a much more objective result.

The downside? Price! Ten small capsules for a single tasting will set you back £69 (approx $110). A kit of eight flavours for a group tasting of ten people (viable for only 20 hours), is a ‘snip’ at only £499 (nearly $800), but at least it does include free shipping! It’s on my Christmas list….. 

It was only a day or so ago that I was writing about the abuse of alcohol, and how (as responsible producers) we should never condone heavy drinking. I’m sure that I have written on many previous occasions about the huge number of health warnings appearing on wine labels around the world, and this trend continues with every day that passes. One by one countries are adding compulsory warnings to their labels, the most stringent of which is probably the US. The vast majority of warnings are quite obvious and just plain common sense, such as, do not drive or operate machinery, do not drink whilst pregnant, do not allow children to drink etc. The collective message? Use alcohol responsibly and never abuse its use…..

The only problem is that new research (God help us) has now apparently determined that even moderate drinking can be related to the onset of dementia in later life. The risk, ranging from mild cognitive impairment to full blown dementia, was higher among those who reported drinking more alcohol. It’s hardly surprising that regular binge drinking (for example, our regular weekly Botellon here in Spain), increases the risk dramatically. Among the thousands of men and women they studied, those who reported heavy bouts of drinking – at least one episode per month – were more likely to experience dementia-like problems. The more regularly they binged, the more the risk increased.

Apparently alcohol can cause your blood pressure and blood cholesterol to rise which, in turn, can damage the blood vessels supplying the brain, causing problems such as vascular dementia.

Of course, this is only one side of the story, as on the other hand there is still research claiming that taking alcohol (in moderation) can help your digestion, and possibly keep your heart in good shape. So it’s not all doom and gloom for wine drinkers!

It was only a day or so ago that I was writing about the abuse of alcohol, and how (as responsible producers) we should never condone heavy drinking. I’m sure that I have written on many previous occasions about the huge number of health warnings appearing on wine labels around the world, and this trend continues with every day that passes. One by one countries are adding compulsory warnings to their labels, the most stringent of which is probably the US. The vast majority of warnings are quite obvious and just plain common sense, such as, do not drive or operate machinery, do not drink whilst pregnant, do not allow children to drink etc. The collective message? Use alcohol responsibly and never abuse its use…..

The only problem is that new research (God help us) has now apparently determined that even moderate drinking can be related to the onset of dementia in later life. The risk, ranging from mild cognitive impairment to full blown dementia, was higher among those who reported drinking more alcohol. It’s hardly surprising that regular binge drinking (for example, our regular weekly Botellon here in Spain), increases the risk dramatically. Among the thousands of men and women they studied, those who reported heavy bouts of drinking – at least one episode per month – were more likely to experience dementia-like problems. The more regularly they binged, the more the risk increased.

Apparently alcohol can cause your blood pressure and blood cholesterol to rise which, in turn, can damage the blood vessels supplying the brain, causing problems such as vascular dementia.

Of course, this is only one side of the story, as on the other hand there is still research claiming that taking alcohol (in moderation) can help your digestion, and possibly keep your heart in good shape. So it’s not all doom and gloom for wine drinkers!

A week or so ago we had our annual Albariño Festival a few km from our cellar in the local town of Cambados. As some of you may already know from previous posts I have a sort of love/hate relationship with the festival, as there are parts of it I like, and parts where I think we have lost our way a bit. I will explain…..

Of course the idea of any festival is to celebrate something – in this case our fantastic wines. We invite visitors, not only from our own region, but from around the world to come and taste our wines. Indeed, we have even added a ‘Taste Tunnel’ where people can buy a ticket to pass through and sample many of the best wines of the region, in an organised and civilised fashion. For me, I believe that this is the way that it should be done – an opportunity to taste, and to get to know the wines of Rias Baixas. During the day and early evening the festival retains this calm, orderly atmosphere, where visitors stroll around and enjoy an odd glass of wine or two – a great advertisement for our region.

However, after dark and during the night, the atmosphere changes, where to be honest our celebration becomes more of a drunken ‘free-for-all’, or perhaps an organised botellon (as I have described it in the past). Selling huge amounts of wine to young people might be considered a good way of moving a bit of stock, but does it really send out the right signals? In other countries they try to promote the consumption of alcohol ‘in moderation’, often with health warnings printed on the bottles – here it would appear, that as a region, we are quite simply endorsing the abuse of alcohol. It is after all, an ‘official’ festival. It is for this reason alone that we have chosen not to take a booth at the fair for the last four or five years.

Certainly, I do not wish to be seen as a ‘killjoy’, to stop young people having fun, but it is just that in my opinion any serious wine tasting festival should at least be seen to distance itself from encouraging drunken behavior…..

If the official statistics for the festival to be believed, this might give you a clearer picture. It is claimed that over a 4 day period (bearing in mind that there is very little activity during the day, and that some booths do not even open), some 85,000 bottles of albariño were consumed. More than 7,000 twelve bottle cases, or the equivalent of more than 4½ 40ft containers of wine. In the small seaside town of Cambados, that is an awful lot of wine to sell in just 4 days, and perhaps not a statistic to be proud of?

A week or so ago we had our annual Albariño Festival a few km from our cellar in the local town of Cambados. As some of you may already know from previous posts I have a sort of love/hate relationship with the festival, as there are parts of it I like, and parts where I think we have lost our way a bit. I will explain…..

Of course the idea of any festival is to celebrate something – in this case our fantastic wines. We invite visitors, not only from our own region, but from around the world to come and taste our wines. Indeed, we have even added a ‘Taste Tunnel’ where people can buy a ticket to pass through and sample many of the best wines of the region, in an organised and civilised fashion. For me, I believe that this is the way that it should be done – an opportunity to taste, and to get to know the wines of Rias Baixas. During the day and early evening the festival retains this calm, orderly atmosphere, where visitors stroll around and enjoy an odd glass of wine or two – a great advertisement for our region.

However, after dark and during the night, the atmosphere changes, where to be honest our celebration becomes more of a drunken ‘free-for-all’, or perhaps an organised botellon (as I have described it in the past). Selling huge amounts of wine to young people might be considered a good way of moving a bit of stock, but does it really send out the right signals? In other countries they try to promote the consumption of alcohol ‘in moderation’, often with health warnings printed on the bottles – here it would appear, that as a region, we are quite simply endorsing the abuse of alcohol. It is after all, an ‘official’ festival. It is for this reason alone that we have chosen not to take a booth at the fair for the last four or five years.

Certainly, I do not wish to be seen as a ‘killjoy’, to stop young people having fun, but it is just that in my opinion any serious wine tasting festival should at least be seen to distance itself from encouraging drunken behavior…..

If the official statistics for the festival to be believed, this might give you a clearer picture. It is claimed that over a 4 day period (bearing in mind that there is very little activity during the day, and that some booths do not even open), some 85,000 bottles of albariño were consumed. More than 7,000 twelve bottle cases, or the equivalent of more than 4½ 40ft containers of wine. In the small seaside town of Cambados, that is an awful lot of wine to sell in just 4 days, and perhaps not a statistic to be proud of?

Tomorrow we close our doors for a short break. August 15th is a national holiday in Spain anyway, so we decided to make it a super-long ‘bridge’, re-opening again on Monday 27th August. We had planned a similar break last year but had to cancel. As you may recall our harvest actually started at the end of August in 2011 – quite a contrast to 2012. As I look out of my window now the sky is grey, heavy and full of rain, not at all what we would expect (or want) at this time of year. Our summer so far has already been quite cool, not rising much above the mid-20’s (68-75°F), although we have had a bit of sunshine over the last couple of weeks. We know for a fact that the vintage will be much smaller this year, the only thing that no one can predict is the quality.

As you can see from today’s photo our staff are already packed and ready to go. (Any car enthusiasts will recognise this as an old Renault R8 made during the 1960’s). Whatever happens we just hope that the sun shines for everyone!

Tomorrow we close our doors for a short break. August 15th is a national holiday in Spain anyway, so we decided to make it a super-long ‘bridge’, re-opening again on Monday 27th August. We had planned a similar break last year but had to cancel. As you may recall our harvest actually started at the end of August in 2011 – quite a contrast to 2012. As I look out of my window now the sky is grey, heavy and full of rain, not at all what we would expect (or want) at this time of year. Our summer so far has already been quite cool, not rising much above the mid-20’s (68-75°F), although we have had a bit of sunshine over the last couple of weeks. We know for a fact that the vintage will be much smaller this year, the only thing that no one can predict is the quality.

As you can see from today’s photo our staff are already packed and ready to go. (Any car enthusiasts will recognise this as an old Renault R8 made during the 1960’s). Whatever happens we just hope that the sun shines for everyone!