This screen grab is the weather forecast for Cambados (click to image to enlarge) – our most local weather station. With the picking due to start in just a few days we can only pray that it’s wrong….. The showers and downpours that we are experiencing at the moment are very, very localised – raining in one place and then completely dry only a few km away. Maybe we can dodge the worst of it.

This screen grab is the weather forecast for Cambados (click to image to enlarge) – our most local weather station. With the picking due to start in just a few days we can only pray that it’s wrong….. The showers and downpours that we are experiencing at the moment are very, very localised – raining in one place and then completely dry only a few km away. Maybe we can dodge the worst of it.

One of the problems of running a small, family-owned bodega is that we all have to be very flexible in the many and varied rolls that we have to cover. Angela, for example, is not only our oenologist, but she is also our vineyard specialist (with degrees in both Biology and Viticulture) and also the administrator of the business. So the question arises, if you have an appointment with your solicitor in the morning, and then need to collect samples in the vineyard during the afternoon, what do you wear for work? Angela’s solution to this dilemma was simply a change of shoes – as you can clearly see in today’s photo! Now, it’s not uncommon these days to see celebs wearing shorts or dresses accessorised with oversized boots….. but a pair of wellies?! Who knows, this could be the start of a new trend.

On a more serious note, Angela was actually out collecting grape samples to check on the progress of our crop. She was quite pleased with her early analysis, albeit we still have a little way to go before the fruit will be ripe for picking. Perhaps another 10 days or so before we kick off the 2014 harvest.

One of the problems of running a small, family-owned bodega is that we all have to be very flexible in the many and varied rolls that we have to cover. Angela, for example, is not only our oenologist, but she is also our vineyard specialist (with degrees in both Biology and Viticulture) and also the administrator of the business. So the question arises, if you have an appointment with your solicitor in the morning, and then need to collect samples in the vineyard during the afternoon, what do you wear for work? Angela’s solution to this dilemma was simply a change of shoes – as you can clearly see in today’s photo! Now, it’s not uncommon these days to see celebs wearing shorts or dresses accessorised with oversized boots….. but a pair of wellies?! Who knows, this could be the start of a new trend.

On a more serious note, Angela was actually out collecting grape samples to check on the progress of our crop. She was quite pleased with her early analysis, albeit we still have a little way to go before the fruit will be ripe for picking. Perhaps another 10 days or so before we kick off the 2014 harvest.

After five days of working at more or less full capacity we have finally reached our ‘mopping-up’ day – gathering in all the last parcels of grapes. I have not mentioned this before, but it goes without saying that we do not chose where to start picking our fruit at random, everything is carefully calculated, and our different locations are collected in a specific order to ensure that each one is picked at the optimum moment. Today we are working in the lower section of our ‘Pazo’ vineyard, and these will be the last grapes of the 2013 campaign.

Besides the obvious activity in the vineyard and the pressing room, there is also a lot of work going on behind the scenes, as the racking of the grape must continues on a day-by-day basis. This might sound quite simple, but at this time of year, whilst we still have a good deal of 2012 wine in the cellar, then towards the end of the harvest our spare tank capacity is very, very limited. Today I even suggested to someone that in case of emergency we might have to use their swimming pool as an overflow!

By early afternoon the last grapes were safely in the cellar, and within a couple of hours our presses finally fell silent (which comes as quite a relief as the incessant noise reverberates around almost the entire building). The total quantity of grapes processed in 2013 was only slightly below that of 2010, but this year’s work was completed in only 5 1/2 days as compared to 7 full days three years ago. A super-human effort by the whole Castro Martin team.

Taking advantage of a comparatively early night, time to go home, make a cup of tea, and sit with our feet up for a while……

After five days of working at more or less full capacity we have finally reached our ‘mopping-up’ day – gathering in all the last parcels of grapes. I have not mentioned this before, but it goes without saying that we do not chose where to start picking our fruit at random, everything is carefully calculated, and our different locations are collected in a specific order to ensure that each one is picked at the optimum moment. Today we are working in the lower section of our ‘Pazo’ vineyard, and these will be the last grapes of the 2013 campaign.

Besides the obvious activity in the vineyard and the pressing room, there is also a lot of work going on behind the scenes, as the racking of the grape must continues on a day-by-day basis. This might sound quite simple, but at this time of year, whilst we still have a good deal of 2012 wine in the cellar, then towards the end of the harvest our spare tank capacity is very, very limited. Today I even suggested to someone that in case of emergency we might have to use their swimming pool as an overflow!

By early afternoon the last grapes were safely in the cellar, and within a couple of hours our presses finally fell silent (which comes as quite a relief as the incessant noise reverberates around almost the entire building). The total quantity of grapes processed in 2013 was only slightly below that of 2010, but this year’s work was completed in only 5 1/2 days as compared to 7 full days three years ago. A super-human effort by the whole Castro Martin team.

Taking advantage of a comparatively early night, time to go home, make a cup of tea, and sit with our feet up for a while……

Suffice to say that today’s weather is still fine and sunny, and with all set fair we started our presses earlier than ever. The first load was under way at shortly after 11am, which is just about as early as we can manage. The picking team swoop in at 9.30am (once the fruit has lost any overnight humidity), they load their 20kg baskets, and these are whisked away without any delay to the bodega – a perfect start to the day, until…… Yes, the inevitable technical problem, but this year not one that we would normally anticipate. The large industrial scale that we use for weighing the pallets of grapes as they are unloaded, decided to start giving us completely nonsensical readings – for example, according to the system I now weigh minus 3kg (the new diet must be working better than I thought!). This weighing system is connected directly to the computer that checks in every single load, and whilst we could read the sugar, the pH and the acidity, the weight of each basket remained a total mystery. Time to call the engineer and wait for a response.

Of course the inevitable result of any such delay is the dreaded backlog – once the pressing process is stopped at any point whilst the grapes are still arriving then things, quite literally, begin to pile up. Thankfully the engineer responded pretty quickly, and within a couple of hours we were back up and running. The grape reception area needed some sorting out as the pallets were lined up for weighing, but eventually order was restored, and we carried on on our cool, calm and collected way….. (well, that last part might be a bit of an exaggeration). 

To end the day Angela had one minor disaster of her own – preparing some tank treatments in the laboratory her Blackberry slipped out of the breast pocket of her white coat and landed straight in a bucket of sugary grape must – I think that’s what you have to classify a ‘sticky end’, but if you could chose, I guess it’s not such a bad way to end your working life!

Suffice to say that today’s weather is still fine and sunny, and with all set fair we started our presses earlier than ever. The first load was under way at shortly after 11am, which is just about as early as we can manage. The picking team swoop in at 9.30am (once the fruit has lost any overnight humidity), they load their 20kg baskets, and these are whisked away without any delay to the bodega – a perfect start to the day, until…… Yes, the inevitable technical problem, but this year not one that we would normally anticipate. The large industrial scale that we use for weighing the pallets of grapes as they are unloaded, decided to start giving us completely nonsensical readings – for example, according to the system I now weigh minus 3kg (the new diet must be working better than I thought!). This weighing system is connected directly to the computer that checks in every single load, and whilst we could read the sugar, the pH and the acidity, the weight of each basket remained a total mystery. Time to call the engineer and wait for a response.

Of course the inevitable result of any such delay is the dreaded backlog – once the pressing process is stopped at any point whilst the grapes are still arriving then things, quite literally, begin to pile up. Thankfully the engineer responded pretty quickly, and within a couple of hours we were back up and running. The grape reception area needed some sorting out as the pallets were lined up for weighing, but eventually order was restored, and we carried on on our cool, calm and collected way….. (well, that last part might be a bit of an exaggeration). 

To end the day Angela had one minor disaster of her own – preparing some tank treatments in the laboratory her Blackberry slipped out of the breast pocket of her white coat and landed straight in a bucket of sugary grape must – I think that’s what you have to classify a ‘sticky end’, but if you could chose, I guess it’s not such a bad way to end your working life!

Another fine and sunny day in Galicia for our fourth day of harvest. I believe that yesterday we hit the dizzy heights of 26°C (79°F), and today should be more of the same. Of course this just means that there is one less thing to worry about, and we can concentrate on our work. 

The good news is that, despite the recent rains, there are still some very positive noises coming from our laboratory where Angela spends most of her time secreted away at this time of year. She is very upbeat her tests and tastings of the grape must, saying that it is extremely fruity, floral and well balanced….. and who am I to question her judgement (she is the boss after all!)

Today we are continuing our work in our ‘El Pazo’ vineyard – our single biggest vineyard site of 5 hectares (just over 12 acres). This is the vineyard that provides most of the fruit for our Castro Martin ‘Family Estate’ wine. Even with more than 50 people working  it will still take more than two days to strip this site of its precious harvest. Fortunately this site is only a couple of kilometres from the bodega, which means that we can transport the fruit to our presses with the minimum of delay. As with every vineyard, in every harvest, we have a permanent shuttle of vehicles running between the picking location and the bodega. It’s all about logistics….

After three extremely busy days, our fourth day seemed to be slightly more ‘relaxed’ as most of the grapes supplied by other growers had already made it into our tanks (weekends are traditionally the busiest days). Perhaps it’s all relative, and only appears to be quieter because we have finally hit our stride, because the truth of the matter is that on day four we had only made two pressings less than Sunday, our busiest day so far.

Another fine and sunny day in Galicia for our fourth day of harvest. I believe that yesterday we hit the dizzy heights of 26°C (79°F), and today should be more of the same. Of course this just means that there is one less thing to worry about, and we can concentrate on our work. 

The good news is that, despite the recent rains, there are still some very positive noises coming from our laboratory where Angela spends most of her time secreted away at this time of year. She is very upbeat her tests and tastings of the grape must, saying that it is extremely fruity, floral and well balanced….. and who am I to question her judgement (she is the boss after all!)

Today we are continuing our work in our ‘El Pazo’ vineyard – our single biggest vineyard site of 5 hectares (just over 12 acres). This is the vineyard that provides most of the fruit for our Castro Martin ‘Family Estate’ wine. Even with more than 50 people working  it will still take more than two days to strip this site of its precious harvest. Fortunately this site is only a couple of kilometres from the bodega, which means that we can transport the fruit to our presses with the minimum of delay. As with every vineyard, in every harvest, we have a permanent shuttle of vehicles running between the picking location and the bodega. It’s all about logistics….

After three extremely busy days, our fourth day seemed to be slightly more ‘relaxed’ as most of the grapes supplied by other growers had already made it into our tanks (weekends are traditionally the busiest days). Perhaps it’s all relative, and only appears to be quieter because we have finally hit our stride, because the truth of the matter is that on day four we had only made two pressings less than Sunday, our busiest day so far.

Yesterday I was reminded of the famous Hollywood film ‘The Perfect Storm’, not because it was raining or stormy, but more because we pretty much achieved the prefect day. It was one of those very rare days when everything goes according to plan, like a well-oiled machine. Even the last pressing of the day was within 10kg of the optimum weight of the wine press! It’s just a shame that these days don’t occur to often.

Day three was much more complicated as we were not only harvesting grapes, but also we started to ‘rack’ some of the new grape ‘must’ (juice). After a day or two sitting quietly, well chilled, in tank (known as ‘settling’), the new grape juice is transferred to clean tanks, leaving all the remnants of soil, leaves, stems, berries etc. behind, at the bottom of the original tank. This clean juice will now be left to recover a bit of temperature before being ‘seeded’ with yeast.

The reduced pressing time (to achieve more concentrated must) is also adding pressure to the team working in the bodega. Bearing in mind that all our presses are loaded manually, case by case, no sooner had we finished loading one press, then the next press had finished and had to be loaded…. it was very much a non-stop production line. Exhausting for those involved. The only consolation of this system is that we can chew through the pallets of grapes much quicker, and this in turn means that we can finish pressing in the early hours of the morning rather than at dawn the next day!

Yesterday I was reminded of the famous Hollywood film ‘The Perfect Storm’, not because it was raining or stormy, but more because we pretty much achieved the prefect day. It was one of those very rare days when everything goes according to plan, like a well-oiled machine. Even the last pressing of the day was within 10kg of the optimum weight of the wine press! It’s just a shame that these days don’t occur to often.

Day three was much more complicated as we were not only harvesting grapes, but also we started to ‘rack’ some of the new grape ‘must’ (juice). After a day or two sitting quietly, well chilled, in tank (known as ‘settling’), the new grape juice is transferred to clean tanks, leaving all the remnants of soil, leaves, stems, berries etc. behind, at the bottom of the original tank. This clean juice will now be left to recover a bit of temperature before being ‘seeded’ with yeast.

The reduced pressing time (to achieve more concentrated must) is also adding pressure to the team working in the bodega. Bearing in mind that all our presses are loaded manually, case by case, no sooner had we finished loading one press, then the next press had finished and had to be loaded…. it was very much a non-stop production line. Exhausting for those involved. The only consolation of this system is that we can chew through the pallets of grapes much quicker, and this in turn means that we can finish pressing in the early hours of the morning rather than at dawn the next day!

Our second day was quite different from a weather point of view – the clouds more or less disappeared completely to give us a beautiful, fresh, clear sunny morning. Apparently, we are told, that this sunshine is the shape of things to come, or should last at least until the 2013 harvest is well and truly behind us (or at least the picking part). We started day one with a very busy day, there was no gentle or gradual introduction day as we may have done in previous years – this year we launched into the campaign absolutely head on. The 2013 grape rush continued into day two – our target now being to finish all fruit collection in five or six days, trimming at least one or two days off our normal schedule. 

With just over 50 people picking in our own vineyards we managed to more or less finish our Castrelo vineyard on day one, and so today our team turned their attention to Cunchidos (a smaller location of just under one hectare). The fruit here was sucked up with a matter of a few hours, and so the entire team relocated yet again – this time to an even smaller vineyard, not actually owned by us, but managed entirely by Castro Martin. In some ways this is a very typical Galician vineyard location as it comprises only a few hundred square metres surrounding a house. In effect it is the garden of the owner, and takes only about an hour to pick. (Please remember that in a denomination of only 4,000 hectares, there are roughly 6,700 registered grape growers, meaning that there are literally thousands of tiny vineyards dotted around our hillsides).

At the end of day two our harvest crew had just enough time to move once more to our largest location, ‘El Pazo’ – our 5 hectare walled vineyard (or ‘Clos’ as the French would call it). They managed about an hours picking, still in prefect conditions, before daylight started to fail. Time to bring the curtain down on day two.

Our second day was quite different from a weather point of view – the clouds more or less disappeared completely to give us a beautiful, fresh, clear sunny morning. Apparently, we are told, that this sunshine is the shape of things to come, or should last at least until the 2013 harvest is well and truly behind us (or at least the picking part). We started day one with a very busy day, there was no gentle or gradual introduction day as we may have done in previous years – this year we launched into the campaign absolutely head on. The 2013 grape rush continued into day two – our target now being to finish all fruit collection in five or six days, trimming at least one or two days off our normal schedule. 

With just over 50 people picking in our own vineyards we managed to more or less finish our Castrelo vineyard on day one, and so today our team turned their attention to Cunchidos (a smaller location of just under one hectare). The fruit here was sucked up with a matter of a few hours, and so the entire team relocated yet again – this time to an even smaller vineyard, not actually owned by us, but managed entirely by Castro Martin. In some ways this is a very typical Galician vineyard location as it comprises only a few hundred square metres surrounding a house. In effect it is the garden of the owner, and takes only about an hour to pick. (Please remember that in a denomination of only 4,000 hectares, there are roughly 6,700 registered grape growers, meaning that there are literally thousands of tiny vineyards dotted around our hillsides).

At the end of day two our harvest crew had just enough time to move once more to our largest location, ‘El Pazo’ – our 5 hectare walled vineyard (or ‘Clos’ as the French would call it). They managed about an hours picking, still in prefect conditions, before daylight started to fail. Time to bring the curtain down on day two.

After days of delay caused by the poor weather, we are finally poised and ready to start. To be honest we have been ready for some days now, and consequently have been looking around the cellar for odd jobs to do to help pass the time! We have actually had so much time that Fran was able to paint some fancy, florescent coloured stripes on the wall of our truck loading area (see photo). I am told that this will help the drivers line up their vehicles…..

The last two days have in fact, been dry(ish), but we have resisted the temptation to start as we knew that the poor weather was returning today. At the moment it’s actually quite stormy – blustery rain with high winds. The good news is that it’s going to start drying out from tomorrow and according to the forecasts (and believe me I had studied all of them), there is a ‘window’ of fine weather approaching. They tell us that next week is going to be dry and sunny, but my experience tells me, believe it when it happens. We will certainly have everything ready to start tomorrow, but until we open the shutters in the morning we will not make any definitive decision.

After days of delay caused by the poor weather, we are finally poised and ready to start. To be honest we have been ready for some days now, and consequently have been looking around the cellar for odd jobs to do to help pass the time! We have actually had so much time that Fran was able to paint some fancy, florescent coloured stripes on the wall of our truck loading area (see photo). I am told that this will help the drivers line up their vehicles…..

The last two days have in fact, been dry(ish), but we have resisted the temptation to start as we knew that the poor weather was returning today. At the moment it’s actually quite stormy – blustery rain with high winds. The good news is that it’s going to start drying out from tomorrow and according to the forecasts (and believe me I had studied all of them), there is a ‘window’ of fine weather approaching. They tell us that next week is going to be dry and sunny, but my experience tells me, believe it when it happens. We will certainly have everything ready to start tomorrow, but until we open the shutters in the morning we will not make any definitive decision.

I remember from back in the 1980’s or perhaps even earlier than that, the scandals that they had in Bordeaux when vineyard workers were forced to pick grapes under the down draft of helicopters. At that time, if there was any rainfall during the harvest, some of the very richest Châteaux would pay huge amounts of money to have helicopters hovering over the vines in an attempt to rapidly dry off the rain soaked grapes. It goes without saying that any water on the grapes would have the effect of diluting the grape must, very much in the same way that if they simply left the grapes to dry out on the vine before picking, then water absorbed through the soil could also reduce concentration.

We actually have a similar problem in our vineyards right now, except that I’m afraid to say my helicopter is currently in the workshop and cannot be used. (I doubt that a model controlled by my mobile phone would have much effect anyway!). Of course there is a slightly cheaper alternative that we can use – our treatment spraying equipment works using sprays and a very large fan (to distribute the liquid in the form of a fine mist). By using only the huge fan part of the machine we can simply pass under the pergolas and blow any excess water off the bunches. Maybe not as glamorous as a helicopter, but almost as effective.

Seriously though, our original plan was to pick today, or at least early this week. The bad news is that we’ve had five or six days of significant rainfall and so this will now be delayed. Looking at the various forecasts it might be nearer the end of the week before we have a suitable window. Our weather watch continues….

I remember from back in the 1980’s or perhaps even earlier than that, the scandals that they had in Bordeaux when vineyard workers were forced to pick grapes under the down draft of helicopters. At that time, if there was any rainfall during the harvest, some of the very richest Châteaux would pay huge amounts of money to have helicopters hovering over the vines in an attempt to rapidly dry off the rain soaked grapes. It goes without saying that any water on the grapes would have the effect of diluting the grape must, very much in the same way that if they simply left the grapes to dry out on the vine before picking, then water absorbed through the soil could also reduce concentration.

We actually have a similar problem in our vineyards right now, except that I’m afraid to say my helicopter is currently in the workshop and cannot be used. (I doubt that a model controlled by my mobile phone would have much effect anyway!). Of course there is a slightly cheaper alternative that we can use – our treatment spraying equipment works using sprays and a very large fan (to distribute the liquid in the form of a fine mist). By using only the huge fan part of the machine we can simply pass under the pergolas and blow any excess water off the bunches. Maybe not as glamorous as a helicopter, but almost as effective.

Seriously though, our original plan was to pick today, or at least early this week. The bad news is that we’ve had five or six days of significant rainfall and so this will now be delayed. Looking at the various forecasts it might be nearer the end of the week before we have a suitable window. Our weather watch continues….

I did not realise when I mentioned the ‘Ruta do Viño’ bus tour the other day, that the programme of visits is actually much more extensive than I first thought. Apart from the Bodegas that are included on the bus tour itinerary there are also a number of other wineries that are offering visits, specifically tailored around the harvest. These are of course guided tours, sometimes limited to groups of no less than 6 or 8 people, always by appointment, and….. in many cases, there is a small entry fee! From my own point of view I’m afraid to say that even with all these pre-conditions I wouldn’t really welcome tour groups during our harvest. It’s not that we are particularly unsociable (as I would like to think that those who do visit us are always extended a warm welcome), it’s simply that there are so many things going on, many of which can be unpredictable. I simply wouldn’t want to tie myself down with a bus, or even carload of visitors – it would just be too distracting.

Having said all that, I do hope that we actually have a harvest this year – the weather, I have to report, has really turned against us. After months of fine weather we are now experiencing heavy rain and high winds. I was on the phone only the other day to one of our contacts in the States when I used the expression “the lull before the storm” in my conversation. What I really meant by this was that with everything now ready we are simply sitting back waiting for the optimum time to start picking, rather than implying that there was actually some seriously bad weather on the way. Unfortunately, in the end, we got the latter.

The good news is that the state of the fruit before the rain was extremely healthy, which, in the first instance, will certainly help to slow down the potential onset of any disease. The only problem might be is that if this inclement weather persists then the juice could be a little diluted. Our vigil continues……

I did not realise when I mentioned the ‘Ruta do Viño’ bus tour the other day, that the programme of visits is actually much more extensive than I first thought. Apart from the Bodegas that are included on the bus tour itinerary there are also a number of other wineries that are offering visits, specifically tailored around the harvest. These are of course guided tours, sometimes limited to groups of no less than 6 or 8 people, always by appointment, and….. in many cases, there is a small entry fee! From my own point of view I’m afraid to say that even with all these pre-conditions I wouldn’t really welcome tour groups during our harvest. It’s not that we are particularly unsociable (as I would like to think that those who do visit us are always extended a warm welcome), it’s simply that there are so many things going on, many of which can be unpredictable. I simply wouldn’t want to tie myself down with a bus, or even carload of visitors – it would just be too distracting.

Having said all that, I do hope that we actually have a harvest this year – the weather, I have to report, has really turned against us. After months of fine weather we are now experiencing heavy rain and high winds. I was on the phone only the other day to one of our contacts in the States when I used the expression “the lull before the storm” in my conversation. What I really meant by this was that with everything now ready we are simply sitting back waiting for the optimum time to start picking, rather than implying that there was actually some seriously bad weather on the way. Unfortunately, in the end, we got the latter.

The good news is that the state of the fruit before the rain was extremely healthy, which, in the first instance, will certainly help to slow down the potential onset of any disease. The only problem might be is that if this inclement weather persists then the juice could be a little diluted. Our vigil continues……