Picking started on Thursday under bright, clear blue skies. Of course, we hope that this sun might continue for a while, but the forecasts are very uncertain to say the least. Our plan for today is to bring our own grapes in on large trucks, with our cases already loaded onto pallets in the vineyard. In this way they can be quickly forklifted on and forklifted off. Less journeys too and from the vineyard (14 pallets per truck), and less labour in the bodega to offload cases. Historically, cases have been unloaded by hand, one by one, and with many of our smaller grape suppliers, this is still the system that we have to use!

Beautiful weather aside, our first day was not without incident. A few technical difficulties with equipment, which, despite having been tested, decided to play up on us. Firstly the machine for cooling the tanks would not start up (we needed to change a digital thermostat). Later, our case washing machine kept cutting out, but then eventually, and quite mysteriously, it decided to work again! (It might have been the moment when I threatened it with a hammer!)

Apart from that, there was no easing gently into the first day – from lunch time we were inundated, and spent virtually the whole day playing catch up, just managing to keep our heads above the water. It was a bit tiring to say the least.

I will write more tomorrow about the grapes, and the quality of our 2021 harvest.

Historically, Spanish people tend to take their summer holidays is fortnight blocks, often on fixed dates. In other words visitors to Galicia might arrive for the first two weeks of July, and then a second, new group might arrive for the second two weeks (extending throughout August in exactly the same way). These blocks are known, and referred to, as ‘quincenas’ and I must say that it continues to amaze me how many people still follow these very rigid patterns (although this is likely dictated by business summer closedowns).

A day or two ago was a big changeover weekend, as the calendar ticked over from July into August. Unfortunately for us,  with this changeover came yet another change – to the weather!

The first few days of the month have been dreadful, with leaden grey skies, rain, drizzle and cool temperatures. This is not good news for our vineyards. The grape bunches themselves are now fully formed, and normally, during the heat of August, we would hope that the vibrant green berries would be transformed into luscious, ripe, golden fruit. However, in these cool temperatures, and with the level of damp, cool air that we have, it’s fair to say that the overall quality of our 2021 harvest now hangs in the balance and could go either way.

Since the last week of May, and up until today, the weather has at least remained dry. Temperatures, however, were still struggling at around the 20°C mark (68°F), and it wasn’t until the second week of June that the thermometer finally hit the mid-to-high 20’s C (75-85°F). The good news is that these conditions proved to be almost perfect for flowering, and by the time that today’s rain arrived, the bunches had already started to take shape, with the small berries starting to grow almost to the size of peas (actually more like ‘petit pois’ at this stage!). Of course, this recent combination of rain and sun has meant that the vine plants themselves are extremely vigorous and the canopies are thick with vegetation. There will clearly need to be some thinning of leaves over the coming month or two.

On the business front things are also looking much brighter, as a few important markets slowly emerge from this disastrous pandemic. New orders have been arriving thick and fast, and to be honest we have almost been struggling to keep up. No sooner do we bottle a new tank, than the whole lot is out of the door! I think it’s pretty fair to say that we are not complaining….

As of today, everyone at Castro Martin has had at least one Covid vaccination – not because the rollout in Spain has suddenly become super-efficient, but mostly because our team are a bunch of geriatrics!! Actually, that’s a little unkind, the last in our group to be vaccinated are still mere babies, in their 40’s.

Angela (who had a Pfizer jab) has already had her second dose, and the rest of our team (who also had Pfizer), will have their second injection within the next week or two. I am the only exception! I had Astra Zeneca, and therefore my second dose will not be for another month or so.

Despite all this, life goes on pretty much as before – masks are still compulsory, and we still have social distancing regulations in public places. Moreover, my hands are also chaffed from washing!

On the bright side (literally) the weather has picked up. The last week of May and the first couple of weeks of June have been warm and sunny. In the last day or so we have actually reached 28°C (82°F) on the thermometer, although this brief heatwave is forecast to end after the coming weekend. Well, at least we enjoyed good weather for our flowering period.

Over the weekend, and almost for the first time this year, the temperatures in Galicia hit the mid-20’s °C (73-77°F). And not before time! This sudden increase in temperature has the effect of warming the land, but as the temperature of the sea is much slower to warm up, so we end up with sea mist, also known as advection fog. Of course, sea fogs and mists are a very normal and regular part of our Atlantic Maritime climate during the spring and summer (obviously dictated by temperature). This morning we woke up to a dense sea fog.

These conditions are just one of the factors that give us our ‘cool climate’ status in the wine making world, albeit that on this occasion, the accompanying heat is what we really needed. Until about a week or so ago (as I have previously mentioned), our spring weather has been mostly cool and damp. We are really lucky therefore, that this dryer and slightly warmer weather has arrived just in time for our flowering, and should result in a good fruit set. (Fruit set is the time when the flowers are transformed into peppercorn-sized berries).

We are always working hard, not only to retain our status as sustainable producers, but also to move as close as we can to being classed as organic. Of course, our humid, unstable climate prevents us (and every other Rias Baixas producer) from being officially certified as organic, but nevertheless, it doesn’t stop us from trying.

Obviously we do not use herbicides in our vineyards to control the grass, but have always opted for the more laborious task of simply cutting. Between the rows of vines this is not too difficult, but then, between the vines themselves, that has always been a bit more complicated…. until now.

We have invested in a new attachment for our tractors, which has a special, spring loaded arm that extends out to cut between the vines. This is best demonstrated by the video (please bear in mind that this was only our first test run, and that we still had to make quite a few adjustments to make it more efficient and effective).

So far, the month of May has continued with pretty much the same weather as April, cool, damp and unsettled. The most notable feature of our Spring this year being the temperature. By this time of year we would normally expect to have seen at least a few hot, sunny days, and, whilst we have enjoyed some sun, the temperatures have remained stubbornly low (mainly due to wind direction). The dominant airflow has originated mainly from the north, with some slight variations from the northeast and northwest, but only rarely from any southerly direction.

Of course, this damp, cooler whether does not make for ideal flowering conditions, although there are one or two small areas (in our more protected sites) where flowering is now already underway. The forecast for the coming days is still quite variable, and so we will just have to keep our fingers crossed that this important transition period, from flower to grape, will not be too impaired.

April is certainly living up to it’s reputation, sun one minute, showers the next. Our location on the Atlantic coast inevitably makes for changes to the weather that can be both sudden and unpredictable. Weather forecasts are modified sometimes on an hourly basis, but can still be inaccurate, or at the very best, misleading. This time of year is especially bad, sheltering from heavy rain one minute, and bathing in warm sunshine the next!

Between the showers we are now almost completing the job of burning the vine cuttings from pruning – it’s a shame really because these cuttings do actually make excellent material for firing up the barbecue. Perhaps we could start up a side business just for selling firewood?!

The new shoots on the vines are developing well, we already have the tiny bunches starting to emerge and it shouldn’t be too many more weeks before we move into the flowering period.

Just over a week ago I posted a photo of the vines in our small vineyard here at the wine cellar – there was almost no sign of life at all. A few days of warmer weather has suddenly made all the difference. After a long, cool and largely wet winter we have finally enjoyed about a week of almost spring-like weather. Pleasant sunshine and temperatures touching the 20°C (68°F) mark, which has come as great relief to our guys working outside!

I am pleased to say that there are signs of life in the market too. With vaccination underway, not only here in Spain, but also in our export markets, there is, at last, a little more optimism in the air. A few pallets have been ordered and sent out (including for a new export customer in Belgium), perhaps in anticipation of the Easter break. All I can say is, long may this trend continue!

February continues to be extremely wet, the result being that parts of our vineyards are now very soggy underfoot (to say the least). Certainly, we will not have to worry about the water table being replenished this winter! In the month to date we have  been limited to just one or two dry days, once again making pruning conditions most uncomfortable for our hard working team.

This weekend is proving to be particularly stormy, even by Galician standards. High winds, driving rain and, of course, our lockdown means that it is really a moment to batten down the hatches and simply remain indoors.

As a brief aside, I was just a bit puzzled to see a couple of street sweepers working at the height of the storm. Armed with just a couple of brushes they were doing their level best to sweep up the fallen leaves, and despite their valiant efforts, I have to admit that they were simply fighting a losing battle!