It is our first harvest for own wine and therefore we did not know what to expect. After a whole year of build up, we had certainly prepared for it.

As the fruit ripens, birds, wildcats and foxes start eating it. It is important that the grapes are whole and undamaged and for that we put CDs on strings hanging on the wires. The wind moves the CDs and the reflection of the sun sends the birds elsewhere. 

Animals also avoid noise, for that we hang some empty bottles and tape both of which rattle in the wind. The place looked like a scrapyard as you see on the first picture. The things you have to go through to get good quality grapes... Not a good sight!

What we had not planned for was rain. When it rains the vines drink the water which in turn goes to the grapes. Rather than concentrated sweet juice which is what you aim for, you would get watery must and wine. 

Hand picking grapes is hard work. We had planned the harvest for the weekend to have friends and family helping. The forecasted weather for the weekend was heavy rain non stop for the whole weekend. We arrived on late at night the day before and with 3-4 hours of sleep we started hand picking grapes to avoid the imminent rain. 

And hand picking we did. It was four of us and we worked in couples. One at each side of the vine to cut grapes simultaneously and efficiently to speed things up. 

It did drizzle for a few seconds while harvesting, not enough to cause trouble. After we finished picking it rained for three days, first slowly for a few hours, then solidly for a couple of days. By that time we were at the village restaurant, chatting and drinking wine watching people getting soaked.

Overall in the 2013 harvest, we had about 850kgs of grapes, we aim to produce about 500 litres of wine this year.

August in central Spain, 500-600 kilometres away from the coast is hot. At the height of summer temperatures go over 40 C. Vine leaves stop photosynthesis at about 35 C, i.e: it is important to get maximum exposure to the sun whilst keeping them well aired to optimise photosynthesis (better fruit!). 

One of the jobs in the vineyard this time of year is ensuring that the vines are well ventilated to benefit from the breeze to cool them down. Good ventilation protects against fungal diseases like powdery mildew which thrive in damp/moist environments. 

We took the opportunity to dig around the older vines. Many good reasons for this. Firstly is good for ventilation, most of the grapes hang on the bottom branches (see enclosed), good against fungal diseases and better quality of fruit. 

It makes the vine roots dig deeper for water as we get rid of roots on the surface. This is important in dry parts of Spain where vines suffer "water stress" due to lack of water: it stops the fruits from ripening. Cutting the roots on the top layers of the soil gives an advantage to those roots digging deeper.

We started prunning in March. Our strategy was clear from the start: prune as severely as possible to get the best quality of fruit. The principle behind: vigorous pruning will spread the precious minerals and other components that go into the grapes between a small number of lucky bunches. 

The saying goes: "it is easy to make bad wine from good grapes, yet you can't make good wine from bad grapes."

Severe pruning will:
1.- maximise the exposure of the leaves to photosyntesis
2.- allow air to circulate and prevent fungal diseases
3.- make the bunches/grapes more accessible for harvesting

And more importantly it will limit the output per vine to a few bunches full of flavour.

We invested on the best loppers available. It was easy to make clean cuts at the right length even on very old vines. 

Fruiting shots are born in 1 year old dormant Buds. The aim is therefore to keep only a couple of 1 year old buds and get rid of the rest. Amongst them we look at the best placed for training along the trellis system used.

We avoid bigger/older canes which are called "bull" canes, thick in diameter, we leave strong looking canes at about the thickness of a pencil. We leave the two remaining spurs at 20-30cm in length. 

Once you do it a few times it is simple: out with the old, in with the new. We were lucky to have a glorious few hours of sun during the wettest winter in Spain for years.

Had a wonderful lunch with the beautiful Peggy Streit yesterday. Grab was good, company fantastic as most things are when with Peggy. She mentioned that she did not know too much about winemaking other that people plant roses at the end of the vineyard. What an interesting idea.

First thing that comes to mind is that roses will attract pollinators, (bees in particular) which will benefit the quality of the harvest. Funny thing is, it seems they will also attract harmful insects instead of going to the vines. That alone is a good reason to plant them.

The main reason for planting them however might have been different. Roses are prone to the same diseases as vines, yet more sensitive then vines. Because of this, they are often use as a warning system to identify infections in the vineyard. The roses get the diseases first, we can then treat the vines before they are affected.

And of course there is always another option that they look pretty and smell lovely, what's not to like?

Good idea P, let's do just that!

It's winter and things seem quiet and uneventful at the vineyard. It doesn't seem like a lot is happening as the vines keep their head (and roots) down to get through winter. It is time to reflect and make decisions on what wine we want and how are we going to get there...

The vines in the vineyard are all garnacha with a few exceptions of white vines used in the olden days to soften red wine. The resulting wine is rose, we want rich red. What other grapes can we plant to complement a garnacha based blend?

Genetic studies name Spain as Garnacha's country of origen. My idea is to match the blend with a couple, maximum three other Spanish varieties which would add body and black fruit flavours to the mix.

Jancis Robinson has recently published a new book called "Wine grapes" with almost 1,400 different vine/grape species and their origin. I went throught the Spanish list this morning and selected the following based on the species suitability to the terrain, climate and flavour.  Here's the shortlist and their characteristics:

CABERNET FRANC (origin Basque Country). Mid ripening, rather vigorous, suited to clay-limestone soils but also performs well in sandy soils if there is no water stress. Small berries. Very similar to Cabernet Sauvignon but with less dramatically indented leaves. Buds and matures earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon and thus more prone to coulure but easier to ripen fully. Very hard wood and small berries.

GRACIANO (Rioja/Navarra). Mid to late budding, late ripening. Vigorous, drought resistant but difficult to grow due to low fertility and yields, susceptibility to downy mildew and rot. Its wine is valued for its acidity and perfume. Best suited to clay and limestone soils, cooler sites and short pruning.

JUAN GARCIA (Rivera del Duero area). Highish yields, suceptible to botrytis bunch rot and powdery mildew. Early ripening (especially when planted near the river) and grapes often shrivel when ripe, giving high sugar levels in the berries.

MAZUELO (also known as Carignan from Aragon). Vigorous and highly productive (up to 200 hl/ha when given free reign), late budding and very late ripening, so that it needs the heat of the Mediterranean climate to thrive. It is highly prone to powdery mildew, less so to botrytis bunch rot and downy mildew; also prone to attack from grape moths. Resistant to phomopsis. Bunches cling firmly to the wine, making it less suitable for mechanical hasvesting.

TEMPRANILLO (Rivera del Duero area). Medium-sized to large compact bunches of small, thick-skinned berries. Relatively fertile. Early budding and ripening. Yields range from medium to high according to the site. Sensitive to the wind and to extreme drought. Susceptible to powdery mildew and to eutypa dieback but generally resistant to botrytis bunch rot. High yields reduce colour and fruit intensity as well as acidity.

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