tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10037996594162680912024-03-14T01:39:47.730+01:00Vinos AmbizNatural Wines. No chemicals in the vineyards. No chemicals in the Winery. Just pure clean fermented grape juice that expresses the terroir of Sierra de GredosFabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.comBlogger200125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-51007753129612517132021-01-08T08:16:00.005+01:002021-01-09T18:36:56.000+01:00Vineyard Work in Sierra de Gredos <p><b>Vineyard Work in Sierra de Gredos</b><i> <br /></i></p><p><i> <br /></i></p><p><i>(This is a post which I wrote way back in March 2020 and which I just found in my Drafts folder!) </i><br /></p><p> </p><p>Another year, another post!<br />
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I'm very disappointed that I haven't been able to post more often. I'm either just too lazy, too busy or too tired! But I shall make another effort this year and see if I can do better than once a year!<br />
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(Aside: this is the third week of lockdown in Spain due to the Coronavirus pandemic. However, as a grapegrower and winemaker, I am considered as part of the agriculture and food sector, hence "essential services" and so am allowed to travel to go to work.)<br />
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So, during the month of February I was focussing on a vineyard to the exclusion of almost everything else. It's a wonderful vineyard, in the middle of a pine forest and surrounded by rock roses and pinetrees, off the beaten track, and so very peaceful and relaxing.<br />
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There are many problems with this vineyard, the most serious of which is the lack of rain, and a few vines died this year. But there's nothing I can do about that.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFxNeqhS2PC_WFNdLWPlZ1wdF-sYngTfDVweYZe-RaC7eeZ_IJSLSIuqTGSnTMpVZnC5x4H4_GgMSW0I-nhn3-GkGnc831Fcm_KF_L6B5Mf22FymKzuRbXmkWi54H0Slz5HzES25rZtWE/s1600/Panoramic.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFxNeqhS2PC_WFNdLWPlZ1wdF-sYngTfDVweYZe-RaC7eeZ_IJSLSIuqTGSnTMpVZnC5x4H4_GgMSW0I-nhn3-GkGnc831Fcm_KF_L6B5Mf22FymKzuRbXmkWi54H0Slz5HzES25rZtWE/s640/Panoramic.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Panoramic view of the bottom of the vineyard</b></td></tr>
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Another problem is that wild deer have somehow been getting in and eating the shoots/leaves/grapes. So I've been checking the perimeter fence and have been fixing the weak points.</p><p>
One weak point is between the lowest part of the fence and the ground. The sneaky beasts somehow manage to wriggle their way in through these tiny gaps! So I'm going round the whole perimiter and blocking all the gaps, no matter how small. Using rocks and branches and clippings.<br />
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The vineyard is surrounded by pinetrees and rock roses. Rock roses are hardy and invasive. They smell nice and look nice, ...but they're invasive! If you don't keep an eye on them constantly, they'll just take over your vineyard!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRihFs3vGepNGQM8xRZtUo63btK3X0CK_fPrxEF_cc-nE0W3kBiP24-GJ4201k9DWPWskipFSKlR4zTL43GKVAh5mqUuuYL9qCHzBbPFG874pHzSeEVn90EHSu7jSgCtOcjEOyClGeC-U/s1600/RockRoses.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1197" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRihFs3vGepNGQM8xRZtUo63btK3X0CK_fPrxEF_cc-nE0W3kBiP24-GJ4201k9DWPWskipFSKlR4zTL43GKVAh5mqUuuYL9qCHzBbPFG874pHzSeEVn90EHSu7jSgCtOcjEOyClGeC-U/s640/RockRoses.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>In the foreground: Rock roses that I've cut back making the fence visible<br />In the background: Rock roses growing through the fence</b></td></tr>
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Another problem with the deer is that not only can they sneak in under the fence, but they can also leap over it! So, when I finish blocking the gaps, I'll go round the perimeter again, but this time looking for any low points. I will then raise the height using poles (tied to the existing posts) and string or wire, and possibly some old CD's.<br />
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I found the poles in the forest beside the vineyard:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXoSUq3GYtrev5PiqyUiTQ0ilfd2Bp4Zt7n_BdpvHh-nnsjF5U5O0-deOJ7c2wHHHJawnjhPXyUJNZVovm5yrubTa0N5gCySVcKGEXNOrNyQCnN5ZXJUh63AR2gkDnkCg5Suf3kJp21Is/s1600/Forest3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1197" data-original-width="1600" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXoSUq3GYtrev5PiqyUiTQ0ilfd2Bp4Zt7n_BdpvHh-nnsjF5U5O0-deOJ7c2wHHHJawnjhPXyUJNZVovm5yrubTa0N5gCySVcKGEXNOrNyQCnN5ZXJUh63AR2gkDnkCg5Suf3kJp21Is/s640/Forest3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pine forest seen through the fence</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmWkbI-0TC8Tlpzlr4MqqtvDWfwrqrFVafeu8cIpzeTIMLxSB9VRO30iJXwRNzVyp9M_qh_jG8QrPgbNWkxvq6DNjZV9DNqzDSpG2fnVR44T2z_fWzCLwv_W06PxZjK4QIbdlYynjZK0g/s1600/Forest.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1197" data-original-width="1600" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmWkbI-0TC8Tlpzlr4MqqtvDWfwrqrFVafeu8cIpzeTIMLxSB9VRO30iJXwRNzVyp9M_qh_jG8QrPgbNWkxvq6DNjZV9DNqzDSpG2fnVR44T2z_fWzCLwv_W06PxZjK4QIbdlYynjZK0g/s640/Forest.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pine forest seen from the pine forest</b></td></tr>
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I didn't actually have to chop any trees down! There were lots of fallen trees and branches lying around already. I just had to saw them into lenghths and drag them up to the vineyard:<br />
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Then I tied them with wire to the existing low posts, and strung up some bright tape:<br />
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Apart from all of that, I also gave the vines some manure this year. This involved, first of all, digging up around each vine. This is a really fun activity and I recommend you come out to El Tiemblo, in the Sierra de Gredos, and lend a hand next year in another vineyard :)<br />
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After digging up arround the vines, we shovelled in some manure, using wheelbarrows and shovels:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7xkM2p5sOBGM_nQNz4ePV3lswGdMF9Pum79McM4YYIgS6S8JyJ6s6_VCgtbWDoQPRLz-k-6GiNSApLhoc4aYpqf4zyfeLYo4mb-PM8-FEsgVIBP75WU1fPDcKH7JSraONLeISv-gTvXU/s1600/Manure5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1197" data-original-width="1600" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7xkM2p5sOBGM_nQNz4ePV3lswGdMF9Pum79McM4YYIgS6S8JyJ6s6_VCgtbWDoQPRLz-k-6GiNSApLhoc4aYpqf4zyfeLYo4mb-PM8-FEsgVIBP75WU1fPDcKH7JSraONLeISv-gTvXU/s640/Manure5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Shovelling shit!</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Shovelled shit!</b></td></tr>
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Apart from digging a hole/trench beside each vine for the manure, we've also hoed up a circle of grass around the vine, to help retain any rainwater that may fall this spring. This vineyard is very steep, so any rain that falls tends to run off as opposed to being absorbed by the earth, due to the grass.<br />
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This vineyard is Garnacha, about 50 years old, and I use it to make a classic red wine, aged in barrel. I used to get about 4 or 5 barrels (1500 bottles) but last year only 1 barrel (300 bottles) due to the drought.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I call it "</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">El Castañar"</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> because the vineyard is on the way to the famous <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">El Castañar de El Tiemblo, chestnut </span>forest of El Tiemblo, which is about 5 k</span>m further up the road.<br />
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And lastly, I had to clear up a slight mess caused by a pine tree falling into the vineyard and destroyimg a small part of the fence:<br />
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All that was in February.<br />
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In March I was mainly bottling up (including some pet nats), but I'll write about that in another post soon. Hopefully!<br />
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I hope you are all bearing up well during the lockdown and confinement. If you need more wine these days, I'd be very happy to ship some to you, or have my distributor ship it, depending on where you live!<br />
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<br />Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-83533249932957504862019-02-08T21:26:00.004+01:002019-02-08T21:26:32.433+01:00It's that time of year againYes, it's winter here in Spain too! Though here in central Spain, specifically in the Madrid - Sierra de Gredos region - it's not really that extreme. No polar vortices here! But not even the nastier winter weather that costal Spain has been suffering from recently, ie flooding, torrential rain, etc. It's not even that cold here - it just dips a bit below zero (Celsius) at night, and then during the day it's around 5-10 degrees Celsius.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chilly beans!</td></tr>
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In the bodega, the temperature is about 10-12 degrees Celsius, which is OK if you're moving around and actively doing physical tasks. But if you're sitting down sticking labels onto bottles all day, then its not so pleasant! Which is basically what I'm doing these days.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bottling up the Dore 2018</td></tr>
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It's also the pruning season. So I try to alternate between sticking labels (and bottling up, corking, boxing and building pallets) and pruning and fixing fences and manuring in the vineyards.<br />
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The bodega is a huge mess at the moment and everything looks chaotic and out of place. I used to not be bothered about this but now it's started to annoy me. I'm going to have to take a day out from bottling/pruning/labelling etc to tidy up! That will involve moving pallets around and carrying stuff from one place to another! And will take at least a whole day to do.<br />
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Another thing I have to do is press off a tub of Roman Slave Juice! It's been macerating for quite long enough now (since October). Pliny the Elder, in his book De Naturae, only gives three recipes for making this beverage, and none of them involved maceration for this length of time.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roman Slave Juice macerating. To be pressed off.</td></tr>
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Enough for today. I now have to prepare the wines I'll be taking to a natural wine fair tomorrow in Barcelona, the <a href="https://vinosnaturales.wordpress.com/2018/10/26/salo-de-vins-naturals-barcelona-2019/">Salo de Vins Naturals</a>.<br />
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Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-17339215344150771282019-01-24T12:21:00.004+01:002019-01-24T12:21:26.024+01:00New Tasting ZoneNew year, and a new tasting zone!<br />
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Well, a whole year went by and I didn't post a single post in 2018. Which is a shame, because I like writing posts, and I hope that some people enjoy reading them! So I've resolved not to let that happen again. I will try to post at least one post per month, even if quick 'n' dirty.<br />
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The problem is that I don't have enough time! Ever since I got fired from my day-job I've been working full-time either in the vineyards or in the bodega, and the last thing I feel like doing in the evening is to sit in front of a computer! But such is life! Everybody complains about not having enough time these days!<br />
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So, here's some pics of the 'project'<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz5zgZHe4Oap318K2WBr3z9ZT3Hq0YUEji9QMNkxxvYFEMlfpH5OF-DWoaxeC5nHa7O3hkpWqba5ZRX7F0M6ik4Md7OUgESi_MZ7cYoBbZb2sdSjfFYn7nRlMLEwtJvaTLV3AbVB3oK5k/s1600/IMG_20190111_160510_633.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1197" data-original-width="1600" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz5zgZHe4Oap318K2WBr3z9ZT3Hq0YUEji9QMNkxxvYFEMlfpH5OF-DWoaxeC5nHa7O3hkpWqba5ZRX7F0M6ik4Md7OUgESi_MZ7cYoBbZb2sdSjfFYn7nRlMLEwtJvaTLV3AbVB3oK5k/s640/IMG_20190111_160510_633.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Work in progress. Lorry unloading stones and sand</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9geCXmyLgMfuTD7sEPJDGZAjtFejCOOHcvS0fExxheQ1QlVh939LT84Hk1SEdXWSBTDGiXPJ0g8Eaxl9ZBCZeFY7J0WCObp3-jZZvLbfWSnUGzlstLOAS7nAEUK-_r7GvomVBRRo8IVM/s1600/IMG_20190109_140155_313.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1197" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9geCXmyLgMfuTD7sEPJDGZAjtFejCOOHcvS0fExxheQ1QlVh939LT84Hk1SEdXWSBTDGiXPJ0g8Eaxl9ZBCZeFY7J0WCObp3-jZZvLbfWSnUGzlstLOAS7nAEUK-_r7GvomVBRRo8IVM/s400/IMG_20190109_140155_313.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>More work in progress</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbK73l450gdJ4qeB4XUy2Ei_pG9A07NJU73Rr49lxiH2JBav2vaDXWN0X0eHvShFVNeonEtBs1MJcDYTUDExzUZ-KcdPOpFuZEDD7WoXFlRPh4HS-QyaWkohQ9859TOAnCNsKRYInrr0U/s1600/IMG_20190109_172913_938.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1197" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbK73l450gdJ4qeB4XUy2Ei_pG9A07NJU73Rr49lxiH2JBav2vaDXWN0X0eHvShFVNeonEtBs1MJcDYTUDExzUZ-KcdPOpFuZEDD7WoXFlRPh4HS-QyaWkohQ9859TOAnCNsKRYInrr0U/s400/IMG_20190109_172913_938.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Tapping the stones into place</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYtX_cMGNq2zH9xsDThSkPsTO7lCl-FsaxfoMTjVDKxfhyphenhyphensg6IA5SIqe0tSGP5qBAlTg7cGfKNQSGnsk5B3DEchDz2N82idbP6LWG4Kf8qgC0cqCBoi5Cx9vffyoo_o2rKy3gD_TTvCDk/s1600/IMG_20190109_172810_268.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1197" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYtX_cMGNq2zH9xsDThSkPsTO7lCl-FsaxfoMTjVDKxfhyphenhyphensg6IA5SIqe0tSGP5qBAlTg7cGfKNQSGnsk5B3DEchDz2N82idbP6LWG4Kf8qgC0cqCBoi5Cx9vffyoo_o2rKy3gD_TTvCDk/s640/IMG_20190109_172810_268.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pretending to tap a stone into place :)</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKDw0K7aA3wbUci2V7-kiL-q-LMsqH1ZwvBUBxQDgpMOMbxLbAA7m16IdIgzUt38XkoMU0BQ4mog_Xd6e3BPxH_sM9uAE4c59RFhEe3a_WLZIsUb-E1jztaEfGQu5d3U3B50khAKVGI-g/s1600/IMG_20190111_160501_671.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1197" data-original-width="1600" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKDw0K7aA3wbUci2V7-kiL-q-LMsqH1ZwvBUBxQDgpMOMbxLbAA7m16IdIgzUt38XkoMU0BQ4mog_Xd6e3BPxH_sM9uAE4c59RFhEe3a_WLZIsUb-E1jztaEfGQu5d3U3B50khAKVGI-g/s640/IMG_20190111_160501_671.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Almost done</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPxQ1oiOhueAhkQSCB3Jp7abDT74LkjeKlz9YTiCEqRt2fzzmIUb6XHbAgBcJfh2Fsl1OkQPp1fHfyMMbNToHU4qDE_sS12QwcbpXgbYi2cwMTBPiUaWECGg4M81q1BEauUjx3U55KKKM/s1600/IMG_20190112_181501_519.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1197" data-original-width="1600" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPxQ1oiOhueAhkQSCB3Jp7abDT74LkjeKlz9YTiCEqRt2fzzmIUb6XHbAgBcJfh2Fsl1OkQPp1fHfyMMbNToHU4qDE_sS12QwcbpXgbYi2cwMTBPiUaWECGg4M81q1BEauUjx3U55KKKM/s640/IMG_20190112_181501_519.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>All done, more or less</b></td></tr>
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So that's that! It still needs to be beautified a bit, obviously! Like plants and flowers, maybe lanterns hanging down from the beams? I'll need to plant grass around the edges on the slopes. And lastly, a table and chairs for tastings/lunches/dinners!<br />
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It took three days to lay all the stones, after about three years of dilly-dallying and not getting my act together. It just goes to show that if you really want to do something, you should just go and do it, without over-analyzing too much!<br />
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I decided not to use cement between the stones. This has its advantages, eg that it will look prettier once the grass/moss grows between the stones. But the possisble disadvantage wmy be that the stones are not so stable and may move as people step on them. But then again, the idea is just to sit down at the table or in loungers, not to pace up and down. So hopefully my decision will be vindicated.<br />
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As of today, 24 Jan 2019, the new tasting zone hasn't been inaugurated. Not even a soft inauguration let alone an 'official' one. Another task on my to-do list! :)<br />
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<br />Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-54557452572753939252017-09-13T23:10:00.000+02:002018-01-16T14:23:33.249+01:00Harvest update and sundry other stuffJust a quick harvest update here. I've taken a day off today, away from the winery, and am just lounging around at home mostly horizontally resting and recovering! It's been quite hard work so far, especially as I decided to crush and press all the grapes manually this year!<br />
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But first some boring technical details:<br />
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- The grape harvest is really early this year. Again! I just checked my notes from last year and for example the Doré this year is a whole month early! Climate change? The three heatwaves we had in June? I have no idea.<br />
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- We had a huge and horrific hailstorm in July which destroyed 50% of the grapes in Sierra de Gredos. Some unlucky growers lost even more.<br />
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- So far I've harvested/crushed/pressed my Albillo, Doré, Tempranillo, Sauvignon blanc and two plots of Garnacha<br />
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- Still to be harvested are more Garnacha (3 plots), Chelva, Airén and Malvar.<br />
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But I really don't want to write about grapes right now! I even see them when I close my eyes to go to sleep at night!<br />
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The manual crushing thing. Well the main reason I decided to try to do this is to see if there's any appreciable difference in quality in the final wines. Especially with the use of motorized pumps for moving wine from one tank to another. I cant help thinking that even the smallest pumps are too fast and can somehow affect the wine. I have no data to back this belief up as yet - I would have to do some due diligence and search for information on the internet. Even the small pump I have moves 2500 liters/hour! I dont need to move that much wine that fast.<br />
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The pump I've been using lately is this one:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKNulfkRFvwQlRAMuJX0y-vgHUG0djIyu9Ko_HQ-NnyZ_J4n5zHoI1kBQG8FbpxjBMH-TyL2MFJQtQWqwQICXXC3OAKJxzGoTEzsIZ2ksehyApc224TdHxPBmksJ6d6McmSeeO8q7WyxE/s1600/Trasegadora.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKNulfkRFvwQlRAMuJX0y-vgHUG0djIyu9Ko_HQ-NnyZ_J4n5zHoI1kBQG8FbpxjBMH-TyL2MFJQtQWqwQICXXC3OAKJxzGoTEzsIZ2ksehyApc224TdHxPBmksJ6d6McmSeeO8q7WyxE/s640/Trasegadora.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Built in 1907 in Alcoy (Valencia)</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdiHe09bbaTIO0KxaWoakOL0CU5x6QL2auhqNiU1Pae2oriONMF1mPJFrdzWWvn1bmLGNzzsR2DByHYamrj1nv-6g_QKhuDycpLXPKMf2ElN24pyyvnDEU8ls38S_JXATtfVZhToNyKc/s1600/IMG_20150820_104421.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1187" data-original-width="1600" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdiHe09bbaTIO0KxaWoakOL0CU5x6QL2auhqNiU1Pae2oriONMF1mPJFrdzWWvn1bmLGNzzsR2DByHYamrj1nv-6g_QKhuDycpLXPKMf2ElN24pyyvnDEU8ls38S_JXATtfVZhToNyKc/s640/IMG_20150820_104421.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pumping wine from one tank to another</b></td></tr>
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Unfortunately it broke down a few days ago and has stopped pumping! So I need to get it fixed before the next racking (in a few days) or else I'll have to resort to the electric one. And the guarantee period has expired!<br />
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Another thing I hate about electric pumps is the noise! After I while it makes me annoyed and I can't think straight!!! And does noise not affect the quality of wine? That's another topic I'll have do some research on.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi81TmkfXb_3VIIYTiHfpU4Dh8FJCi-rHVCPT03LlHiL2MmdNg5Gy4mLSPvvwqANwt9XXIIBMlj5MFH7gr-JxBRJ4aARPIAGO-n35pN73eYRdsxafTbfQDz7ua0wJWbdgsT-Jv60qwTUM0/s1600/sealing_tinaja.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi81TmkfXb_3VIIYTiHfpU4Dh8FJCi-rHVCPT03LlHiL2MmdNg5Gy4mLSPvvwqANwt9XXIIBMlj5MFH7gr-JxBRJ4aARPIAGO-n35pN73eYRdsxafTbfQDz7ua0wJWbdgsT-Jv60qwTUM0/s640/sealing_tinaja.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The small electric pump in action</b></td></tr>
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Another thing is the appropriate use of technology. To move say 500 l wine, I have no need to use a fast electric motor to do it quickly. I have plenty of time to pump wine slowly. It's not like I have other more interesting or important things to do!!! Electric pumps are obviously useful (essential) to large volume producers who are dealing with millions of liters. Cooperatives typically produce between 10-50 million liters/year! But for a small producer like myself? (around 10000 bottles).<br />
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The same applies to electric destemmers/crushers. The throughput is really fast. The machine I share can crush/destem a case of 20 kg as fast as you can tip it in, put the box down and pick up the next box. I really must find out if the speed and violence done to the grapes really affects the quality or if I'm just getting more and more eccentric as time goes by! :)<br />
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With the pressing, I'm not so sure. I have two manual presses and a hydraulic press on which I can control the pressure exerted. If I keep the pressure low, the results are very similar to the manual presses. I can tell by the dryness/dampness of the "cake" left in the press when you are done pressing out the juice. But it also makes a horrible noise though!<br />
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Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so we shall just have to wait until the wines are ready and taste them! Hmmm, but then, there are so many other factors involved. It will be difficult to attribute any increase in quality to just the gentle manual processing.<br />
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Oh, and a final advantage of doing it manually is all the money saved by not having to pay to go to the gym to attain those bulging and shapely biceps :)<br />
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And now for something completely different...<br />
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A photo of my "Roman Wine" experiment:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj15Z1ME7wISKJveGp8dIxsuGptw9DEbyLpJOG4ZkHFUDMnQr0AAoWl4utU5pGqmdzwmBE4ZrP53evAGsOuFqMy4z_hb03sEynZicvgoTvnZoow5SSUUmsfKH7MUnLrsuDgC6_6w7dNO2U/s1600/IMG_20170902_092346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj15Z1ME7wISKJveGp8dIxsuGptw9DEbyLpJOG4ZkHFUDMnQr0AAoWl4utU5pGqmdzwmBE4ZrP53evAGsOuFqMy4z_hb03sEynZicvgoTvnZoow5SSUUmsfKH7MUnLrsuDgC6_6w7dNO2U/s640/IMG_20170902_092346.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Garnacha on olive</b></td></tr>
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As all of you who have read Pliny the Elder's <i>De Rerum Naturae</i> will know, the ancient Romans had three main systems of growing grapes, only two of which have survived and come down to us in our modern era: bush vines and trellised vines. The third system the ancient Romans used was arboreal viticulture, ie letting the vines grow up trees. Seriously, Pliny describes it in some detail in Book XIV. He recommends certain varieties are being most appropriate for trees, and even the best species of tree.<br />
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Well I have to make do with what I've got, ie Garnacha vines on olive trees. I have about 8 vines growing up three olive trees and I hope to harvest about 50 kg grapes, optimistically. Now that slavery has been abolished, I suppose that I will have to harvest them myself! So with these grapes I will make some 'Roman' wine - in amphora of course :)<br />
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I will also be making more "Roman Slave Juice". Last year as an experiment, I made about 50 bottles, and it was a great success - as far as experiments go. Pliny the Elder (what a guy!) gives a recipe for making this 'wine' which was given to the slaves. Here it is:<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=non&la=la&can=non0" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">non</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=possunt&la=la&can=possunt0&prior=non" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">possunt</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=iure&la=la&can=iure0&prior=possunt" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">iure</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=dici&la=la&can=dici0&prior=iure" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">dici</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=vina&la=la&can=vina0&prior=dici" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">vina</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=quae&la=la&can=quae0&prior=vina" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">quae</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=graeci&la=la&can=graeci0&prior=quae" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">graeci</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=deuteria&la=la&can=deuteria0&prior=graeci" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">deuteria</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=appellant&la=la&can=appellant0&prior=deuteria" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">appellant</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16pt;">, </span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=cato&la=la&can=cato0&prior=appellant" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">cato</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=et&la=la&can=et0&prior=cato" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">et</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=nos&la=la&can=nos0&prior=et" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">nos</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=loram&la=la&can=loram0&prior=nos" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">loram</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16pt;">, </span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=maceratis&la=la&can=maceratis0&prior=loram" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">maceratis</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=aqua&la=la&can=aqua0&prior=maceratis" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">aqua</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=vinaceis&la=la&can=vinaceis0&prior=aqua" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">vinaceis</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16pt;">, </span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=sed&la=la&can=sed0&prior=vinaceis" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">sed</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=tamen&la=la&can=tamen0&prior=sed" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">tamen</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=inter&la=la&can=inter0&prior=tamen" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">inter</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=vina&la=la&can=vina1&prior=inter" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">vina</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=operaria&la=la&can=operaria0&prior=vina" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">operaria</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=numerantur&la=la&can=numerantur0&prior=operaria" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">numerantur</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16pt;">. </span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=tria&la=la&can=tria0&prior=numerantur" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">tria</span></a><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=eorum&la=la&can=eorum0&prior=tria" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">eorum</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=genera&la=la&can=genera0&prior=eorum" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">genera</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16pt;">: </span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=decima&la=la&can=decima0&prior=genera" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">decima</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=parte&la=la&can=parte0&prior=decima" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">parte</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=aquae&la=la&can=aquae0&prior=parte" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">aquae</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=addita&la=la&can=addita0&prior=aquae" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">addita</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=quam&la=la&can=quam0&prior=addita" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">quam</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=musti&la=la&can=musti0&prior=quam" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">musti</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=expressa&la=la&can=expressa0&prior=musti" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">expressa</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=sit&la=la&can=sit0&prior=expressa" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">sit</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=et&la=la&can=et1&prior=sit" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">et</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=ita&la=la&can=ita0&prior=et" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">ita</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=nocte&la=la&can=nocte0&prior=ita" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">nocte</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=ac&la=la&can=ac0&prior=nocte" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">ac</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=die&la=la&can=die0&prior=ac" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">die</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=madefactis&la=la&can=madefactis0&prior=die" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">madefactis</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=vinaceis&la=la&can=vinaceis1&prior=madefactis" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">vinaceis</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=rursusque&la=la&can=rursusque0&prior=vinaceis" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">rursusque</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=prelo&la=la&can=prelo0&prior=rursusque" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">prelo</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=subiectis&la=la&can=subiectis0&prior=prelo" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">subiectis</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16pt;">; </span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=alterum&la=la&can=alterum0&prior=subiectis" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">alterum</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16pt;">, </span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=quo&la=la&can=quo0&prior=alterum" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">quo</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=modo&la=la&can=modo0&prior=quo" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">modo</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=graeci&la=la&can=graeci1&prior=modo" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">graeci</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=factitavere&la=la&can=factitavere0&prior=graeci" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">factitavere</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16pt;">, </span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=tertia&la=la&can=tertia0&prior=factitavere" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">tertia</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=parte&la=la&can=parte1&prior=tertia" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">parte</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=eius&la=la&can=eius0&prior=parte" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">eius</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=quod&la=la&can=quod0&prior=eius" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">quod</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=expressum&la=la&can=expressum0&prior=quod" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">expressum</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=sit&la=la&can=sit1&prior=expressum" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">sit</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=addita&la=la&can=addita1&prior=sit" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">addita</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=aquae&la=la&can=aquae1&prior=addita" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">aquae</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=expressoque&la=la&can=expressoque0&prior=aquae" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">expresso que</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=decocto&la=la&can=decocto0&prior=expressoque" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">decocto</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=ad&la=la&can=ad0&prior=decocto" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">ad</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=tertias&la=la&can=tertias0&prior=ad" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">tertias</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=partes&la=la&can=partes0&prior=tertias" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">partes</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16pt;">. </span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=tertium&la=la&can=tertium0&prior=partes" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">tertium</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=est&la=la&can=est0&prior=tertium" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">est</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=faecibus&la=la&can=faecibus0&prior=est" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">faecibus</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=vini&la=la&can=vini0&prior=faecibus" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">vini</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=expressum&la=la&can=expressum1&prior=vini" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">expressum</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16pt;">, </span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=quod&la=la&can=quod1&prior=expressum" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">quod</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=faecatum&la=la&can=faecatum0&prior=quod" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">faecatum</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=cato&la=la&can=cato1&prior=faecatum" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">cato</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=appellat&la=la&can=appellat0&prior=cato" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">appellat</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16pt;">. </span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=nullum&la=la&can=nullum0&prior=appellat" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">nullum</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=ex&la=la&can=ex0&prior=nullum" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">ex</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=his&la=la&can=his0&prior=ex" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">his</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=plus&la=la&can=plus0&prior=his" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">plus</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=quam&la=la&can=quam1&prior=plus" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">quam</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=annui&la=la&can=annui0&prior=quam" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">annui</span></a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=usus&la=la&can=usus0&prior=annui" target="morph"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; text-decoration-line: none;">usus</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16pt;">.</span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
So this year I plan on making a lot more. Over the course of the the year I took samples to a few wine fairs and it went down a bomb!<br />
<br />
OK, OK, here's the translation:<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt;">These cannot
properly be termed wines, which by to the Greeks are known under the name of
"deuteria," and to which, in common with Cato, we in Italy give
the name of "lora," being made from the husks of grapes steeped
in water. Still, however, this beverage is reckoned as making one of the
"labourers'" wines. There are three varieties of it: t</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -14.2pt;">he first is
made in the following manner:—After the must is drawn off, one-tenth of its
amount in water is added to the husks, which are then left to soak a day and a
night, and then are again subjected to pressure. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -14.2pt;">A second kind, that which the Greeks are in the habit
of making, is prepared by adding one-third in water of the quantity of must
that has been drawn off, and after submitting the pulp to pressure, the result
is reduced by boiling to one-third of its original quantity. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -14.2pt;">A third kind,
again, is pressed out from the wine-lees; Cato gives it the name of
"fæcatum". </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">None of these
beverages, however, will keep for more than a single year.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></i>
Good night all. Tomorrow is another day :)</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-46125656248939487272017-08-22T20:25:00.000+02:002017-08-22T20:25:26.644+02:00Albillo and Doré Harvests 2017<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Well, that’s the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albillo">Albillo </a>and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chasselas">Doré </a>harvests all done
again for this year! Now I have a break of about two weeks until the other
varieties kick in (Garnacha, Tempranillo, Airén, Sauv blanc, Malvar, Chelva,
Villanueva) and then it’ll be constant harvesting/crushing/pressing for about
four weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The harvests were (and will be) pretty bad this year
in Sierra de Gredos. There was a massive hailstorm on 8<sup>th</sup>-9<sup>th</sup>
July which lasted for about 24 hours, and it destroyed at least 50% of the crop
over the whole region, and some vineyards even more. Some growers I’ve spoken
to have said that they’re not even going to bother harvesting the grapes that
are left. I think I’ve been lucky as on average as I’ve ‘only’ lost about 50%
ish. My worst affected vineyard was a small Albillo plot, which last year gave
me 900 kg, and which this year gave me 6 cases, ie 120 kg! Instead of just mixing these grapes in with
the rest of my Albillo, I kept them separate and am going to make a special carbonic
maceration wine with them </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwdKzJgTW4ZwOLXvm6VpwuBAiHjGTH4yKWwlFIxnSFawnY8JJOvMF_ex69TFhzRWXB5_vYvDIpi5xPKmu5bzYX5Ra9x62f0HG3jN78e6Ttgj9gzWmLGR_qmx9AmIusgjPZGeJZ0qgiAgA/s1600/IMG_20170806_083550.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwdKzJgTW4ZwOLXvm6VpwuBAiHjGTH4yKWwlFIxnSFawnY8JJOvMF_ex69TFhzRWXB5_vYvDIpi5xPKmu5bzYX5Ra9x62f0HG3jN78e6Ttgj9gzWmLGR_qmx9AmIusgjPZGeJZ0qgiAgA/s640/IMG_20170806_083550.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Harvesting Albillo in Sierra de Gredos on 6th August</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The rest of my Albillos are fermenting nicely, in
stainless steel. I harvested the first plot on 6</span><sup>th</sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> August and that
one has in fact already finished doing its tumultuous fermentation, ie boiling
away violently and making foam. Now it’s probably still fermenting away slowly
though there’s no visible or audible activity. It is in fact quite drinkable
already! And the other day on 20</span><sup>th</sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> August I actually had a tasting
of it with a possible new importer! The first tank tasting of the year! Surely
that’s a record? Tasting a ‘wine’ only 14 days after its harvest.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2UefNfpgFOnhcbONy7_glpaDE_DPSptVnoq6nWJpAfQrx2BDjsMvv_Co-zJnmSV24yGzzMr2Tt4svtkaUGl6SOjhNrOHSU9lPjn7-lRq93OreKldX7PU3HlwyO61YKvpbgd6Tciv0nU/s1600/IMG_20170806_172451.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2UefNfpgFOnhcbONy7_glpaDE_DPSptVnoq6nWJpAfQrx2BDjsMvv_Co-zJnmSV24yGzzMr2Tt4svtkaUGl6SOjhNrOHSU9lPjn7-lRq93OreKldX7PU3HlwyO61YKvpbgd6Tciv0nU/s640/IMG_20170806_172451.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Slaves crushing/destemming the master's Albillo</b></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWNz6EfMEOGJvJRmDALTSKwzDM03FbZY5V3PtG7sTgYOsIudUqSqOopARxzeJqanr6sWCm-75zInwyVAr6Kd2MCOPFyZwIPIb1gGhztOZYCxew4acq8Vvy5dxnAq10Eze4KDOo9Y0SCTo/s1600/IMG_20170806_172435.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWNz6EfMEOGJvJRmDALTSKwzDM03FbZY5V3PtG7sTgYOsIudUqSqOopARxzeJqanr6sWCm-75zInwyVAr6Kd2MCOPFyZwIPIb1gGhztOZYCxew4acq8Vvy5dxnAq10Eze4KDOo9Y0SCTo/s640/IMG_20170806_172435.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Female slave diligently ensuring that grapes fall into basket</b></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBI_P2bZeqGbyZ8_9f0nmJCjTQ-dmL9z_miJdaMadX3013wpyjl3YywgflH6BahsTQ2SrDrg2EoSAhq40H4rISg2o-IjKiTOhhbayi14ebdy46Adv3M3ww7S6EoPLF-c_RxD9ZipcBf5A/s1600/IMG-20170806-WA0004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBI_P2bZeqGbyZ8_9f0nmJCjTQ-dmL9z_miJdaMadX3013wpyjl3YywgflH6BahsTQ2SrDrg2EoSAhq40H4rISg2o-IjKiTOhhbayi14ebdy46Adv3M3ww7S6EoPLF-c_RxD9ZipcBf5A/s640/IMG-20170806-WA0004.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The master himself actually getting his hands dirty, and sticky</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVUML4MA1eEcCVqdMEb8F_2QQstcy5LZiKbv3FW-oDYW_qYcNqWo2ycBvrtmajZZAp01AnkYy4FivwZ1j2CFqe5Krvh9idSKN016YVk6M5BJZ4F0-5uHk5I_7AJeQX-9ugIhSY_wWqMKI/s1600/IMG_20170818_074743.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVUML4MA1eEcCVqdMEb8F_2QQstcy5LZiKbv3FW-oDYW_qYcNqWo2ycBvrtmajZZAp01AnkYy4FivwZ1j2CFqe5Krvh9idSKN016YVk6M5BJZ4F0-5uHk5I_7AJeQX-9ugIhSY_wWqMKI/s640/IMG_20170818_074743.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pressing off the Albillo two days later</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqdJJGN-qXw3aHSLEFnCVhU-TFatA3zX5XJCFyO4nhhWQmN3R_mqx3BamJjpdpYJlK75PeJxhkt75KNeiQoxzXu_JkzBUpO8gl8QLElOlq5u_SAlozzY_GpKvXz1JihHOKFTTthPxx0zU/s1600/IMG_20170810_091625.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqdJJGN-qXw3aHSLEFnCVhU-TFatA3zX5XJCFyO4nhhWQmN3R_mqx3BamJjpdpYJlK75PeJxhkt75KNeiQoxzXu_JkzBUpO8gl8QLElOlq5u_SAlozzY_GpKvXz1JihHOKFTTthPxx0zU/s640/IMG_20170810_091625.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Albillo fermenting violently and making foam in stainless steel</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSYL-I6GBhCwUZE5bhFeZVnjEp_Jj6va1ENgeo9QrwIccQr-8_gOnV9Zy8isEWC9ZGMAYBbakw5X5DTPI5U_s4xi93aefnugQav4O8tKP7XyK1onyXycE9vUx0O-g_Lx8MnxQUOMCJWiA/s1600/IMG_20170810_183137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSYL-I6GBhCwUZE5bhFeZVnjEp_Jj6va1ENgeo9QrwIccQr-8_gOnV9Zy8isEWC9ZGMAYBbakw5X5DTPI5U_s4xi93aefnugQav4O8tKP7XyK1onyXycE9vUx0O-g_Lx8MnxQUOMCJWiA/s640/IMG_20170810_183137.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Albillo fermenting in tinaja</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw3ce7B-hhfkgrtp5YTIwYYdIXgQTSaO2f16rkowQHriiCGDGgojHXDZwWK23srHxSqP3kOHdP9hlF3uAkeoE6Io0_lKpuOOV2xl-pbp4dYAf-CoSj3q5tDvESKfnQMk61-vGYWmw-lYk/s1600/IMG_20170818_103326_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw3ce7B-hhfkgrtp5YTIwYYdIXgQTSaO2f16rkowQHriiCGDGgojHXDZwWK23srHxSqP3kOHdP9hlF3uAkeoE6Io0_lKpuOOV2xl-pbp4dYAf-CoSj3q5tDvESKfnQMk61-vGYWmw-lYk/s640/IMG_20170818_103326_5.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Albillo in the glass on 18th August</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">But it’s not all doom and gloom on the Albillo front.
Happily I managed to buy in 1000 kg to make up for the hail storm losses. I got
them from the same grower that I buy my Doré from. So I’ll be able to make my
usual 2000 bottles of ‘Alba’ again this year.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The Doré is fermenting nicely too, in stainless steel,
after two days maceration on the skins. Production is down about 50% due to
hailstorm damage, so there will only be about 1000 bottles of ‘Doris’ this year
</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">L</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">But enough technical details. Time to move on to the
interesting anecdotes! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The grower that I habitually buy my Doré from (and also
Albillo this year), one José, from El Tiemblo, age 84, is quite a character; and
he accompanied me and the pickers as we were harvesting. He didn’t actually cut
grapes or haul crates, given his age, but he patrolled up and down keeping a
beady eye on us as we worked. He would walk the rows that we had picked and
come back with an armful of bunches that we had missed and give us a telling
off! As any grapes left of the wine, he wouldn’t get paid for!!! He would also berate us for breaking a cane while trying to access the dfficut hidden bunches, and such! The pickers
ended up calling him ‘el policía’ (the policeman) and he called them ‘holgazanes
inutiles’ (useless loafers). All good fun stuff to break the monotony of
sweating under a hot Castilian sun!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">He also accompanied us to the bodega to watch us unloading
and weighing the grapes. We stacked the crates on the weighing machine 6 at a
time, I read the gauge and noted down the kilos. … remove the 6 crates, stack
the next 6, read the gauge, note down kilos, repeat until done. At one point
during this process José comes up to me, mumbles something unintelligible to
me, shows me a handful of tiny grapes, laughs and walks away again! ??? I’ve always
found him difficult to understand even at the best of times, let alone when hot
and flustered and sweating after 6 hours of picking and hauling! So I just
ignored and carried on stacking and weighing. (Even after +25 years of living
in Spain and speaking perfect Spanish, it still happens on occasions that I can’t
understand something!). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Anyway, after we’d finished (and José had left with
his receipt) I invited the pickers to a beer and of course we started gossiping
about him! <i>“Did you see how the old bugger took a grape from each case?”</i> one
picker asked me. <i>“Yeah, he showed me. What was that all about?”</i> I replied. The
picker laughed <i>“Ha ha, he was checking that you didn’t try to cheat him!”</i> What?
How? The picker explained: he would take a grape from each case that went onto the weighing machine and
then at the end he would count them to see that the number of grapes was the
same as the number of cases I wrote on his receipt! What! No way! Surely not!
What a mistrustful old coot! Even after me regularly buying and faithfully
paying for his Doré year after year! Well, there you go, it takes all sorts, I
suppose!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And to think that really could have cheated him really
easily. All I had to do was to note down a few kilos less for each case, and
there was no way he could have checked because his eyesight is not so good and
he couldn’t read the gauge directly himself!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Anyways, more good clean harmless stuff I suppose. I
have no hard feeling on account of his mistrust of me. He’s probably had a hard
life and no doubt really has been cheated on many occasions!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We ended up having quite a few beers that day </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So, summing up the state of play after the Albillo and
Doré harvests, I would say “So far so good.” No major or minor mishaps, I haven’t
made any silly mistakes, the wines are doing fine, so I’m well pleased really. And
that’s about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ6jeDzPWpQB8bnqm9-hYYoSb0R_zTCVfu_F2MHURkKZfeFrM_YrVkK5zmBaSm10Fb67cP5eWGTm7G0j1czrBpqhCf6A1j3G7bB9XgmwYJ60PrdVFQVisw__FLf4TfgH0-IzlDEk1gbl4/s1600/IMG_20150815_164756.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1187" data-original-width="1600" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ6jeDzPWpQB8bnqm9-hYYoSb0R_zTCVfu_F2MHURkKZfeFrM_YrVkK5zmBaSm10Fb67cP5eWGTm7G0j1czrBpqhCf6A1j3G7bB9XgmwYJ60PrdVFQVisw__FLf4TfgH0-IzlDEk1gbl4/s640/IMG_20150815_164756.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The weighing machine</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-62687899604713663132017-05-17T13:07:00.003+02:002017-05-17T13:07:37.171+02:00La Gatta Mormigliana and other Wines<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Cera na volta … La
Gatta Mormigliana, coi denti de ferro ei baffi d’acciaio</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Viveva in una grotta
profonda e diceva: “Chi vien giù lo mangio”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Once upon a
time there was La Gatta Mormigliana, with iron teeth and steel whiskers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">She lived
in a deep cave and said: “If you come in I’ll eat you”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">So begins the
tale of the Gatta Mormigliana. And pretty scary it is too, especially for the
children of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barga">Barga </a>and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sommocolonia">Sommocolonia</a>! Including me!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I was
surprised that a search in Google for La Gatta Mormigliana brings up zero
results (except for my own label), - not a single entry about the tale itself. I
guess I’ll just have to write it up myself and upload it. Maybe this summer, I’ll
get my Dad to recite it to me like he did all those years ago when I was little
</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Well, this
is the label:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8isxwL6ltrKLyQYsB0seRVKyq6EAb9uZ3QFXI2n4OMoWwRIr9gGe0F-xe-vKJ0x_DiqZUB3RKsuuBCPyeaajXpFxNCX8nZ8nsU9HvpMQDo9MjZUUTUWLPppxHfkbmYmdFUbD-XAh9PC8/s1600/Mormigliana_artefinal.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8isxwL6ltrKLyQYsB0seRVKyq6EAb9uZ3QFXI2n4OMoWwRIr9gGe0F-xe-vKJ0x_DiqZUB3RKsuuBCPyeaajXpFxNCX8nZ8nsU9HvpMQDo9MjZUUTUWLPppxHfkbmYmdFUbD-XAh9PC8/s400/Mormigliana_artefinal.tif" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I’ll be
using it for all my <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempranillo">Tempranillo </a>wines, all vintages. The vintage itself will be
on the back-label. That way I don’t need to print different versions of the
front label showing a different year. In fact it would be illegal for me to do
so! The law says that if you are not a paid up member of a Denominacion de
Origen (Appellation) then you are not allowed to write the year of the vintage.
Neither are you allowed to write the grape variety or the name of the village/region
you made the wine in. Go figure! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">So the year
and the grape variety are “encoded” or “hidden” in the lot number on the
back-label. Eg,”Lot Number: L-Temperanillo16”.
Spot the deliberate spelling mistake so as to comply with the
legislation!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Apart from
the Gatta Mormigliana for the Tempranillo, I also have Doris for my <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chasselas">ChasselasDoré</a> wines:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlcwht8HO48VtnDZmdD05duhxb-9G_TT-Kgpz-seRmV4FV3wf4WsPjrC3mdr1MyS9-WZt3S3Ov7SATJtL8XJ1FX8JURaNmwVIu43w0pUZa0CKOCVZzaHn0CZHakk6XV5h649ahfUDY-sA/s1600/doris+2016+b2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlcwht8HO48VtnDZmdD05duhxb-9G_TT-Kgpz-seRmV4FV3wf4WsPjrC3mdr1MyS9-WZt3S3Ov7SATJtL8XJ1FX8JURaNmwVIu43w0pUZa0CKOCVZzaHn0CZHakk6XV5h649ahfUDY-sA/s640/doris+2016+b2.png" width="425" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">This
variety is originally from Switzerland and somehow got established
in Sierra de Gredos a few hundred years ago. That makes it native or autochthonous
I reckon. Locally it’s called just Doré (without the Chasselas), hence Doris </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Wingdings;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">There are
not many vineyards of Doré left, and they are mostly around Cebreros, as
opposed to El Tiemblo. I know of only one other producer who makes wine with
Doré, and that’s <a href="http://rubendiazviticultor.com/">Ruben Diaz</a> who makes a wine called “Chass!” (Geddit?
Chasselas?). All the other grapegrowers just send their Doré to the local co-op
or bulk wine producer where it gets mixed in with everything else.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And my
third nice label is Alba:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj10Rhs-2wTG8fSMrG7pYEMWB21N5RxDitC4h2vJwF6kVg29zEyBsnJ7kbrOw6uYV8T1FOLacaqXWJXsxnHmMeLU4HLxp5cWsAswCKHIkC3IuZz251BxeUPFUNTSi-ihe_JGumPT40r6Is/s1600/Alba_artefinal.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj10Rhs-2wTG8fSMrG7pYEMWB21N5RxDitC4h2vJwF6kVg29zEyBsnJ7kbrOw6uYV8T1FOLacaqXWJXsxnHmMeLU4HLxp5cWsAswCKHIkC3IuZz251BxeUPFUNTSi-ihe_JGumPT40r6Is/s400/Alba_artefinal.tif" width="318" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">No prizes
for guessing that Alba is for my<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albillo"> Albillo Real</a> wines!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Albillo
real is used by quite a few local producers. After Garnacha, it is in fact the insignia
grape variety of Sierra de Gredos. Even so it is quite difficult to get hold
of. Firstly it is also used as a table grape as it’s sweet and aromatic and
very nice to eat. It’s an early ripening variety (early to mid August) so there’s
even more incentive to sell it for eating as opposed to selling it for
winemaking). And it’s the preferred variety that birds like to eat! All this adds up to it
being an expensive grape. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">But it’s
worth the effort and expense. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The resulting wines are generally interesting,
complex and delicious. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Not to be confused with Albillo Mayor, which is a
completely different grape and not nearly so interesting or aromatic (apologies
to any Albillo Mayor producers, mais c’est la vie!).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">A few
centuries ago, they used to make a sweet wine with Albillo Real, and it was
called ‘vino precioso’. The only producer that I know of who makes this style
of wine is <a href="http://daniel-ramos.es/en/nosotros/">Daniel Ramos</a>, in El Tiemblo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And so, slowly
but surely over the coming years, I’ll be replacing all my remaining labels,
one for each grape variety. I’ve been advised that I should pick a ‘theme’ and create a consistent, coherent and recognizable Vinos Ambiz brand, with minor variations to distinguish the
different wines and grape varieties. But I don’t think I’m going to do that. I’m
going to do totally separate styles for each wine. Probably a bad idea
marketing-wise, but who knows?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I’ll
probably do a few more Art Nouveau labels, just because I like that style so
much. And maybe something Gothic and something ‘punky’, because I like that too. But also other styles too, maybe even some serious ones, which I haven’t even got round to thinking about yet. Time will tell. I
have so much other stuff to be getting on with, that I’ll be happy if I can do
1 or 2 labels a year </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Cheers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Artist who
did the Gatta Mormigliana and Alba: <a href="http://gerador.eu/autor/francesco-milanese/">Francesco de Aguilar Milanese</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Artist who
did Doris: <a href="http://www.mattiasart.artstation.com/">Mattia de Iulis</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Aspiring
artists who may be interested in doing a future wine label, feel free to
contact me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-81943631788457199962017-03-30T22:19:00.001+02:002017-03-30T23:31:01.471+02:00A Weekend in London, at RAW 2017<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
It was a
very strange RAW weekend in London for me this year! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Usually when I go to <a href="http://www.rawwine.com/">RAW</a>,
I come a few days before and arrange meetings, tastings, events, etc to make
the most of my time, and to make the expense more worthwhile. But this
year, due to 'circumstances', I wasn’t able to do that. The reason being that I
had no wine available in London to use at said events; because my importers
<a href="http://www.otrosvinos.co.uk/contact.html">Otros Vinos</a> had sold it all and the last shipment that I had sent over quite
recently had been seized by HM Customs and Excise, and there wasn’t time to
send over another shipment!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Of course
there was lots of wine sitting at the RAW venue which I had shipped over
specially for RAW, but due to HM C&E Regulations, I wasn’t allowed to
remove the wine from the venue until after the fair – even though I’d already
paid duty on the wine. Go figure! But anyway, such is life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The upshot
of the matter was that I had some extra days in London – with nothing to
do!! Apart from to relax and enjoy, that
is. But I seem to have forgotten how to do that! I always seem to be active,
running around, doing tasks, ticking items off my to-do lists, etc </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">There were
many events being held in the days before, during and after RAW in restaurants and winebars which I could have gone to (see this RAW <a href="http://www.rawwine.com/2017/rawwineweek">page</a>), but my mind and
body seemed to be telling me to just stop it, let go and do nothing till Sunday
12<sup>th</sup> (the first day of the Fair). So I did. I went for a walk,
bright and early, in Battersea Park, had a coffee by the lake (and started
writing this post!).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpujzzgISxU1ky17Q2nh1mHsUe0oXbt-7xgI1mMZtTArH4dtYuv1FHZvMtpV5ZWukyq1wn88GDDhe0sz0ODSlmuKqJ-_arpbHLQ8YVpKFWwBAbEJpKieJOxwXZ_sNzfBTbs-bE7X06zAE/s1600/BatterseaPark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpujzzgISxU1ky17Q2nh1mHsUe0oXbt-7xgI1mMZtTArH4dtYuv1FHZvMtpV5ZWukyq1wn88GDDhe0sz0ODSlmuKqJ-_arpbHLQ8YVpKFWwBAbEJpKieJOxwXZ_sNzfBTbs-bE7X06zAE/s640/BatterseaPark.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Battersea Park Lake Cafe Anglo-Saxon Table</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But I was
soon interrupted - by the call of duty. There was champagne to be drunk! It so
happened that <a href="https://www.facebook.com/caroline.henry1?hc_ref=SEARCH">Caroline Henry</a> was signing copies of her new book “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=terroir%20champagne">Terroir Champagne</a>”:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglrcqk9iRANRaqw6RQCapULfIVMF7JBpFBKPwAsEFIXVihLkFDa9PAYxSSum3GoSp4j6tGghyphenhyphenqnEuqIo7Y5cSJ3aVfyoKIiQxhs2aoC0DRcOXV37ZfroUfvuS9vj9JNlc1450_ssN5gCE/s1600/TerroirChanmpagne.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglrcqk9iRANRaqw6RQCapULfIVMF7JBpFBKPwAsEFIXVihLkFDa9PAYxSSum3GoSp4j6tGghyphenhyphenqnEuqIo7Y5cSJ3aVfyoKIiQxhs2aoC0DRcOXV37ZfroUfvuS9vj9JNlc1450_ssN5gCE/s400/TerroirChanmpagne.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover of the book</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was
being held at a nice winebar and restaurant called <a href="http://www.cellar-sw4.co.uk/">Cellar</a>, at 1 Voltaire St in
Clapham. Within walking distance of Battersea Park, so off I walked!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjreU7XlOhgpuu33ihnMEZ-SlOMOCRk_LNiAcO3V-jX3HuZvIeZ5IynDrBaiq9hphaOBwrzsdEftRHk076RKKegoGv2zafbkpQTiTIgP4AS_uRvx3CADoLhkJuuTkmZ4SVwjJi4CBWuBz0/s1600/Cellar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="479" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjreU7XlOhgpuu33ihnMEZ-SlOMOCRk_LNiAcO3V-jX3HuZvIeZ5IynDrBaiq9hphaOBwrzsdEftRHk076RKKegoGv2zafbkpQTiTIgP4AS_uRvx3CADoLhkJuuTkmZ4SVwjJi4CBWuBz0/s640/Cellar.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cellar, at 1 Voltaire St, Clapham</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s a
really interesting book, especially if you don’t know much about champagne,
like me! There’s a brief history of the Champagne region and an explanation of
why so many grapegrowers there use chemicals and why it’s so difficult to stop
using them. Then there’s photos, interviews and info on about 60 champagne
makers who are either organic, natural, biodynamic or generally respectful of
the environment.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8jsGkfqWLkmJfWn8a_5kFMkvKYfYlU1h9gpAdp4UlSVtn7fjd-Q5hm6z7C4rqHQ71CMpv5Pu4-MG5GHekb2FhlEuY7YKUkjQ5b8ctjJRzdS3sH-m6Nzws55s3ltvvYS2TchwMLzNJu7g/s1600/Moi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8jsGkfqWLkmJfWn8a_5kFMkvKYfYlU1h9gpAdp4UlSVtn7fjd-Q5hm6z7C4rqHQ71CMpv5Pu4-MG5GHekb2FhlEuY7YKUkjQ5b8ctjJRzdS3sH-m6Nzws55s3ltvvYS2TchwMLzNJu7g/s640/Moi.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moi avec le book et le T-shirt</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So I ended
up staying there all day, tippling champagne and chatting to all the people who
came along to buy a signed copy of the book and to have some food and champagne;
which for the occasion was in fact <a href="http://www.wine-searcher.com/wine-537790-0000-vincent-charlot-le-fruit-de-ma-passion-extra-brut-champagne-france">Fruit de Ma Passion</a>, by Vincent Charlot.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I met quite
a few interesting people over the course of the day and evening, though of
course I forgot to take notes and photos! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">One person that I met was <a href="http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/ppr/about-us/people/cain-todd">Cain Todd</a>, a philosopher! Who’s also written a book –
called <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Wine-Truth-Beauty-Intoxication/dp/0773538380">The Philosophy of Wine</a>. We’ve agreed to barter a copy of his book for
some bottles of my wine! </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape
id="_x0000_i1029" type="#_x0000_t75" style='width:261.75pt;height:349.5pt'>
<v:imagedata src="file:///C:\Users\USUARI~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image009.jpg"
o:title="Cain"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvKIf1Wl16MAEhSo3wVSgEkUI5AHQTwgEB_KEPldY8zYdjP1DA1Ct7e-Zd1pCXXyWKKpzsWXT-3ZF9lA2zfaNK38bcEQvhvXYHa1nvVnMSkDFs8u5oKOL_yLzheD-knoL95dzv9xwX2Y0/s1600/Cain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvKIf1Wl16MAEhSo3wVSgEkUI5AHQTwgEB_KEPldY8zYdjP1DA1Ct7e-Zd1pCXXyWKKpzsWXT-3ZF9lA2zfaNK38bcEQvhvXYHa1nvVnMSkDFs8u5oKOL_yLzheD-knoL95dzv9xwX2Y0/s320/Cain.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another person that I met was <a href="http://www.hotandchilli.com/">Rosanna McPhee</a>, a foodie blogger:</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBD9sxM5FtnRa0xQw11IYnP9NcYnIfOgqMbxS2Fw6-ikAUHIUvtcCl6OEYg8juyqgTy6vH8_SM6PcnxzRNhvLYhh_NRld5DvXNDh-gdfDq_XFae7PX2G3EoeyGHfKGsxZjjC9uuMlsOh0/s1600/Rosanna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBD9sxM5FtnRa0xQw11IYnP9NcYnIfOgqMbxS2Fw6-ikAUHIUvtcCl6OEYg8juyqgTy6vH8_SM6PcnxzRNhvLYhh_NRld5DvXNDh-gdfDq_XFae7PX2G3EoeyGHfKGsxZjjC9uuMlsOh0/s400/Rosanna.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rosanna McPhee, right (with Caroline Henry, left)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
And so it
went, until it was time to go for dinner!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The first
day of RAW was awful! I felt really bad and hungover. Not surprising really, as
I drank far too much Champagne the day before! And more wine at night! But still, I managed to do what
I had to do, ie pour my wines and talk about them for 8 hours non-stop. And it
was a busy, busy, busy for those 8 hours. It was so busy that it was really difficult to escape from my table
to go for a pee or to nip outside to smoke a quick cigarette, or even to get something to eat! </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">But it
helped that all the wines I drank were natural. So they didn’t contain any
noxious chemicals which is what makes hangovers really bad. The only horrible
hangover effects I got were from the alcohol itself! Which can be dealt with,
by the passage of time and lots of water!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcNhKUq0c-GHgmrTiF2sQWMhuk5PfnREBb3laxrP0enzBxau70BJge9-i4NDFb1EreK9EhUKPRhmC8ULo5lrDyOZRoYxJ5410aByLkXpINyn6Gt79-LDBKlJP_NWt-l66F5AGrC8lJVTw/s1600/RAW_wb1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcNhKUq0c-GHgmrTiF2sQWMhuk5PfnREBb3laxrP0enzBxau70BJge9-i4NDFb1EreK9EhUKPRhmC8ULo5lrDyOZRoYxJ5410aByLkXpINyn6Gt79-LDBKlJP_NWt-l66F5AGrC8lJVTw/s400/RAW_wb1.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and my wine bitch!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The second
day was much better, from a physical point of view, ie I went to bed at 10
o’clock the night before and slept like a log till next morning! The fair was
just as busy as the first day; I finished all my own business cards AND my UK
importer’s too! Day two was also easier easier because I had a helper at my table, so I was able to sneak off more often!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And so it went, another year at RAW. Am now back to the normal surreality of a small independent winemaker, ie pruning vines, fixing fences, bottling up, sending samples, preparing orders, going to tastings when I can, ... </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Cheers!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">PS, My next post, which I'm working on already, will be Part 2 of my previous post "<a href="http://vinosambiz.blogspot.com.es/2017/03/sierra-de-gredos-as-wine-region.html">Sierra de Gredos as a Wine Region</a>", which I think focussed far too much on the negative side of the coin. The next post will focus on all the good stuff that's happening there.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-44278256953411356442017-03-08T22:55:00.001+01:002017-03-28T22:28:33.876+02:00Sierra de Gredos, as a Wine Region<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve heard that wines from Sierra de Gredos are fashionable these days and that it’s the
up-and-coming next big thing! But I’m not so sure. I suspect that it’s just
some sort of media hype, or meme, or runaway phenomenon that has taken on a
life of its own, because there is absolutely nothing new happening on the
ground! I’ve been working there for 4 years now.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Sadly,
there are no new wineries opening up; there are no new winemakers moving in;
the vineyards are still being torn up like every year;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">This is
extremely annoying because the Sierra de Gredos really does have <u>everything</u>
going for it as a wine region:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">Soil.
Mostly granite covered with a topsoil of sand. But thanks to geological
upheavals millions of years ago, there are also some interesting outcrops of
slate<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">Altitude.
Mostly between 600 and 1200 m above sealevel<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">Slopes.
North-, south-, east-, west-facing. Take your pick<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">Rivers.
Alberche, and Tietar plus numerous streams and tributaries<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">Temperature
ranges. Yes! Big differentials between day and night temperatures. And between summer
and winter temperatures<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">Rainfall.
Perfecto! Enough at the right times. Basically, 0% probability of rain during
harvest. (Well, let’s just say <0 .5="" be="" o:p="" on="" safe="" side="" the="" to=""></0></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">Long
grape-growing tradition<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">Interesting
grape varieties to work with. The emblematic varieties are Garnacha (red) and
Albillo (white), but there are several other varieties that are completely
unused, unappreciated and scorned (Doré, Chelva, Morenillo, Villanueva, ...)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">That seems to cover everything. But wait! There’s something really
important missing, and it’s called... “winemakers”! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-indent: -1cm;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Here’s a quick-n-dirty comparison with another region, of the same size,
more or less - Burgundy:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center">
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid black; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid black; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 173.6pt;" valign="top" width="231"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.15pt;" valign="top" width="123"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Burgundy
(France)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 100.95pt;" valign="top" width="135"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Sierra de
Gredos (Spain)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 173.6pt;" valign="top" width="231"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Size, in kms<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.15pt;" valign="top" width="123"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB">120 km x 20 km<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 100.95pt;" valign="top" width="135"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB">150 km x 75 km<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 173.6pt;" valign="top" width="231"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Size, in hectares planted to vines<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.15pt;" valign="top" width="123"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB">29,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 100.95pt;" valign="top" width="135"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB"> 3,500 and shrinking</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 173.6pt;" valign="top" width="231"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB">DO’s or AOC’s<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.15pt;" valign="top" width="123"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB">100<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 100.95pt;" valign="top" width="135"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB">none!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 173.6pt;" valign="top" width="231"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Independent winemakers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.15pt;" valign="top" width="123"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB">4000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 100.95pt;" valign="top" width="135"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB">20<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 173.6pt;" valign="top" width="231"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Bulk wine cooperatives<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.15pt;" valign="top" width="123"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB">23<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 100.95pt;" valign="top" width="135"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 173.6pt;" valign="top" width="231"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Négociants / Merchants<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.15pt;" valign="top" width="123"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB">250<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 100.95pt;" valign="top" width="135"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB">none!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 173.6pt;" valign="top" width="231"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.15pt;" valign="top" width="123"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 100.95pt;" valign="top" width="135"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 4.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
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</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">How strange! Why are there so few winemakers in a region with the size and
wine-making potential of Sierra de Gredos? Go figure. I have no idea. Any
suggestions welcome.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And another question I have is ‘What to do about it?’ This question is probably even more difficult
to answer!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-23920192746355812612017-02-27T21:53:00.000+01:002017-02-27T21:53:04.503+01:00Live Wine Milan 2017 - a natural wine fairThe other day (17th and 18th Feb) I was at <a href="http://www.livewine.it/en/">Live Wine</a> in Milan, one of the many natural wine fairs held in Italy these days. There were at least five others that I could have chosen from, for example <a href="http://www.vinnatur.org/en/events/villa-favorita-2017-8-10-aprile/">Villa Favorita</a>, <a href="http://www.viniveri.net/en/">Cerea</a>, <a href="http://www.vinidivignaioli.com/it-it/">Fornovo</a>, <a href="http://sorgentedelvinolive.org/en/sorgentedelvino-live-real-wines/">Sorgente del Vino</a> or some others.<br />
<br />
In France also there are at least 5 or 6 good natural wine fairs to choose from, though I probably won't go to any in France this year. In contrast, in Spain there are only 2: <a href="https://vinosnaturales.wordpress.com/2017/01/19/vins-nus-2017-salo-de-vins-naturals-barcelona/">Vins Nus</a> held in Barcelona and organized by the Spanish natural winegrowers association PVN (Productores de Vinos Naturales = Producers of Natural Wines); and the other one is called <a href="https://h2ovegetal.wordpress.com/">H2O</a> and is organized privately by Laureano Serres and/or Joan Ramon Escoda, both natural wine producers from Catalonia.<br />
<br />
Another difference between the Spanish natural wine scene and the French/Italian one is in the numbers of producers and visitors that show up at the fairs. The Spanish fairs have about 30/40 producers and about 1000 visitors/day, while the smaller Fr/It fairs have about 200 producers and receive about 3000 visitors.<br />
<br />
Yet another difference that I noticed was the age range of the visitors. I couldn't help noticing it, as I was standing at my table, pouring wine and talking to them for 10 hours/day! The majority of my visitors were in their 20s/30s (and very few older people), whereas at the Spanish fairs I go to, it's the opposite way around, ie very few young people and an abundance of old coots!<br />
<br />
Why is this? Why such a great difference between Spain and France/Italy? All three countries are major historical producers of wine, all producing the same volume of wine each year (about 50 million hl/yr), but that's the only similarity. As far as natural wine is concerned, I'd guess that there must be about 500 producers in France and 500 in Italy; but there are only about 50 in Spain.<br />
<br />
An interesting question to ponder, no? I'm afraid I have no idea why there is such a difference. Any theories welcome.<br />
-----------------------<br />
<br />
And to finish off, a nice photo, which has nothing to do with the above. This is of my Doré vineyard which I was in the other day, at about 800 m between El Tiemblo and Cebreros, in the Sierra de Gredos. Still unpruned as yet.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxuvNDHsIohSStOBEqO6KCmBgqmuU6D_bDPxSEUGzyZgVrxq1ra7qYq4IF_GY1mLP4BFt2deCYlgkG4y3I5E5GqtTAQKibRJ_oLbrRRZXUr9TPDtW3hcZLrrkHsFJwH5KdQjZ7GFVrkog/s1600/IMG_20170225_121355.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxuvNDHsIohSStOBEqO6KCmBgqmuU6D_bDPxSEUGzyZgVrxq1ra7qYq4IF_GY1mLP4BFt2deCYlgkG4y3I5E5GqtTAQKibRJ_oLbrRRZXUr9TPDtW3hcZLrrkHsFJwH5KdQjZ7GFVrkog/s640/IMG_20170225_121355.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Doré vineyard in Sierra de Gredos</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-36526888103298679192017-02-13T22:15:00.000+01:002017-02-21T23:19:12.740+01:00Natural Wine. Nobody knows what it is!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">Natural Wine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">Nobody knows what it is!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">Well, actually, quite a lot of people
know what it is. It’s just that there’s no legal or official definition. So
this can cause a lot of misunderstandings or even arguments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">This lack of a clear definition seems
to be a good thing for many mainstream press journalists and writers, as they can
just churn out the same old hackneyed topics time after time. I personally
haven’t read anything original in the last 4-5 years. Does that mean it’s all
been said then? Hey, maybe everything really has been said, and if I were to do
a bit of searching on the internet and make a summary of all the ‘takes’,
‘positions’, ‘postures’ and ‘stances’ on all the ‘issues’, ‘sound-bites’, ‘talking points’ and ‘philosophies’, I could
post a really comprehensive and definitive post, and there would be no reason
for anyone to bore anyone else with their unoriginal thoughts </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "wingdings"; line-height: 115%;">J</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">Ach, if only I had the time to do
that!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">Sadly (or rather, fortunately, for
you all!) I have far too many natural wine related tasks to be getting on with.
Apart from writing 2 posts/month (self-inflicted goal), I also have to <u>grow</u>
grapes, <u>make</u> wine, and thirdly <u>sell</u> said wine. Those three tasks
being the top-level of their particular multi-branched, multi-twigged,
multi-leafed tree.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">A few months ago I was talking about
the definition of natural wine to a visitor to my vineyards, and I believe I
may have come up with an original sound-bite. I said “Natural wine is a bit
like pornography – it’s difficult to define but you know it when you see
it!” Well, it’s not totally original,
because someone really did say that – about pornography. But I’m claiming the
prize for saying it first about natural wine </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "wingdings"; line-height: 115%;">J</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "wingdings"; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">Anyway, in this post I’d just like to
repeat a message to all those writers and bloggers and commentators who insist
on saying things like “<i>but it can’t be
‘natural’ because the vines are all planted in rows, and then pruned, and then
the grapes are crushed using machinery, etc, etc</i>” you get the idea.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">My message is: adjectives in English (in
fact most words in most languages) have many different meanings! This is so
blatantly obvious that that I’m left kind of speechless (or wordless!). Just
open up a dictionary and you’ll see. For example I just typed “online
dictionary” into Google and the first one on the list was <a href="http://www.dictionary.com/">http://www.dictionary.com/</a> and after
typing in “natural” I got 31 different meanings of the word natural.
Thirty-one! Obviously many of them are
pretty similar, but look at definition No.7: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">having undergone little or no
processing and containing no chemical additives:</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<span class="dbox-example"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #979797; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">natural food;
natural ingredients.</span></i></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #979797; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Compare<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><a href="http://www.dictionary.com/browse/organic"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #307dbc; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">organic</span></a></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">(def 11).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">That’s obviously the meaning that
natural winemakers, distributors and retailers are using when we write about
natural wines. Whereas the boring pedants who bore us all with their boring
utterances are sticking to definition No.1:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">existing in or formed by nature
(opposed to<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://www.dictionary.com/browse/artificial"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #307dbc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">artificial</span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">):</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<span class="dbox-example"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #979797; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">a natural bridge.</span></i></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #979797; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">The same results come up for any
dictionary you care to consult. And it works for just about any word in the
English language!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">Another message I have is this one:
Why don’t they all go and bore the pants off the producers, distributors and
retails of natural gas? There are many, many more consumers of natural gas than
there are of natural wine, and the gas industry moves vastly greater quantities
of money. And as if that weren’t enough reason, according to their meaning
No.1, natural gas is much, much more artificial than natural wine, as it
requires incredibly expensive and complex technology to produce the stuff! </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "wingdings"; line-height: 115%;">J</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "wingdings"; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">Having delivered my messages, I would
also like say why I believe that natural wines are ‘better’ in all possible
senses of the word than industrial-chemical-commodity-supermarket wines (ie
about 90% of the wines produced in the world today):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">Natural wines are better for the
environment. I don’t think there’s even any debate on this point, is there?
Industrial-chemical vineyards pollute the environment (groundwater, soil,
lifeforms, everything) even if they abide by the letter of the law.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0cm; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">Natural wines are 100% risk-free in
terms of human health (final consumers and workers on the land and in
wineries). No debate there either,
surely?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">Thirdly, and this point is immensely
debatable, natural wines taste better, are more interesting, are expressive of
their terroir and grape variety, are more digestible, and generally just more
soul-raising and inspiring of joie-de-vivre! Not all natural wines are like
that, naturally! There will be some that are crap, but I’d say most of them are
like that. Just go to any natural wine fair and try to find a bad wine. This is
2017! Decades have passed since the latest modern natural wine renaissance. The
bad one have been weeded out and have disappeared.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;">Here's a couple of photos:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4aW4gUDg9LRB-t3HZyZQxW3ooB2PsEmu-bJDNr8oX6I_sRquYqA-XQ6WorHPrhk4DZQuJFsCRe8NR3CMI_zFh6plrrVZCI8NjxEGCtWMccBPYHbZ9L9m1Ftkq_Kg7XSH-7-FpkXTQs94/s1600/worm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4aW4gUDg9LRB-t3HZyZQxW3ooB2PsEmu-bJDNr8oX6I_sRquYqA-XQ6WorHPrhk4DZQuJFsCRe8NR3CMI_zFh6plrrVZCI8NjxEGCtWMccBPYHbZ9L9m1Ftkq_Kg7XSH-7-FpkXTQs94/s640/worm.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>A worm</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Worms are a sign of a healthy, living
uncontaminated soil. You don’t see them in the 90% of agro-chemically exploited
vineyards. (I say ‘exploited’ and not ‘farmed’ because it’s an insult to
farmers to use the same verb to describe what the industry is doing to the
land).</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDNLlpdz1hSUO_8wVr_pI590khUaOfa4B_PRBROomVbYjNPXSx2_6VSjwv3m_XOOhXgsuknwK5E0xu2GFhCmR3df3j7lxuJvlJtM12n2SDGIXR9oa8v8LxW4ir_9ilxBrCEvnYEbOmoBI/s1600/TwoVineyardsOK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDNLlpdz1hSUO_8wVr_pI590khUaOfa4B_PRBROomVbYjNPXSx2_6VSjwv3m_XOOhXgsuknwK5E0xu2GFhCmR3df3j7lxuJvlJtM12n2SDGIXR9oa8v8LxW4ir_9ilxBrCEvnYEbOmoBI/s640/TwoVineyardsOK.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>My vineyard and the neighbour's vineyard</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Spot the difference. Which vineyard
is clean and alive and allows its vines to be healthy and vigorous and to produce healthy, balanced, complex and
delicious grapes? And which one is polluted and dead?</div>
Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-12572366943070573782017-01-31T23:53:00.001+01:002017-02-01T07:26:04.234+01:00Recycling and Sustainability<div class="MsoNormal">
Hmmm, it’s
been quite some time since I wrote about recycling and sustainability! In fact
it was over 7 years ago since I last wrote anything about it! See these old
posts if you like:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://vinosambiz.blogspot.com.es/2009/11/recycling-wine-bottles-responsible.html">Recycling wine bottles (Nov 2009)</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://vinosambiz.blogspot.com.es/2010/03/more-recycling-of-wine-bottles.html">More recycling of wine bottles (Mar 2010)</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://vinosambiz.blogspot.com.es/2009/11/yellow-alert-in-tajuna-valley-madrid.html">Yellow alert in the Tajuña Valley (Dec 2009)</a><span id="goog_1702568902"></span><span id="goog_1702568903"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://vinosambiz.blogspot.com.es/2009/10/heres-summary-of-what-and-how-were.html">Sustainability Summary (Oct 2009)</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So what
have I got to say for myself now? How is the reuse/recycling of bottles at
Vinos Ambiz coming along?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Well on the
one hand, it’s gotten a lot worse! Back in the old days (ie pre-2010) I used to
delabel, wash and reuse 100% of my bottles. That’s because my production was so
small – about 1000 bottles per year – that it was no bother to wash a few
hundred bottles a session every few months. Also there was no alternative,
because being illegal as I was, the bottle companies wouldn’t deliver any new
bottles to me!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Then my
production expanded, I had much more work to do – more vineyards to tend, more
wines to make and look after – and so I didn’t have the time to wash and reuse
old bottles. Also, I became a legal winery and so could take delivery of new
bottles!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">This used
to annoy me a lot – that I was no longer reusing bottles. And in fact I used to
delabel, wash and reuse tiny token symbolic lots of bottles whenever I
accumulated around 20 or so old bottles. Ridiculous really (considering that I
was now producing about 10,000 bottles a year!) but at least it kept my mind
and memory thinking about the problem every now and then. I didn’t totally
forget, even though in practice I was no longer recycling bottles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Then a few
months ago, around October last year, I came across a company that actually
collects, delabels, washes, sterilizes, and packages and sells used bottles. I
couldn’t believe it! But I contacted them and after getting the information, I
ordered 2 pallets (1000 bottles) from them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">There were
a few complications at first. The bottles had to be of the right height and
width, because I already had several thousand cardboard boxes in the winery
which would last me for years. So I had to ensure that they would send me the right
model of bottle. The Bordeaux models (straight with pronounced ‘shoulders’ and
a ‘neck’) are all pretty similar really, but a few millimetres here or there
would mean that they wouldn’t fit into my boxes. I even got them to send me a
box of 6 bottles, so that I could physically check that they fitted – not trusting
myself to rely on mere measurements!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Anyway, it
all worked out in the end, and the pallets duly arrived. I was also a bit worried
that they might not be totally clean, but no worries there either. They looked,
felt and smelt totally clean and brand
new. And they sent me a certificate ‘proving’ (somehow!) that they were
completely free of bacteria or other impurities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">So, I am
overjoyed really. Again I can use 100% reused/recycled bottles, like in the old
days. Only this time I’ll be using 10,000 bottles/year as opposed to 1,000! I fully
intend to order all my bottles form<a href="http://www.infinity-reutiliza.com/"> Infinity Reutiliza</a> from now on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">According
to their webpage, they collect all the used wine bottles from the local bars
and restaurants in the village of Villena, and a few other neighbouring
villages. They then de-label them, classify them according to different models,
wash them, sterilize them, and then package them up and sell them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Here are
some photos. Though it’s quite difficult to get excited about a bunch of old bottles!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisVtcRUDs06h6KD6xBdKb3VMTGP9VZlRnYbMuZnlLIpeR2vi45efLb5b6dT6yWmTbq1Waqr33tTG4DN3pk-PrMEYm7SUy50Yhk_2uObv5LSt5i2aIgRROe9kT1VTo0KUEI8MaD49UaY1w/s1600/2+pallets+bottles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisVtcRUDs06h6KD6xBdKb3VMTGP9VZlRnYbMuZnlLIpeR2vi45efLb5b6dT6yWmTbq1Waqr33tTG4DN3pk-PrMEYm7SUy50Yhk_2uObv5LSt5i2aIgRROe9kT1VTo0KUEI8MaD49UaY1w/s320/2+pallets+bottles.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Two pallets of new old bottles</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir8Gw_Nk0Elcrlm-CPd66QefKMGF8dFXG-HlBe2Sn0ovcAmDDRU0ramIMNHTKeKfVAfw8uyPD8ftwc2CzB8tmqTTY4AbV847dBlvGrf-2_HRXbXC40BdIsf67ILxB-WMn_ukbBF0_zV8I/s1600/1+pallet+bottles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir8Gw_Nk0Elcrlm-CPd66QefKMGF8dFXG-HlBe2Sn0ovcAmDDRU0ramIMNHTKeKfVAfw8uyPD8ftwc2CzB8tmqTTY4AbV847dBlvGrf-2_HRXbXC40BdIsf67ILxB-WMn_ukbBF0_zV8I/s640/1+pallet+bottles.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bottling up - only one pallet left</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKS3K0y-mJFbCbqwW0kWpKdViHv3T6SxxDBV-mDdtTHzIFXNio7cdOgp4AwIh9ou0e37IDgFD11l6-1h_eIiAfpV2P9PKPmCUtFbrUjIKWyV8kiTiSIoG9vVCYVTyp-QJGIe3SgSik86s/s1600/bottling+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKS3K0y-mJFbCbqwW0kWpKdViHv3T6SxxDBV-mDdtTHzIFXNio7cdOgp4AwIh9ou0e37IDgFD11l6-1h_eIiAfpV2P9PKPmCUtFbrUjIKWyV8kiTiSIoG9vVCYVTyp-QJGIe3SgSik86s/s640/bottling+up.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bottling up and corking</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-57827367473914390232017-01-14T08:17:00.001+01:002017-01-14T12:13:03.054+01:00Clearing up the Clutter (and planning for the future)<div class="MsoNormal">
This is the
new look of my my part of the winery:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBTToeYxKiZ53mOPmR1kexnfTLSF581MT1IAB9Ls_2FLt5oXzfTUn9tonTgRo00aaUjBDOIj_Ev6j4L5jwWwphHomH5s_5PymnO_uVPeuFaRnxs9u3KMCqwBg-kypbFl6nvTEE_MpN0Gc/s1600/nave1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBTToeYxKiZ53mOPmR1kexnfTLSF581MT1IAB9Ls_2FLt5oXzfTUn9tonTgRo00aaUjBDOIj_Ev6j4L5jwWwphHomH5s_5PymnO_uVPeuFaRnxs9u3KMCqwBg-kypbFl6nvTEE_MpN0Gc/s400/nave1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Lots of
empty space, everything nice ‘n’ tidy, and everything in its place. I’ve spent
a good few weeks tidying everything up, throwing out rubbish, and classifying and
storing wines and equipment in a more rational and tidy manner. It must be a
phase I’m going through, or maybe it’s just obsession and eccentricity, but I’m
getting more and more uncomfortable with the chaos and lack of structure in my
life (and in my wine business). Which I was OK with for a long time. But it must be time for a
sea change I suppose!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span>
This is
just Phase 1 of a longer-term project. Because apart from just keeping
everything tidy and not having ‘stuff’ lying around at random, I also want to
create some specific areas in all this empty space that I’ve liberated.
Eventually, I will have:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB">Tasting areas, where I can organize proper tastings for visitors and clients <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">An
office area, where I can do paperwork and correspondence<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">A
merchandising area where I can set up my bottles of wine and info sheets, etc<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">A
chill-out area, for lying down, lounging, reading, sleeping, etc<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Here’s the
tasting area as it is at the moment:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG11-scNqczWxH-E0eF4ImffN2nQ-TqKf9X1057uV4NDMYY13xxYa2gg_iqJL5ypA2QNZX-EFkeUZsbeoeVOxnyN-GNEtL_b0VW_XocDtHs6mnsZv8rcRLILy6DPcv1JR8_BM4znNSUpw/s1600/nave2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG11-scNqczWxH-E0eF4ImffN2nQ-TqKf9X1057uV4NDMYY13xxYa2gg_iqJL5ypA2QNZX-EFkeUZsbeoeVOxnyN-GNEtL_b0VW_XocDtHs6mnsZv8rcRLILy6DPcv1JR8_BM4znNSUpw/s400/nave2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Comfortable tasting area</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Those
bottles that can be seen on the table are bottles that I’ve opened for tastings in the past, and
which I keep there on purpose to prove (beyond any reasonable doubt) that
natural wines (ie wines without any added sulphites or other chemicals) can
last perfectly well for a long time without deteriorating or turning into
vinegar. It’s so boring and annoying to hear and read about how natural wines
are so delicate and fragile that they are undrinkable after a few days of being
opened. The truth is the total opposite.<br />
These bottles, that you can see on the
left were opened on 14<sup>th</sup> January 2014, (that's 2 years ago - to the day!) and they are still drinkable.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMtmS0Xrk3UsGGtXK1Rn2R0u3yJl_uf4vnnF-GK3UYqAKg4Uk8l7ABUlNMdWc8qZzWWMtvlvzvc6isaTRVN1L0FK8NU17zL3VZ2f1l0hYpWOp99BiqvJHOp4pN3MrHK4ncJx7N-YscOqU/s1600/sample1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMtmS0Xrk3UsGGtXK1Rn2R0u3yJl_uf4vnnF-GK3UYqAKg4Uk8l7ABUlNMdWc8qZzWWMtvlvzvc6isaTRVN1L0FK8NU17zL3VZ2f1l0hYpWOp99BiqvJHOp4pN3MrHK4ncJx7N-YscOqU/s400/sample1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Save the date</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFa-HUCZhAjEzbsLhCC7u0kyP8cx0bCjv7oHo3s0W88qUAY6DTk8YkHHM-wa7Zr7-a0U4jgohwxhJoOVaoYLa1fRtR2UNRkzDmIXUeiKNzJpPVhTPD3WX1YVJGqRAVgyco0c6c6NW5hO8/s400/samples2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>ye olde oxydyzed wine samples</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFa-HUCZhAjEzbsLhCC7u0kyP8cx0bCjv7oHo3s0W88qUAY6DTk8YkHHM-wa7Zr7-a0U4jgohwxhJoOVaoYLa1fRtR2UNRkzDmIXUeiKNzJpPVhTPD3WX1YVJGqRAVgyco0c6c6NW5hO8/s1600/samples2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFa-HUCZhAjEzbsLhCC7u0kyP8cx0bCjv7oHo3s0W88qUAY6DTk8YkHHM-wa7Zr7-a0U4jgohwxhJoOVaoYLa1fRtR2UNRkzDmIXUeiKNzJpPVhTPD3WX1YVJGqRAVgyco0c6c6NW5hO8/s1600/samples2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
Obviously, they have become tremendously oxidized as I keep them there on the
table at ambient temperature (which ranges from 8ºC in winter to 25ºC in
summer) and closed with just a cork; and which I open and close every time I
receive a visitor! They are of course very dark, and obviously unsellable
commercially speaking, but the point I’m trying to prove with this ongoing
experiment, is that good quality natural wines do NOT automatically turn into
vinegar. I’m pretty sure they will eventually, and I’m looking forward to seeing
how many more years it will take.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">But getting
back to the tasting area… as you can see
it’s a very laid back tasting area, with comfortable settees. This will
influence the so-called objectivity of the tasters, but for the better, IMO,
because I believe that wine is for enjoying and not for analysing or solving as
if each bottle of wine were a quadratic equation! By sitting back comfortably
on a sofa and tasting the wines in a relaxed and comfortable setting, it will
provide a truer picture of what my wines are all about. But as there is no
accounting for taste, I will also provide a more uncomfortable tasting
environment for the more analytic visitor, ie a high table with hard stools
with space to take notes and lay out laptops, etc. I have the luxury of having
so much space in my winery, which is sadly underutilized at the moment, that I
can easily afford to do this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">No photos
available of this uncomfortable tasting area, because as yet I don’t have a
table or high stools. But watch this space!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Another
area of which I do have photos is this underground concrete ‘cellar’. This used
to be a holding tank for wine back in the days before the village co-op went
bankrupt. There are 32 such tanks (3 m x 3m by 3 m). Recently I cleaned out two
of them, and installed some bottle racks, and laid out all the old, odd,
declassified, remainders of old vintages that I can’t sell commercially any
more, as the quantities are too small. I’m also thinking of putting in a few
seats and a mini table, to do underground tastings!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit1j9GKcJ5RuoHT3KFznkRRiFnT8v2bCpQ9xZnMpMmY2HockCI1ru5zUBSlq_HMXxkYqMnqyAUEu3Qf9HG3k7SwArP0RlcIIRirhhgqNoqd5ZhazPGKxII6-z88_uZAhm0HRGcV3h5BtU/s1600/cellar1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit1j9GKcJ5RuoHT3KFznkRRiFnT8v2bCpQ9xZnMpMmY2HockCI1ru5zUBSlq_HMXxkYqMnqyAUEu3Qf9HG3k7SwArP0RlcIIRirhhgqNoqd5ZhazPGKxII6-z88_uZAhm0HRGcV3h5BtU/s400/cellar1.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Cellar entrance</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2YZBcoI3ElpcmhyJgBTl_JotgwT9n5oghm8u9TUDOW7y4PypxHN6n90ls3S0dZiNluG-LCISYboRwXZzvT8PPUdmrfaTmMfQ9U-20Y1V89XzmMtxiQlPh4X8H1gyD4yXx2dd5m4le9cI/s1600/cellar3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2YZBcoI3ElpcmhyJgBTl_JotgwT9n5oghm8u9TUDOW7y4PypxHN6n90ls3S0dZiNluG-LCISYboRwXZzvT8PPUdmrfaTmMfQ9U-20Y1V89XzmMtxiQlPh4X8H1gyD4yXx2dd5m4le9cI/s400/cellar3.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>view into cellar</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyZk7fOGZoVSS9cTGDA4Hivse4sqZBGlmGGFbj9zQWVXDtSxHFCIwEZs1cu6MhXYF-v2lBA6XJn-xC8ZwqTeRZkQHRXBLN17nww5fczsE5SuXvDIZxog3BFnvcs-DVfenuOG0wfR_Xux4/s1600/cellar2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyZk7fOGZoVSS9cTGDA4Hivse4sqZBGlmGGFbj9zQWVXDtSxHFCIwEZs1cu6MhXYF-v2lBA6XJn-xC8ZwqTeRZkQHRXBLN17nww5fczsE5SuXvDIZxog3BFnvcs-DVfenuOG0wfR_Xux4/s400/cellar2.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>view of rack and wines in cellar</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVCeS8FWad_hBlnn55gLR27qrph-dYfM397B0mfbV4HuD9F7PCDsGYeLSOrCZHmfRPUPj1vD0jIqU9iguFUt_4sGuP_s3KWSmbLFaev9ZsmFZiJ3jgtGxKhyvkFyrQw-BpuMJJMdog6C0/s1600/rack1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVCeS8FWad_hBlnn55gLR27qrph-dYfM397B0mfbV4HuD9F7PCDsGYeLSOrCZHmfRPUPj1vD0jIqU9iguFUt_4sGuP_s3KWSmbLFaev9ZsmFZiJ3jgtGxKhyvkFyrQw-BpuMJJMdog6C0/s400/rack1.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Me building rack with screwdriver</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Enough for
now.</div>
Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-62965109474811907942016-11-03T20:11:00.000+01:002016-11-04T20:42:17.553+01:00Harvests 2016 all done<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Another
year, and once again all the grapes are in. My last harvest was the Malvar on
Monday 10<sup>th</sup> October. And not
a moment too soon! Because after a long, long, hot, endless summer with zero
rainfall, it stated raining heavily and properly all over Spain on Wed 12<sup>th</sup>!
Ha! So I’ll have to find something else to complain about, as viticultural
tradition demands </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "wingdings";">J</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "wingdings";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I did a
total of 15 harvests this year, in 15 different plots, for a total of 15
different wines:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">1. Albillo (Charco)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">2. Albillo (Fx)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">3. Garnacha (Charco)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">4. Doré (Fx)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">5. Doré (Pp)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">6. Sauvignon Blanc (Qx)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">7. Tempranillo (TET-A)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">8. Garnacha (Castañar)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">9. Garnacha (Dehesa)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">10. Garnacha (McCarb)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">11. Chelva (Early)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">12. Villanueva<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">13. Chelva (Late)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">14. Airén (Carabaña)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">15. Malvar (Villarejo)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">That’s 2 red varieties (Garnacha and Tempranillo) and 7 white varieties
(Albillo, Doré, Sauv, blanc, Chelva, Villanueva, Airén and Malvar).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I vinify each plot separately even if it’s the same variety, because
it’s more interesting that way. It’s amazing how different the wines are, even
if the plots are close together and the winemaking techniques are the same. For
example, in El Tiemblo (Sierra de Gredos) the Garnacha Castañar plot is only
about 1 km away from the Garnacha Dehesa plot as the crow flies, but the grapes
and wines are totally different.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The novelty this year is a variety called Villanueva. It’s not uncommon
in the area but it’s usually just a few vines interspersed among another
predominant white variety. But by chance a local grower, who has an entire
vineyard planted to Villanueva, came by the winery one day to offer them to me.
‘Why not?’ I thought. It’s a rather tiny plot, and there was only 150 kg. So I
crushed them and pressed them and let the must ferment in small tinaja – in
tinaja because it was the only container small enough available at the time!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">All the rest I’ve done before, and am following the line of ‘If it ain’t
broke, don’t fix it’! That’s to say that for all of the wines listed above, I
followed (am following) the same techniques that have worked for me in the
past, with regard to decisions on type of container (steel tank, wooden barrel,
clay tinaja), maceration times if any, with or without stems, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The only crazy experiment I’ve done this year is to follow a recipe I read
in Pliny the Elder’s ‘Natural History, Book 14, <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D14%3Achapter%3D12">Chapter
12</a>. I followed the first recipe of the three he gives. So I guess I’ve made
(am making) a beverage called ‘deuteria’ by the ancient Greeks and ‘lora’ by
the ancient Romans. This is the stuff that was quaffed by slaves and labourers.
The original glou-glou wine?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Following are some assorted photos, from over the summer:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwlxFX6PX3ElDYSjPK5L4XuzJvXiIkwuiwTxB_12f-f_ng5H6neWriZ4zI1CZAW_AW-CEiTCQsZ1u6txmLMbQR86avOYrM2SSTbvRtmJi-0ia9fGQqH7RAj0iRqVvydNLjc_vaDvcW2ZA/s1600/IMG_20160819_102432.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwlxFX6PX3ElDYSjPK5L4XuzJvXiIkwuiwTxB_12f-f_ng5H6neWriZ4zI1CZAW_AW-CEiTCQsZ1u6txmLMbQR86avOYrM2SSTbvRtmJi-0ia9fGQqH7RAj0iRqVvydNLjc_vaDvcW2ZA/s400/IMG_20160819_102432.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the Albillo (Charco) vineyard, with the Alberche river in the background.<br />El Tiemblo, Sierra de Gredos</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7oSvXoNyBfNxbv86_3WaS1_sLgia9lzwaCVwOiILJNMwV55QQUW0m5s7VNS1c9FLF8hSNzQpUIJ6ABlWPTfKRkCwcxR8PU4JMBRFA_uGzIy5-CX2s75DlrWQssMKHu2_OlWhV-94Yp4/s1600/IMG_20160829_155346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7oSvXoNyBfNxbv86_3WaS1_sLgia9lzwaCVwOiILJNMwV55QQUW0m5s7VNS1c9FLF8hSNzQpUIJ6ABlWPTfKRkCwcxR8PU4JMBRFA_uGzIy5-CX2s75DlrWQssMKHu2_OlWhV-94Yp4/s400/IMG_20160829_155346.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bird's eye view of Albillo macerating</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8aqxQHE_nz_gOOPwtS_qZwsipPomwzXrybtpLNNM3TVN0vfDmvcimHKeJ9VPxC5fjLANE1o-pclC6e5DlbKebTEqdCnc7NVv0zWtwRQ6QQMNtg78IHt3D_r3OxHP9kUPsn437cZigxCo/s1600/IMG_20160215_124453.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8aqxQHE_nz_gOOPwtS_qZwsipPomwzXrybtpLNNM3TVN0vfDmvcimHKeJ9VPxC5fjLANE1o-pclC6e5DlbKebTEqdCnc7NVv0zWtwRQ6QQMNtg78IHt3D_r3OxHP9kUPsn437cZigxCo/s400/IMG_20160215_124453.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bottling machine</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjabjdLXhoPdkda0yUsVi6qvdxHDRchz50bSfcVQdDvOBiwTb2XDxTK1XfbGoVHr-Yru_XTFnCbz1BYao5TgeGjeXjn5qRaDmeKWk18MyxPFkz8ylirz_8wOLeiXLGfGqbuxj2GIVePGwE/s1600/IMG_20160502_124803.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjabjdLXhoPdkda0yUsVi6qvdxHDRchz50bSfcVQdDvOBiwTb2XDxTK1XfbGoVHr-Yru_XTFnCbz1BYao5TgeGjeXjn5qRaDmeKWk18MyxPFkz8ylirz_8wOLeiXLGfGqbuxj2GIVePGwE/s640/IMG_20160502_124803.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Garnacha vineyard using no chemicals, next to a naked agro-chemical wasteland vineyard!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgivqhbnxkeqiw5pQ3MxU9h5YJ9_QEmQeh5h-w6eD7zUE4HMQBKPqvQCbL8hzTPOPsvpbvIJPjlrKAfyV5dgg2LztpcwTk9w54d1SmWEj59hm1nydWSkw-PQu7CY82r3SCdnBfcNhu_oVY/s1600/IMG_20160507_170212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgivqhbnxkeqiw5pQ3MxU9h5YJ9_QEmQeh5h-w6eD7zUE4HMQBKPqvQCbL8hzTPOPsvpbvIJPjlrKAfyV5dgg2LztpcwTk9w54d1SmWEj59hm1nydWSkw-PQu7CY82r3SCdnBfcNhu_oVY/s400/IMG_20160507_170212.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bottling up</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzxloChano7lm35YPURjfvfPQ5eDynsNsLPaPaWhmpYdt9sehCowoizyGhDmmKI6pHIjvaNOWzorvu8SpdT-uw0hdVrBt-R3OhetPwjTETLsZ9lNdvOMdtS4J9LQBWqRm1uvyTxQL9et4/s1600/IMG_20160516_134106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzxloChano7lm35YPURjfvfPQ5eDynsNsLPaPaWhmpYdt9sehCowoizyGhDmmKI6pHIjvaNOWzorvu8SpdT-uw0hdVrBt-R3OhetPwjTETLsZ9lNdvOMdtS4J9LQBWqRm1uvyTxQL9et4/s640/IMG_20160516_134106.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>At a wine fair</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWcOBYAJ3erHe15IYHrtG9VPGZsH-QFKa-gZG-qCbIaOtDxVsz0y5UVKz5MPNaALwR9cWzLCM2AkWx77gn1fQUHQsBuY0_TUBHmWN4AF9hII0TjjhLrN7QSPq3X_dKC7HWzRtQ1kMWIQE/s1600/SheepandLambs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWcOBYAJ3erHe15IYHrtG9VPGZsH-QFKa-gZG-qCbIaOtDxVsz0y5UVKz5MPNaALwR9cWzLCM2AkWx77gn1fQUHQsBuY0_TUBHmWN4AF9hII0TjjhLrN7QSPq3X_dKC7HWzRtQ1kMWIQE/s640/SheepandLambs.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Sheep in the Garnacha vineyard, eating weeds and dropping caca!</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyPXglRhVC4yac-lQme3wnWVTe0H2tsyybo78zydn1hMpIber7aGvnQx8CDRXVCpZ36kaLuT6R5CNO1h-JCWCs8gIbmUtBPqFT6PMfvshhrd8Vh3PpInD09Qd9misJlRe6wBo_KBLOauA/s1600/IMG_20160131_152924.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyPXglRhVC4yac-lQme3wnWVTe0H2tsyybo78zydn1hMpIber7aGvnQx8CDRXVCpZ36kaLuT6R5CNO1h-JCWCs8gIbmUtBPqFT6PMfvshhrd8Vh3PpInD09Qd9misJlRe6wBo_KBLOauA/s400/IMG_20160131_152924.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Sheep entering</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5emPyFXP-fnkCE2d9uzsHiyleagDcaFlznqtbwv_PySW-BBWCykB_CzGbPRYt2JlKtyPqTRU-koedH1n5FW6p6iEqAg7CqXhuWvqaZX-7GBVZIVQkO_r_-pGeqyU9AKhII52vX-LRZ_c/s1600/IMG_20160117_132724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5emPyFXP-fnkCE2d9uzsHiyleagDcaFlznqtbwv_PySW-BBWCykB_CzGbPRYt2JlKtyPqTRU-koedH1n5FW6p6iEqAg7CqXhuWvqaZX-7GBVZIVQkO_r_-pGeqyU9AKhII52vX-LRZ_c/s640/IMG_20160117_132724.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Living soil, for healthy vines</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguwnlquKxWhXb4vYmRYS0BcRiKF9uj1YiweK_dbJwg4zNE43RNbMordDRgJK1BJQqr5vqkWa8addDT8qG9vzCmMyez_cdkXsFPCHXv_Md70xqZDg3o1XQ3DTlJ4Dz8hGEmg8pZHZBGInU/s1600/IMG_20150819_194700.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguwnlquKxWhXb4vYmRYS0BcRiKF9uj1YiweK_dbJwg4zNE43RNbMordDRgJK1BJQqr5vqkWa8addDT8qG9vzCmMyez_cdkXsFPCHXv_Md70xqZDg3o1XQ3DTlJ4Dz8hGEmg8pZHZBGInU/s400/IMG_20150819_194700.jpg" width="296" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My pet nat exploding on me! Too much pressure!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGdoAl6FdYsuoIHV-0KgzSnS3mvr6XqmVLJk7mi7tLrzEdDM3E_fC85odB66A8Ebo2L4XJ_Cnrq3qfpZhg9ZIm35TvqAQz7JmFGJLcluLg8qKnPZdkLBhXZRqodJltCTKfOGM52EsdqdA/s1600/Chelva.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGdoAl6FdYsuoIHV-0KgzSnS3mvr6XqmVLJk7mi7tLrzEdDM3E_fC85odB66A8Ebo2L4XJ_Cnrq3qfpZhg9ZIm35TvqAQz7JmFGJLcluLg8qKnPZdkLBhXZRqodJltCTKfOGM52EsdqdA/s400/Chelva.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>My Chelva vineyard, surrounded by the houses of El Tiemblo village</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzUxJa39p82gcmj9WSE-zYOrEl3sCf9msid4ommlwNOA5TAPNUZIVys1V2CxgPdP3fVy1UDsGYlh8u0xrl1kkg0LNeKhyjDg0TYgsaZsToY4WuLPQnmOCVRYDcwmlfJxAJi6tvbm9r7eE/s1600/Vi%25C3%25B1edoDehesa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzUxJa39p82gcmj9WSE-zYOrEl3sCf9msid4ommlwNOA5TAPNUZIVys1V2CxgPdP3fVy1UDsGYlh8u0xrl1kkg0LNeKhyjDg0TYgsaZsToY4WuLPQnmOCVRYDcwmlfJxAJi6tvbm9r7eE/s400/Vi%25C3%25B1edoDehesa.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>In another Garnacha vineyard, steep, in El Tiemblo, Sierra de Gredos</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqi-0pOcfJj2Y9d5FbiCwG9IbZEKQiSEVQk1Wm-r4txCi4PjuaOdCQ1JOBDICC_Kucch0Jq4vAiJ5THZ-nK3P9inFu1x2IbanTYFk3YWot-2fWrJ-kE9OWkkiv0B9AdHgVfOScH-f-7Ng/s1600/IMG_20160124_144259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqi-0pOcfJj2Y9d5FbiCwG9IbZEKQiSEVQk1Wm-r4txCi4PjuaOdCQ1JOBDICC_Kucch0Jq4vAiJ5THZ-nK3P9inFu1x2IbanTYFk3YWot-2fWrJ-kE9OWkkiv0B9AdHgVfOScH-f-7Ng/s400/IMG_20160124_144259.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bottling up!</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><b>And to finish off, a note on the word “sapid”</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I generally find it impossible to have decent in-depth discussion on FB or other
social media sites. And a few weeks ago, I found myself feeling frustrated
because I couldn’t say what I wanted to say! I think that FB and other sites
are just not the right place for a proper discussion or debate: basically, they
all tend to favour spur-of-the moment, shooting-from-the-hip type comments,
right there and then, whenever you happen to come across an interesting post
that you feel like commenting on. There’s just no time to think before typing!
Apart from wine, I also like words, so I was doubly affected! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">This had been annoying me for days, so I decided to do something about
it. After searching on the internet and after doing a bit of ‘due diligence’,
I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not a very useful word to use in written
wine-tasting notes or while speaking live to an audience. The due diligence
consisted in asking native-English-speakers, uncontaminated by knowledge of a
foreign language, if they knew what ‘sapid’ meant. Not one did!
English-speakers who know a Latin language would know ‘sapido’ (It, Sp, Pt) or
‘sapide’ (Fr) where it’s quite a common word for everyday use and just make the
connection.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Firstly it’s not a very common word at all in English (see <u>here</u>, this is
just one of many word-frequency sites) and so it’s not likely that the
readers/audience would understand what it means. This may depend on the level
of knowledge/culture of the audience though, so an audience of hardened
winelovers may have come across it before. But still! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Secondly, once you discover the meaning of ‘sapid’, you also discover
how useless it is, for it means “having flavour” “tasty”. Which covers just about
every edible/drinkable substance in existence, except for water!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I suppose that a slight degree of usefulness might be attained if a bit
of common sense is applied by the reader/listener, ie by assuming that the
writer/speaker really means ‘very’ or ‘extra’ flavourful/tasty. But then why
bother with ‘sapid’ at all? Why not just say ‘very/extra tasty/flavourful’ and make
life easier for your readers/listeners, who are after all reading/listening to
you with a view to learning something about wine! But then again, maybe they
would enjoy learning a new word? Or are happy to be introduced to the secret
and occult world of wine-tasting? Or would they hate wine forever on account of
the arcane vocabulary used?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<span lang="EN-GB">Well, whatever. Anyway, I feel a lot better, now that I’ve got that off my chest. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span>Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-74622223914525832172016-09-26T23:03:00.000+02:002016-11-03T20:17:18.091+01:00Albillo Harvest 2016, Sierra de Gredos<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, that
was quick! I can’t believe it’s over already! After only four days of intense
work I now have about 2500 litres of Albillo fermenting away nicely.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Day 1: in
vineyard, harvesting from 7:15 (crack of dawn!) till about 15:00. Six of us
took in about 2000 kg. Lunch, then crushing. All done by about midnight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Day 2: in
another smaller vineyard, again at 7:15. This time the six of us took in
another 1000 kg and we were done by 13:00. Lunch, and all crushed by midnight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Day 3:
pressing off the first harvest, after 2 days maceration<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Day 4:
pressing off the second harvest, after 2 days maceration<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Scroll down
for photos.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">This year I
decided not to do any experiments with the Albillo like I’ve been doing over
the past few years. I’ve tried lots of options and variations, like different
skin maceration times, fermenting in stainless steel, open top barrels,
amphorae/tinajas, etc. So based on the feedback I get from people and on my own
personal taste and preference, I’ve decided to make my Albillo like this:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> - </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">Crush
and macerate for 2 days in stainless steel<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> - </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">Press
off, and put juice back into stainless steel<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> - </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">One
racking only into a large tinaja, to remove the really gross lees<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> - </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">Bottle
up in spring, after the cold of winter has passed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> - </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">Age
in bottle for at least 1 year<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">This was in
fact the way I made my Albillo 2014 (from which I’m constantly receiving good
feedback, AND it’s one of my personal favourites). So that’s that!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="page-break-after: avoid;">
<b><span lang="EN-GB">Climate/weather<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Basically,
this year in Gredos there was a very mild dry winter and then it rained a lot
in May/June, and then a long hot dry summer. I presume that this affected the
ripening of the grapes which was a bit odd; they ripened steadily and normally
until about the middle of August when the sugar content was indicating a
probable level of alcohol of 13%-13.5%, and then it just stuck there. I’m
guessing that the vines shut down their sugar production due to the heat. So
eventually I decided to harvest at 13.5% (on 27<sup>th</sup> Aug) as the grapes
were otherwise perfectly ripe, ie golden skin, crunchy pips, stems starting to
lignify, some leaves turning brown already, etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Well, there
you have the meteorological info! I know some winelovers like that sort of
data, but I personally find it kind of boring and not even all that relevant. I
know that it’s important, but on the other hand, I also know that the
interventions of the winemaker are much much MUCH more influential on the final
wine. So it leaves me kind of nonplussed when I hear a comment like “yes, the 200X
was a very wet/dry year” or some such. Or is this a cold-climate thing? Maybe
in the Sierra de Gredos, with its dry continental climate, the yearly weather
variations, like the one I just described above, it don’t really make that much
difference?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="page-break-after: avoid;">
<b><span lang="EN-GB">More winemaking info<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="page-break-after: avoid;">
<b><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-GB">Sulphites</span></b><span lang="EN-GB">. I haven’t added any sulphites (or any other
substance, chemical, additive, nutrient, enzyme, etc) to the must. Why not?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">Sanitary
reasons. Because there is no need to. I ensure that the grapes are perfectly
healthy, ripe and clean; I select in the vineyard and reject unripe, rotten or
otherwise undesirable grapes, and don’t take in any leaves, dirt, pebbles, etc (see <a href="http://vinosambiz.blogspot.com.es/p/viticulture-quality-grapes.html">this page</a> for info on what I do and don't do in the vineyard)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">Terroir
reasons. Because adding sulphites kills the yeasts and thus removes the
complexity provided by all the different varieties of yeasts that are present
at this time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB">During the first few days, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccharomyces_cerevisiae">saccharomycescervisae</a></i> is hardly present at all – the active yeasts are other species,
including the ones feared so much by enologists and chemical winemaking
engineers! (ie <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brettanomyces">brettamonyces</a></i>, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candida_(fungus)">candida</a></i>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanseniaspora"><i>kloeckera</i> </a>and others). During these first few days, these yeasts
provide all sorts of interesting flavours and aromas (including so-called
“off-tastes”). But, as the alcohol level increases, these yeasts die off and
good old <i>saccharomyces</i> begins to take
over, because it’s very tolerant to alcohol. And at the end of the fermentation
process it’s 100% dominant. This is what I believe is happening during
fermentation. But I could be wrong of course!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-GB">Racking</span></b><span lang="EN-GB">. I usually do only one racking to take the
wine off the really gross lees, but I prefer to leave the fine lees in there. I
believe that this a good thing because:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -28.9pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">They
contribute to the taste and aroma of the wines<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -28.9pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">They
provide protection for the wines against spoilage over time, which is important
as I don’t use chemical preservatives or stabilizers to do that<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -28.9pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-GB">Filtering, clarifying and fining</span></b><span lang="EN-GB">. I don’t! For the same reasons as
above, ie for taste, for protection and for terroir expression. This often
results in a cloudy wine which many people don’t like. Oh well, you can’t
please all the people all the time, can you? And there’s no accounting for
tastes! In any case I’ve found that if you leave the bottle standing vertically
for a few days it clarifies itself nicely. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s
interesting to note that all wines must have been cloudy (or clarified
naturally by gravity) ever since winemaking began about 8000 years ago. It was
only with the advent of bottling technology and the need to store and to
distribute to a mass market, that wines started to get filtered, fined and
clarified. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s not
actually necessarily an intrinsically ‘good thing’ to clarify wine, in terms of
quality, taste or terroir expression. It’s done due to the need for the wine to
be stable and inert so that it can be transported and stored over long
distances and over long periods of time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Clarified
wine is also of course ‘prettier’ to look at than a cloudy wine and so is easy
to sell to the mass market. A bit like beautiful, perfectly round, shiny
tomatoes (which sadly don’t taste of anything).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-GB">Photos and anecdotes<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSHhIuG6hRJlapFf_e4orm8zkm1-T83KBfkC7vsfsjLSX7DdITIBU9huKfZy4ekk_xfOcQPSDmEcQkRzoSDIf8ykPVQxwlKZ6CQUHdBQ-vgLkkZ4dWNFhNu2BFqJU1g5JBRmYdo4whIVw/s1600/01Albillo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSHhIuG6hRJlapFf_e4orm8zkm1-T83KBfkC7vsfsjLSX7DdITIBU9huKfZy4ekk_xfOcQPSDmEcQkRzoSDIf8ykPVQxwlKZ6CQUHdBQ-vgLkkZ4dWNFhNu2BFqJU1g5JBRmYdo4whIVw/s640/01Albillo.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Albillo vineyard in El Tiemblo (Sierra de Gredos). River Alberche in the background</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeVUgl5s22QySyq6A9QvJ5Ci6oyhxhXvRii90OM01P4uWCkuNYHoXz0aer1Hzn1p1fqtqmeMHe8qvJriiTvocEpoa7MKek7vprNYNvNMMoo7spIW4Vn0PQnc59VO-QLN0KqD2LxsQv3Oo/s1600/02Albillo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeVUgl5s22QySyq6A9QvJ5Ci6oyhxhXvRii90OM01P4uWCkuNYHoXz0aer1Hzn1p1fqtqmeMHe8qvJriiTvocEpoa7MKek7vprNYNvNMMoo7spIW4Vn0PQnc59VO-QLN0KqD2LxsQv3Oo/s400/02Albillo.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Tree in the shade of which we store the cases of grapes </b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7R8rBFbqmK6jhXg8-ISPDHV8xWVrL5BBL3Fb_Uonox9irmQx2DRyYgRLuO87KHx2_Xy8XCenZiLenCNvxHThK3EX1IiY15tHXDE4Vt9oVfjv-TxvQP8HgVN9uu8MtwvvJw2pB0pB48BA/s1600/03Albillo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7R8rBFbqmK6jhXg8-ISPDHV8xWVrL5BBL3Fb_Uonox9irmQx2DRyYgRLuO87KHx2_Xy8XCenZiLenCNvxHThK3EX1IiY15tHXDE4Vt9oVfjv-TxvQP8HgVN9uu8MtwvvJw2pB0pB48BA/s400/03Albillo.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Close-up of Albillo grapes</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinoO_edfJavqlqvseS_xGlZIVlJUJME-cwnXMX0RvOvHFf7ORTD7HlgMX_Xsh61Db8qN5yH63PYldhJLZTvICaSvQz0XxxbbB0f_-c4lPiP1IIPR8PrjJG9UGoQopnVzy5hSNCh_6QMXI/s1600/04Albillo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinoO_edfJavqlqvseS_xGlZIVlJUJME-cwnXMX0RvOvHFf7ORTD7HlgMX_Xsh61Db8qN5yH63PYldhJLZTvICaSvQz0XxxbbB0f_-c4lPiP1IIPR8PrjJG9UGoQopnVzy5hSNCh_6QMXI/s640/04Albillo.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Close-up of me!</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitqMR600otTNqwFMTmV_OR5y5aU3Xs0oXeUSLV0bkoPivhbAshyphenhyphenfxJhXS4Xe0wXtqCjMFFZdW2Ak-I4lcRvKpQiHxjWkcGbM5ukyzrM1A3Us_FWBREGgcOvTvlZJ0A7dGSfUCPNcuu5RQ/s1600/05Albillo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitqMR600otTNqwFMTmV_OR5y5aU3Xs0oXeUSLV0bkoPivhbAshyphenhyphenfxJhXS4Xe0wXtqCjMFFZdW2Ak-I4lcRvKpQiHxjWkcGbM5ukyzrM1A3Us_FWBREGgcOvTvlZJ0A7dGSfUCPNcuu5RQ/s400/05Albillo.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Top-down view of Albillo macerating on skins (destemmed)</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY_fsLb1xm3BHQZyYZ0SjE8q8usG5G20tk55rpOVbz4qzkuyFhDC_UmfkmZWATafqie3qwM1Fgp9pPEwFkuxBDqAc41L2hQBCx78PhyphenhyphenDMLDLBSEGZcDh02jzrXDPy6kQFkfCIjf-q3p2k/s1600/06Albillo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY_fsLb1xm3BHQZyYZ0SjE8q8usG5G20tk55rpOVbz4qzkuyFhDC_UmfkmZWATafqie3qwM1Fgp9pPEwFkuxBDqAc41L2hQBCx78PhyphenhyphenDMLDLBSEGZcDh02jzrXDPy6kQFkfCIjf-q3p2k/s400/06Albillo.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Albillo juice flowing out of the press</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg26txmh4-AkioH_fbWXLSAAoSZgBvTX5AIQJS3dISLx95Lfp5YC8_9nq50LzA5DIZEOabp8ghlWFMgQ7Mt9v3UI5TNC0IK_Hro1ZN_PgY8r2ZD1WORTRbTXUiiwKFB9O_PKdRsKQPtn0k/s1600/11Albillo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg26txmh4-AkioH_fbWXLSAAoSZgBvTX5AIQJS3dISLx95Lfp5YC8_9nq50LzA5DIZEOabp8ghlWFMgQ7Mt9v3UI5TNC0IK_Hro1ZN_PgY8r2ZD1WORTRbTXUiiwKFB9O_PKdRsKQPtn0k/s320/11Albillo.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Flamenco moment :)</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhod77ztmpXwYVYVMaxBx05zfnDHTL_gcTKYzRcpIXE7o__9Fthlvme8ubF9APFiYMvRjKPwi3EeMGDMprQ2R0kuhsUoQj4SL10ernCcZQrFxyS0dnigrA013v_qP7KTO3ECyQq6O1Ohl4/s1600/07Albillo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhod77ztmpXwYVYVMaxBx05zfnDHTL_gcTKYzRcpIXE7o__9Fthlvme8ubF9APFiYMvRjKPwi3EeMGDMprQ2R0kuhsUoQj4SL10ernCcZQrFxyS0dnigrA013v_qP7KTO3ECyQq6O1Ohl4/s400/07Albillo.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Albillo juice in full fermentation</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6_Yexi6f6Uzl3CO2Rw78jnNt98PLdydUVBgwY0KAXiBGXgBuXtiu-pqr3s5JViJbhRqwYdOXUW3O58rFcqmhT6dwkITn9ZpHCvBjlc1Oa-ZLu8qp-gBFjnkbcfyrNEDE7l7ChJQsOkY/s1600/08Albillo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6_Yexi6f6Uzl3CO2Rw78jnNt98PLdydUVBgwY0KAXiBGXgBuXtiu-pqr3s5JViJbhRqwYdOXUW3O58rFcqmhT6dwkITn9ZpHCvBjlc1Oa-ZLu8qp-gBFjnkbcfyrNEDE7l7ChJQsOkY/s640/08Albillo.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Slight overflow of Albillo fermentation foam</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVvq3aWEPK0S6SppDrlKrC8BqSLtrRDwM3WA-bT_oW8AHxBwzvGa9Xgh5r92lg_XIw7kRnwdKkbtGXSF1G8ByauYdLmpzygyoJ3-iGJ_DtaIcz7QGqCgGPsC1IslbyLJIKR7YN7jBxV0s/s1600/10Albillo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVvq3aWEPK0S6SppDrlKrC8BqSLtrRDwM3WA-bT_oW8AHxBwzvGa9Xgh5r92lg_XIw7kRnwdKkbtGXSF1G8ByauYdLmpzygyoJ3-iGJ_DtaIcz7QGqCgGPsC1IslbyLJIKR7YN7jBxV0s/s640/10Albillo.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>All nice and clean again</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlUqgV2S-L0dmgT9CXRtQem92bJ0c5qogj_TtPz5Kr_gW8KOVKe0pws1fzIrea_00KzrGJZwpuX0FRhTNghxtsCsEl8gdbj4MIgtpAlEOyS9IT2AvtQ-ngzqeeY_U-OHnXa-F4OR90bAw/s1600/09Albillo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlUqgV2S-L0dmgT9CXRtQem92bJ0c5qogj_TtPz5Kr_gW8KOVKe0pws1fzIrea_00KzrGJZwpuX0FRhTNghxtsCsEl8gdbj4MIgtpAlEOyS9IT2AvtQ-ngzqeeY_U-OHnXa-F4OR90bAw/s400/09Albillo.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Rest and relaxation time under pergola structure in the patio of the bodega</b></td></tr>
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Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-40797567819783588082016-04-28T22:27:00.000+02:002016-11-03T20:21:13.643+01:00Parker Points and Natural Wine<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The
other day the Parker Points for the Sierra de Gredos region in Spain were
published in the Wine Advocate. About 25 producers had sent in about 120
different wines to be rated, including myself; I sent in only one bottle of
Garnacha 2014. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I was
satisfied to see that my quality is remaining constant. My Garnacha 2014 was
ranked in position 118 out of 118, with 80 Points! And last year when I sent in three wines they
were ranked in positions 150, 149 and 146 out of 150! So no change there!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Wonderful!
I think this is an excellent example of subjectivity in wine tasting. On the
one hand my wines get the worst possible ratings from the Wine Advocate, yet on
the other hand, they are sold and appreciated in many top restaurants and
winestores all over the world. (Just look <a href="http://vinosambiz.blogspot.com.es/p/our-wines-and-where-to-buy.html"><u>here</u> </a>for a list of outlets
that carry my wines).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Well,
I suppose I could use my horrible score for anti-marketing in the 'natural wine
niche/ghetto' if I wanted to; I'm sure it would go down a treat, give rise to
some chatter on social media, and some people would love it. But happily, and
thankfully, I don't even need to bother doing that; I must be doing something
right because my sales are doing very nicely these days! </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 8.0pt;">(touch wood!)</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I
think it's a terrible shame that so many producers, especially small ones,
waste so much time and energy on chasing Parker Points. It's really a
no-brainer for the vast majority of them. They would be much better off seeking
their own markets and clients for their own unique and individual wines;
instead of forcing their wines to conform to an international standard taste.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It's
a no-brainer because there are literally thousands of producers who are all
doing the same thing. The competition is brutal, and probably loss-making! Why
not find your own niche? Why not be a big or medium sized fish in a small pond?
Where you can actually know and speak to the outlet managers and wine-list
curators at restaurants and even with some of the final customers? As opposed
to being one minnow among thousands, swimming with the pikes and sharks? Where
you are just one ‘account’ among many and the relationship is purely
commercial. But, hey, I’m just saying! Each winery is obviously free to choose
their own path - in terms of viticulture, winemaking and promotion/sales.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Apart
from the above commercial considerations there is also the much more
interesting ‘subjectivity’ aspect. It’s all part of the incredibly varied
colourful and complex wine world which I’m so happy to be part of. My experience
of the wine world over the last decade is that there isn’t just one monolithic
wine world, but many different wine worlds (or niches or ghettos!) (or
extending the previous metaphor, bodies of water). And each has its own cast of
characters, rules of the game, criteria and points systems (though not
necessarily numerical ones).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The
big difference between Parker’s World and the other worlds is that Parkers’
World is hugely more enormous in all senses: there are thousands of wineries,
thousands of intermediaries, thousands of outlets, and probably millions of
wine consumers who pay close heed to what thousands of writers, journalists,
bloggers, wine critics and sommeliers all have to say. The dominance is such
that it’s not surprising that everyone forgets about the existence of the other
tiny worlds. Maybe my world is tiny in relative terms, but it’s still big and
complex enough to be self-sustaining and independent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Let
me clarify my thoughts here. I have nothing against the Wine Advocate or any of
its similar publications with their points systems. I believe they have all
done a great job over the last three decades or so, widening the wine base, and
bringing many people into the wine universe who otherwise would not have bought
wine at all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">They
have done away with the snobbery and elitism, and they have simplified what was
often an unnecessarily complex and arcane private world, which was intimidating
and unwelcoming for new consumers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">But
like in all good things there is also the other side of the coin which should
be borne in mind. One of them is that people (producers, writers, distributors,
outlet managers and the final consumers) all tend to think that Parker’s World
is the only game in town, and that its rules and points and criteria are the
only valid ones. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Example
1: Cloudiness. The rules in Parker’s World say that all wines must be
transparent and not have anything floating in wine in the bottle; while the
‘rules’ of the Natural Wine World say that it doesn’t matter whether a wine is
cloudy or not. Fair enough, rules are rules and if you want to play in Parker’s
World you have to abide by them (otherwise you get 80 Points or less!). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">But
what a shame to restrict the enjoyment of looking at a glass of wine to a
single dimension. Cloudiness can be beautiful to look at too; especially
holding your glass up against the sunset.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Example
2: Sediments. Same as above. Though in this case some wineries apologetically
explain on the back label that it’s OK to have sediments at the bottom of the
bottle because it’s a ‘natural’ process. Ha!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Example
3: Filtering, clarifying and fining. Again the rules of Parker’s World say that
all wines have to be clean and sterilized and stable. Why? Why take out all
those ‘bits’ that add delicious flavours and complexity to the wine? And which
also help to protect and conserve the wine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">There
are several consequences of all the above restrictions: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Firstly
there is the question of standardization/globalization/homogenization. The
great majority of wines sold these days, are all very similar to each other in
style, no matter what part of the world they come from or what grape variety
they were made with. On the one hand this is great because millions of
consumers can now buy good drinkable wine at a good price without fear. But on
the other hand, (1) it’s terribly boring and (2) it’s a sad loss of regional
diversity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Secondly
there is the question of the restriction or limitation of acceptability of all
the characteristics of a wine. All the players in Parker’s World tend to be
very intolerant of any characteristic that is out of their narrow range of
acceptability.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The
most mentioned characteristic in my experience is the volatile acidity content
of a wine, ie the ‘vinegariness’. The same applies to other characteristics
such as acidity and sweetness. The range of acceptable aromas and flavours is
also limited; if a given wine does not conform to certain expected
characteristics, then somehow it is deemed not as good as another one. So we
have thousands of wineries all striving to attain 100 points, or approach this
Platonic ideal of what the wine should conform to! Whatever happened to
regional and personal diversity? Uniqueness? Terroir? All gone in the name of
standardization and massification.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Oh
well! Basically I find these restrictions sad and boring. I mean, what’s wrong
with drinking a wine that’s a bit more acidic/sweeter/alcoholic/weaker than
usual every so often? Is it not interesting and pleasant? Or is it better to
stick to a safe, clean, predictable wine every time? But there’s no accounting
for taste. As I said above, I’m happy and honoured to be a part of the tiny
natural wine world, providing different and interesting and complex wines to a
growing number of winelovers who enjoy them for what they are, without worrying
about how many points they scored.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-49106045210705067802016-02-13T08:40:00.001+01:002016-02-13T08:50:00.660+01:00Back Label Information<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Back in October 2014,
there was a flurry of comments on my FB page about what I had written on my
back labels. I replied to all those comments </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://vinosambiz.blogspot.com.es/2014/10/back-label-feedback.html">here</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">. Well, it's happened
again, though this time it's not a flurry, just one person who's taken umbrage,
but nevertheless, this has caused me to think about this matter again, and to
write this post.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">First, here's the back
label in question:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<img src="https://scontent-mad1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/v/t1.0-9/12688212_10206703060749066_6602099900090113912_n.jpg?oh=dbcdde99d20c05847cf133873c18be5c&oe=576773B0" /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Next, to get things in
context, I find it helpful to remember the following:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">1. It's only wine! In
the great scheme of things which are important and essential to me and to many
other people, wine and labels are pretty far down on the list! I'm thinking of
things like the Syrian, Palestinian, Kurdish tragedies, the
bankers/economists/politicians who are destroying our society and empoverishing
millions, the dangers of nuclear power, deforestation, child slavery, the
whales, the ozone layer, the Sea of Azov, etc, etc, etc...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">2. Even in the trivial
world of wine, labels are fairly low down on my list of important things:
before labels comes the quality of the wine itself, the quality of the grapes,
the environmental impact of growing my grapes and making my wines, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">So, having established
that, I can now explain my position and thoughts on what I write on my back
labels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">My first and main
motive for scupulously listing the ingedients and processing (and also what I <u>don't</u>
add to the wine, and the processing that I <u>don't</u> subject the wine to) is
to inform the consumer, the potential buyer, of what's in my wine and how it
was made, so they have as much information as possible available to them to
decide if they want to buy it or not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">All the feedback I have
recieved so far from consumers has been positive, and they have all been very
pleased indeed to have had that information. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The spirit (though not
always the letter) of all legislation covering foodstuffs is in fact the
'protection of the consumer'.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">As you may or may not
know, the wine industry is exempt from the normal labelling requirements, for
some reason or other. And I would be very interested to know how this exemption
came about, as I have been unable to find out for myself. On the other hand, the
legal requirements on what is obligatory and what is forbidden to write on wine
labels is extraordinarily detailed and complex. There is obviously something
very fishy going on here, and consumers' interests are not being protected. It
seems to me that it's the wine industry's interests that are being protected. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The labelling
legislation is in fact the root of the problem, and that's my second reason for
writing so much information on my back labels, ie to draw attention to the
problem, with a view to generating some debate and hopefully a solution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">In keeping with my back
label philosophy, I will also explain why I am NOT writing all that
information! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">I am <b>NOT </b>providing
abandant information on my back labels as a publicity stunt or as clever
marketing, in order to sell more wine. Thankfully, I am a very small producer
(around 12,000 bottles per year) and (again thankfully) I don't have any
problems selling my wines. So I don't need to drum up sales. You can believe
that or not, as there's no way I can actually prove it. (Philosophically or
logically it's actually impossible to prove ANY negative statement!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">I am <b>NOT </b>doing it to
denigrate or show up other honest hard-working grape-growers and winemakers. I say this because several fellow grapegrowers, winemakers and other agents in the wine
world have taken it personally, and view my back label information as an attack
on them or on their agricultural and/or winery practices. Well, I'm sorry they
see it that way, but like I said, that's not my intention at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Unfortunately, there's
little I can do about people taking offense where none is intended, short of
not writing all that information I want to convey. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The little I can do is
to try to write clearly and unambiguously so as not to send out the wrong
message or unintentionally offend anyone, especally when dealing with a hot
topic such as this one. I even keep my sense of humour and irreverent cynicism
under control, even though I like to be irreverently humourous!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">I think it's ridiculous
to suggest that I am out to show anyone up or point an accusing finger at them.
I've received comments along the lines of "if you write that, you imply
that...." Well, maybe yes, or maybe
no, but how can anyone ever know, unless I, the writer, affirm or deny it. And
even then, I could be lying!!! The same
case can be made for any written material at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">For example, here's a
typical phrase often written on back labels "....with carefully selected
grapes..." What? How dare they
imply that I don't select my grapes carefully! See what I mean? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">It's a no-brainer to
read words on a label and then say that those words 'imply' something other
than just what they say.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">If I say that "I
don't add oak chips", it means that I don't add oak chips. It doesn't
imply that I'm accusing other winemakers of adding oak chips. There can be no
fruitful or useful outcome to an argument based on what my words supposedly
'imply'.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Another criticism I've
recieved (again from people in the trade, not consumers) is that I'm trying to
occupy the moral high ground, being holier-than-thou, being a hipster-cool
ultra-fashion eco-warrior, etc. Again nothing could be further from my mind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">I do what I do (ie,
organic agriculture, no chemicals, no unnecessary substances or processing)
because I believe that it's better to make wine that way. That way I don't
pollute the environment and I don't put consumers health at risk. I have
decided that that's the way I want to work, but I have nothing to say about how
other people have decided to work. Especially not on my back labels. This is a
totally personal decision which of course I believe is "right". It's
my tiny contribution to making the world a better place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">In a private
conversation, or at a public event where I've been invited to speak, I will
certainly express my opinions about polluting the environment and adding
chemicals and substances to wine and other foodstuffs, and people who know me
or have heard or read me, know what I think about that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Now, does that imply
that other grapegrowers and winemakers do pollute the environment and put their
consumers' health at risk? No it doesn't. (See above) Common sense would suggest that some of them
do, though. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">I like to think that
I'm a pragmatic sort of person, and I much prefer to actually do something or
take action, rather than waste my time blowing hot air and complaining. That's
why I actually practice organic no-chemical agriculture and actually make
no-additive wines. I believe it's a complete waste of my time to argue or try
to convince others to be like me! Therefore I don't. I obviously believe that
I'm in the right, but I also believe that no good can come out of me trying to
make others "right" too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Perhaps if all wineries were used a similar back label to mine (either legally or voluntarily) and described what they do and don't do to their wine, then their consumers could also decide, with all the facts at hand, whether to buy their product or not. I don't understand why they don't. Surely they're not doing anything illegal? Or are they doing something that they don't want the public to know about? I don't know, and "Frankly, my dears,..."</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Cheers! Here's to what's inside the bottle, not outside :)</span></div>
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Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-17457308333193436482016-02-04T22:50:00.002+01:002016-02-04T22:53:13.684+01:00Sheep in the Garnacha Vineyard<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Well, for this post I have some
interesting anecdotes about sheep in my <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenache">Garnacha </a>vineyard in El Tiemblo <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_de_Gredos">(Sierra de Gredos</a>).</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtvY7RMoitQpBUbFLYNnwc09r3G1-ANKWonf7M1Z8CclEm6XideCdrcatIulf0375keFktPbKvdJGX4NR1FJJXxdNg1Zz1Mjc4u2BKLfn_tQH_GDJSUbFKfb6sqCEnQLhnsy_58t_C9vU/s1600/IMG_20160131_152924.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtvY7RMoitQpBUbFLYNnwc09r3G1-ANKWonf7M1Z8CclEm6XideCdrcatIulf0375keFktPbKvdJGX4NR1FJJXxdNg1Zz1Mjc4u2BKLfn_tQH_GDJSUbFKfb6sqCEnQLhnsy_58t_C9vU/s400/IMG_20160131_152924.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A flock of sheep entering the vineyard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">But first...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">This is the same vineyard that I
wrote about in my previous post (<a href="http://vinosambiz.blogspot.com.es/2016/01/in-bodega.html">here</a>), when I discovered that ‘someone’ had
pruned my ‘Roman’ vines which I had trained up the olive trees, without asking
me first. So the other day I had a meeting with the owners of the vineyard and
asked them if it was them who had dunnit – and indeed it was! I’m glad that I
didn’t speak to them immediately on discovering the unauthorized pruning,
because I was upset and angry and would probably have said things that I would
have regretted later! But with the passage of time I had calmed down, and now
of course it doesn’t seem so important. They were quite amazed when I explained
the Roman thing to them, but they were willing to cooperate. Now I just have to
wait another year for the vines to grow and try again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Anyway, I was in this vineyard
again the other day, doing more of the same – raking up last year’s dead grass
into piles, pruning and hoeing up around the pruned vines. I alternated these
three activities so that the same muscles wouldn’t get sore! The method seems
to work </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "wingdings"; font-size: 10.0pt;">J</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">And an ‘interesting thought’ came
to me while I was raking up the dead leaves. At first, I had started raking up dead
leaves and grass and tidying ‘just for fun’ and to do a bit of gardening and to
make the vineyard look beautiful (and alternating tasks so my back muscles
wouldn’t suffer so much). But now I’ve discovered a valid agricultural reason
for doing this! By raking up the last year’s dead leaves, it makes it easier
for the new grass and plants to come up, as there is no physical obstacle
stopping their growth, more sunlight hits the earth and little leaves making
germination and photosynthesis more efficient, and also the action of the rake
on the ground probably helps stir things up and speed them along! I was
actually a bit worried that maybe the grass, and plants and flowers would grow
too much, to the detriment of the vines, perhaps. But the perfect solution
presented itself spontaneously. Sometimes the universe works in your favour,
and “they’re not really all out to get you”!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The perfect solution, of course,
consisted of a flock of sheep! As I was working, a man called out to me from
over the wall of the vineyard. He was a shepherd and he wanted to ask if he
could let his sheep graze in my vineyard. I agreed immediately and off he went
to get his sheep, which were grazing in a neighbouring vineyard just down the
road. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp2LfLh7gd3ZT64h7LFtsGGp11rFlQ1ANsj6sofm-hhLIwbjU7aNbNuZuvdUX1X2y1xbosJXPX3ueTVF3wf0oorOE5KV_M0Xx0i9n2lbnMLY7f8-EbIeEvFVFFb0PAybRZfqw-4xbN1q8/s1600/IMG_20160131_164248.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp2LfLh7gd3ZT64h7LFtsGGp11rFlQ1ANsj6sofm-hhLIwbjU7aNbNuZuvdUX1X2y1xbosJXPX3ueTVF3wf0oorOE5KV_M0Xx0i9n2lbnMLY7f8-EbIeEvFVFFb0PAybRZfqw-4xbN1q8/s640/IMG_20160131_164248.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sheep grazing in the vineyard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaAdcIPgj-xpDwjBHLdGdglCe5nQhUEFCn8U2O_Us3_J5rPW4QSWWke1VFQiuzSRetd8SrAmZLZ6OhQydHJ-r_yzy48bl2Yclt3gwufM-RGWe918hBAMNOAwHsZNCiIKwJEDUzsGt0ixk/s1600/IMG_20160131_153135.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaAdcIPgj-xpDwjBHLdGdglCe5nQhUEFCn8U2O_Us3_J5rPW4QSWWke1VFQiuzSRetd8SrAmZLZ6OhQydHJ-r_yzy48bl2Yclt3gwufM-RGWe918hBAMNOAwHsZNCiIKwJEDUzsGt0ixk/s640/IMG_20160131_153135.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sheep and lambs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJah5wplbJgMn95zyDW7C4O0l1C4JoXNFO7F_LCJGbyO38AP3T3Yt30_MSNe918XKZZSAdtCj6ULYT9_-u66ZWl_tGRsWVN-aTwCLt0jsA4rqxKjCiQF6T2BVhM0SRQnTBCWnzTnqG4oc/s1600/IMG_20160131_152959.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJah5wplbJgMn95zyDW7C4O0l1C4JoXNFO7F_LCJGbyO38AP3T3Yt30_MSNe918XKZZSAdtCj6ULYT9_-u66ZWl_tGRsWVN-aTwCLt0jsA4rqxKjCiQF6T2BVhM0SRQnTBCWnzTnqG4oc/s640/IMG_20160131_152959.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panoramic view</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The deal is that I get free manure
and short grass and the shepherd gets free grass for his sheep.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIKBODvGGQNINKUQQYtRCPE-SLSlhXP0adSEwuE0115qYmXMP8cLuB2V-QR0jkQBJ44s7GPlAwRjOxspfVbhMhRZzyvg-7-7AST3xIFRzFPmdAwSeK0UXK1ozPgUu_wpzdYgGp9pnfbNI/s1600/IMG_20160131_165255.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIKBODvGGQNINKUQQYtRCPE-SLSlhXP0adSEwuE0115qYmXMP8cLuB2V-QR0jkQBJ44s7GPlAwRjOxspfVbhMhRZzyvg-7-7AST3xIFRzFPmdAwSeK0UXK1ozPgUu_wpzdYgGp9pnfbNI/s640/IMG_20160131_165255.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close-up of my free manure</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">And also,
according to my friend and fellow grapegrower <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mario.siragusa.58?fref=ts">Mario Siragusa</a> (who grows grapes
in Barolo country near Turin), the sheep also impart positive electro-magnetic energy
to the vines from their wool. Interesting theory - I will have to look into it when I have some free time.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">This deal only works until about
March, when the vines start to sprout. Otherwise the sheep would eat the young
leaves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc4YZhUM07QXBGnFAnF-4d_YI104bvOyxQDDScSHhMVfQbG4dJtM6IMtcVT-Wh5PQX6Bd3U8xz7KcCCnuuZdkAqdRrOGry7WFriDASPqdlpJZkukvBryfcQj_fsBkavK21T_-ZUM4JY54/s1600/IMG_20160131_164407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc4YZhUM07QXBGnFAnF-4d_YI104bvOyxQDDScSHhMVfQbG4dJtM6IMtcVT-Wh5PQX6Bd3U8xz7KcCCnuuZdkAqdRrOGry7WFriDASPqdlpJZkukvBryfcQj_fsBkavK21T_-ZUM4JY54/s640/IMG_20160131_164407.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sheep leaving the vineyard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Luis the shepherd says that he only
drinks wine from the vineyards where his sheep have been grazing! Because his
sheep don’t like the grass from chemically farmed vineyards and because the
wine tastes crap! Natural wine drinkers are everywhere these days </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "wingdings"; font-size: 10.0pt;">J</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><b>Other vineyard news</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">There is still a lot of pruning to
be done, some of which I will do myself and some of which I will outsource to
neighbours. Then there are other assorted tasks to be done too: removing canes,
hoeing up around the vines, fixing fences, and general tidying up. I won’t bore
you all too much with the details! Yet!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><b>Bodega news</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">There are lots of tasks I have to
be getting on with in the bodega too. Most urgent is the bottling up. I got off
to a good start this year but last week I ran out of corks AND bottles! Duh! So
now I have to wait for delivery, which takes about 7-10 days. Which is OK
really, as I can now concentrate on the vineyards. I also have to fill two
barrels with white wine. It took me about a year, but at last I managed to get
my hands on two second-hand <u>white</u> wine barrels. They are incredibly
difficult to find, for some reason. More about this later. I also have to
thoroughly scrub and clean and disinfect two amphorae, which contained wine and
which I have already bottled up. Then I have to press off a tank of Garnacha
which is still on the skins! And a tinaja of SB and one of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chasselas">Doré</a>. And lastly I
have to tidy up the patio and finish building my pergola. Oh, where is all the
free labour?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><b>Other news</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">In about three weeks I’m going to a
natural wine fair in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piacenza">Piacenza</a>, Italy: <a href="http://www.sorgentedelvinolive.org/">Sorgente del Vino LIVE 2016</a>. It will be
my first time at a wine fair in Italy, so am especially looking forward to it.
Attenzione importatori italiani </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "wingdings"; font-size: 10.0pt;">J</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">And in about one month I’ll be
going to another natural wine fair in Barcelona: Vins Nus (which means Naked
Wines in Catalan). This is one of two natural wine fairs organized in Spain,
which is pretty underwhelming really, considering the numbers for France and
Italy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Enough for now. “Salud y buen
vino”. (that means ‘Health and good wine’, in Spanish)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-279653822179174792016-01-18T21:31:00.000+01:002016-01-19T21:37:55.069+01:00In the Vineyard<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">January is already
drawing to a close, and I'm focusing on three different aspects of my
mini-wine-business: in the vineyards, pruning, removing the canes,
hoeing up around the vines, and other miscellaneous activites like cutting grass, fixings drainage channels, and fences, and generally tidying up; in the bodega, bottling up older vintages from barrels, and filling said barrels
with new vintages; and on the home front, writing a <a href="http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/HACCP/">HACCP </a>(pronounced
"HAZOP"), ie a food safety management plan! Amongst other things. But enough of that! Here's my latest news from the mountains:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><b>In the Vineyard</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The other day I was in
my other Garnacha vineyard in El Tiemblo (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_de_Gredos">Sierra de Gredos</a>), having completely
finished pruning the first (rock rose infested) Granacha vineyard that I wrote
about in my <a href="http://vinosambiz.blogspot.com.es/2016/01/attack-of-rock-roses-part-2.html">previous post</a>. Actually, I still have to finish raking up pine
needles and checking and fixing the perimiter fence, but those tasks I have
relegated to a lower priority, to be done 'some other time'!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">So I spent the whole
day here in this vineyard, but in a terribly inefficient manner - I only did 5
rows of about 10 vines. But I did them absolutely beautifully! More like
gardening, rather than agricultural labour! I did it this way for a few
reasons: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">1. The vineyard now
looks really beautiful as seen from the gate, so that keeps the owner and
neighbours off my back - no more comments on how bad the vineyard look, etc,
etc! I'm used to it by now and I pay no
attention, but it's still annoying!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">2. A whole day's
exclusive pruning is sore on the back muscles, so it's better to do a whole
range of different activities that use different muscles<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">3. It was great fun and
immensely satisfying to make such a beautiful 'garden' in the vineyard!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Here's some photos:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFokvq3Eww1FFJOgadwtNncC4ivM9M65UQG_jpCHUIFpfKZ6n5eaBh09yYn2UMwweQ_S-q-z809mhHtYtoq0XVCJwdhMcAo4a-rlN1snDnDbx6GixOfvXW7GWXAoPm30yjVgmfyM2z_g/s1600/IMG_20160117_110804.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFokvq3Eww1FFJOgadwtNncC4ivM9M65UQG_jpCHUIFpfKZ6n5eaBh09yYn2UMwweQ_S-q-z809mhHtYtoq0XVCJwdhMcAo4a-rlN1snDnDbx6GixOfvXW7GWXAoPm30yjVgmfyM2z_g/s640/IMG_20160117_110804.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natural State</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The photo above (Natural State) shows the vineyard in, errrm, its natural state at this time of year; except for the near foreground, the vines are unpruned and there's lots of dead grass from last year between the rows; and there's new grass growing already, which is quite strange, but not surprising given climate change and generally increasing temperatures. I've even heard news of grapevines budding already - but not in Gredos.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8HPwgwzU5il82JE9AdC_T7Q3lPP1fkH83dmfaNTE9VY0HOZSsaxUFhia-2T9FYhjUcqBns5NLJw2TRxA4w64dbXdwvYB8VPMzIDae8WzZe5SNGcHP1KlAASGbP2NMCkFAvSJMfZ_gjvE/s1600/IMG_20160117_152312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8HPwgwzU5il82JE9AdC_T7Q3lPP1fkH83dmfaNTE9VY0HOZSsaxUFhia-2T9FYhjUcqBns5NLJw2TRxA4w64dbXdwvYB8VPMzIDae8WzZe5SNGcHP1KlAASGbP2NMCkFAvSJMfZ_gjvE/s640/IMG_20160117_152312.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> First Rows</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The photo above is of the first few rows of the vineyard as seen from the road. After pruning the vines, I then cut the long grass with a sickle, and then hoed up around around them. I think this is a good idea, as the vines will be able to benefit from 100% of the rain that falls on them, with no competition from the grass and plants. They don't actually need all that water to survive, as their roots are very deep and can find water that the short-rooted plant cannot; and they are hardy drought-resistant varieties anyway. But even so, a little extra competitive advantage won't do them any harm, what?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Then I even raked up all the dead grass between the rows! I don't think there's any good agricultural reason for doing that, but what the hell? I felt like doing it, and the result look quite nice, no? It will be interesting to see if there are any consequences. For example, all the new grass might grow better now that there are no dead leaves and grass in their way. Maybe this spring these first few rows will be overwhelmed by new grass? Has my intervention upset the balance? </span></div>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnRvLu65IMsP2kKdGVKLUP-2q5oiZoQi3yJqfbVEYSD7KK3qSjDxWUTLR4mtkeffFXmYoIqjXmW8oJe7F2T9QLKJAUWZBPR-HG7QqOYdnMIi-BwShkjpStzGWFjYbF_YbDzTilAwV2wgo/s1600/IMG_20160117_152259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnRvLu65IMsP2kKdGVKLUP-2q5oiZoQi3yJqfbVEYSD7KK3qSjDxWUTLR4mtkeffFXmYoIqjXmW8oJe7F2T9QLKJAUWZBPR-HG7QqOYdnMIi-BwShkjpStzGWFjYbF_YbDzTilAwV2wgo/s640/IMG_20160117_152259.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close-up</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Above is a close-up of a pruned vine and its immediate surroundings.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZ6cV3u23yLr44DVrewsU1C8qg47RzFiRDNHPZnVZWH87_6FU8YM4uRHUuPfX1HejGqv7PHoAoJ0XUMYKBvpfCj8KPcRsmqU9Qq451NoKGJNQ0Jv1vC02kRrIXNHvKY_MQlsqmGnMzRM/s1600/IMG_20160117_132724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZ6cV3u23yLr44DVrewsU1C8qg47RzFiRDNHPZnVZWH87_6FU8YM4uRHUuPfX1HejGqv7PHoAoJ0XUMYKBvpfCj8KPcRsmqU9Qq451NoKGJNQ0Jv1vC02kRrIXNHvKY_MQlsqmGnMzRM/s640/IMG_20160117_132724.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Worm</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Above is a lovely worm, evidence of a living healthy and balanced soil. Worms aerate the soil via the tunnels they make, thus helping to protect it from erosion; and they also improve its quality by eating, digesting and exceting it! Go figure!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Healthy balanced soil is very important, because vines can extract from it all the nutrients they need, neither too much not too little, but the perfect amount of each nutrient and micro-nutrient. Industrial-chemically farmed vines produce unbalanced faulty grapes because the soil they live in is biologically dead - it's just a substance that holds the vines upright, and which has an excessive over-abundance of some nutrients and a complete lack of others. There's no way possible to make a complex, interesting, terroir-expressing wine with grapes from that quality of soil. (<i>Enough ranting already - Ed.</i>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A piece of bad news and
really annoying too, is that 'someone' (I'm guessing the owner) took it upon
themselves to prune the vines that I had deliberately allowed to climb up the
various trees growning in the vineyard. This was so I could make a tiny
experimental batch of 'Roman' wine. I haven't spoken to the owner about it yet
- I'm letting time pass so I won't be so upset and angry when I do bring the
subject up.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The Romans had three
systems of grapegrowing: trellised and bush vines which we inherited from them,
and also a third method which consisted of letting the vines grow up trees,
which we have lost today. Pliny and Columella write about it at length <u>here </u>and
<u>here</u>, respectively.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">I hope to finish pruning this vineyard soon and make a start on my third, newly acquired, Chelva
vineyard here in El Tiemblo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">That just leaves the
Carabaña (Airén/Tempranillo) and Villarejo (Malvar) vineyards, but they have
interesting issues/complications, ... which is another story!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">I've also done some work in the bodega and at my computer, but I'll leave that for another post and another day.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-32044204195223953102016-01-10T19:19:00.000+01:002016-01-18T22:55:01.019+01:00Attack of the Rock Roses (Part 2)<i>(continuation of Part 1 of the <a href="http://vinosambiz.blogspot.com.es/2016/01/attack-of-rock-roses.html">Attack of the Rock Roses</a>)</i><br />
<br />
So I did some physical exercises for a few days, in preparation for my counter-attack against the rock roses; a few press-ups and some abominable crunches in the morning, and some hand, finger, ankle exercises whenever I remembered during the day.<br />
<br />
I had intended to start at the crack of dawn, but no plan ever survives contact with real life and my morning ended up full of distractions and complications. It was only after lunch that I was able to get out to the vineyard.<br />
<br />
The was no way I was going to tackle the main 'briar patch' on the first day! It was far too daunting. I started with an easy part, working my way down the nearside boundary, where there weren't so many rock roses to uproot, only two or three every row. The going was good, and I even managed to work my way along the bottom boundary for a few meters. But the days are short at this time of year so it soon got dark and I had to stop.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjop5KjUyxQWojQz9uehZcYU_j6aDoWey68HI3YokfwPFA-s0Ndysz9C_EoC3B9PqN5jJkpqAElSKKx8J_PZ5g18owWzb_KHkppnpZ-VbbJ-xBxap8CKa7nUO_NEsRLEz3laNR40-YfphQ/s1600/IMG_20160105_110542.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjop5KjUyxQWojQz9uehZcYU_j6aDoWey68HI3YokfwPFA-s0Ndysz9C_EoC3B9PqN5jJkpqAElSKKx8J_PZ5g18owWzb_KHkppnpZ-VbbJ-xBxap8CKa7nUO_NEsRLEz3laNR40-YfphQ/s640/IMG_20160105_110542.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The densely populated main 'briar patch'</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Next day I was back, this time bright and early in the morning. But I still didn't feel like starting on the 'briar patch' so I just continued what I was doing - working my way along the bottom boundary, uprooting the sparcely spaced rock roses. Crouch down, grab the stalk near the ground, pull out, put in a pile; repeat all day long!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglqPLXH1AnIGTF9NR0eoN9yJ8uQg0FpfL8sgKEZWxQFKpgpD_bU0-ZhG7-8KEa795n3ZylMeL7aryewefOGQs1szZtkf5FNOawqJykICYOahB_NQZVyv422z0KTtw1IybOAulHJBG9XjQ/s1600/IMG_20160103_124606.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglqPLXH1AnIGTF9NR0eoN9yJ8uQg0FpfL8sgKEZWxQFKpgpD_bU0-ZhG7-8KEa795n3ZylMeL7aryewefOGQs1szZtkf5FNOawqJykICYOahB_NQZVyv422z0KTtw1IybOAulHJBG9XjQ/s400/IMG_20160103_124606.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The sparsely populated bottom boudary</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I finished the bottom boundary and started working my way up the far boundary towards the main rock rose patch. When I got to the edge, I stopped, and I went to to the top of the far boundary and started working my way down until I reached the other edge of the main patch. Then it was time for lunch. Perfect timing. I would do the final assault after lunch!<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDYxJKpZOwSDveSLgzDj2STCOdD_FrJoVgdjzXNykhXM2XzlNOS0nCdzQygjlu86dd5km0orgp248Us7R7qHQ_Vmf17o5j6LPCfcm3X_2b4eOD3esVMhBjlUjABkBgCspt2yWui0Q9xec/s1600/IMG_20160103_124638.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDYxJKpZOwSDveSLgzDj2STCOdD_FrJoVgdjzXNykhXM2XzlNOS0nCdzQygjlu86dd5km0orgp248Us7R7qHQ_Vmf17o5j6LPCfcm3X_2b4eOD3esVMhBjlUjABkBgCspt2yWui0Q9xec/s400/IMG_20160103_124638.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The southern edge of the briar patch</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
So after lunch (short) I dove straight in to work. I was bearing up well, physically, nothing was too sore. Yet! It was tremendously boring work, as it took me ages to clear each square meter. I seemed to be constantly in the same place and not making any progress at all. There were hundreds of little rock roses in each square meter, and medium sized ones, and large ones too. The tiny little ones were the easiest to pull out, obviously, but they were also the most boring. They were infinite!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKB5yCwuyYDbDYWX-XG2RtVj-TCiKHoRj_RXiBsbd7SmessENIohrs273W-SuUbzoZ8fwcmVvfAKJQJXz3HAJOHkU7DQDV7dIYJF19NKxBZDKUnbaPhJ1UhS0Ov73K84YZ_87PsTIMxmo/s1600/IMG_20160103_175649.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKB5yCwuyYDbDYWX-XG2RtVj-TCiKHoRj_RXiBsbd7SmessENIohrs273W-SuUbzoZ8fwcmVvfAKJQJXz3HAJOHkU7DQDV7dIYJF19NKxBZDKUnbaPhJ1UhS0Ov73K84YZ_87PsTIMxmo/s640/IMG_20160103_175649.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>so many rock roses</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Now everything was starting to get sore, just like I had anticipated: quadriceps, back and fingers mostly. I would alternate squatting down on my haunches (that way my back wouldn't hurt) and when my quads complained I would stand up straight and bend over to grasp and pull (that way my quads wouldn't hurt). In the end though both back and quads hurt like hell! There was nothing I could do about the fingers though, I just had to keep grasping and pulling.<br />
<br />
It was now a race against time. I really wanted to finish the uprooting before sunset, otherwise I could have to come back another day to mop up. Not only are the days short in January, but the vineyard is in a valley surrounded by high mountains, so the sun actually 'sets' earlier than usual.<br />
<br />
In the end, I managed to uproot <u>all</u> the rock roses before dark.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbWonzfTDp2QY1LrEpUkZ8sVSD6kk2l-a5kjc-VUr72mht_jRRM9KgvCM3_UQielNhJWhLP8tgdBIJ_qPOFP3BYBuKPwZZm1OoGB1Q1fPIVgz8BXvJlTOFwOWenc4bgs9xa0ElNAwXsM/s1600/IMG_20160105_132049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbWonzfTDp2QY1LrEpUkZ8sVSD6kk2l-a5kjc-VUr72mht_jRRM9KgvCM3_UQielNhJWhLP8tgdBIJ_qPOFP3BYBuKPwZZm1OoGB1Q1fPIVgz8BXvJlTOFwOWenc4bgs9xa0ElNAwXsM/s640/IMG_20160105_132049.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>neat piles of uprooted rock roses</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
But I had to go back another day after all - to remove all those piles of uprooted rock roses that I had neatly piled up.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4PErul7foq2a0DrE9GzJ5Qr6q_qTY9VMDs2Syh-pqJH-9dwaJi2qPSPasyv1-Efv_OkRoRewZ_9zpfaTiHrSNp_DFXOUVO8R62M9GIZq5T1C9KJ76OEw_RYI4XG5ZXISgD7PUR6wau1Y/s1600/IMG_20160105_132037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4PErul7foq2a0DrE9GzJ5Qr6q_qTY9VMDs2Syh-pqJH-9dwaJi2qPSPasyv1-Efv_OkRoRewZ_9zpfaTiHrSNp_DFXOUVO8R62M9GIZq5T1C9KJ76OEw_RYI4XG5ZXISgD7PUR6wau1Y/s400/IMG_20160105_132037.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>more neat piles </b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
So on the third day, with great satisfaction I threw all the piles of rock roses over the vineyard boundary into the neighbouring pine forest where they would decompose.<br />
<br />
But another unexpected task came up which took me the rest of the day to deal with: there was quite an extensive area of the vineyard that was covered with pine needles, fallen from some neighbouring pine trees. I don't think that an excess of pine needles can be good for a vineyard's soil. Nothing much can grow in a pine forest becuse the pine needles are very acidic and don't allow other plants to thrive.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinh1tLbqq8KG2S5SMiDGT3VRExgSJGu0-954FcQPh_P7cYeQcsM0lY3_T_WdY2IAteqYRktUtRFQGYMDC72xc4SLpU1jkMn5YBwf8PAZl5sVMhyphenhyphenv0ZlCcfUeZF5mbYgfRy297pNBsj0ag/s1600/IMG_20160105_135851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinh1tLbqq8KG2S5SMiDGT3VRExgSJGu0-954FcQPh_P7cYeQcsM0lY3_T_WdY2IAteqYRktUtRFQGYMDC72xc4SLpU1jkMn5YBwf8PAZl5sVMhyphenhyphenv0ZlCcfUeZF5mbYgfRy297pNBsj0ag/s640/IMG_20160105_135851.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Piles of pine needles, and pine trees at the vineyard boundaries</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I spent the rest of the day raking up pine needles and returning them to the forest. But again darkness fell and I had to stop before I could finish properly. I don't know when I'll be able to finish that task.<br />
<br />
That was an extra, unscheduled and unexpected three days spent in this vineyard. Other tasks now beckon. At the top of my list of priorities, I have to bottle up ten barrels of red wine. This has to be done soon, because 1) the wine has been in the barrels long enough, and if it stays too long it will taste too much of oak, 2) the wine has to age a while in bottles before I can sell it, and 3) I have to free up the barrels so I can put new wine into them. Next on the list is the pruning - and I have five vineyards now to manage: Airén/Tempranillo in Carabaña, Malvar in Villarejo, Garnacha I and Garnacha II in El Tiemblo, and now Chelva in El Tiemblo too. So the sooner I start, the sooner I will finish, hopefully by March/April. Further down my list of priorities, are a whole load of other tasks and activities, some more fun than others, which I'll deal with too, when the time comes.<br />
<br />
But I'm not happy about those pine needles. I wonder if they've even been raked up and removed before. The poor vines affected (around 50-60) must have been suffering for years if not decades. I really ought to give them some lovely manure this winter. We shall see. But other urgent tasks beckon too. Stay tuned.<br />
<br />
<br />Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-77850317684271912772016-01-07T17:04:00.000+01:002016-02-04T22:54:45.494+01:00Attack of the Rock Roses (Part 1)Not so long ago in a vineyard not so far far away, all was in harmony and equilibrium. The dominant life-form (Garnacha vines) were busy producing beautiful, aromatic, complex and well-balanced must, in collaboration with all the other minor life-forms who also lived in the vineyard. All lived together, the many species of grasses, plants, flowers and thistles and the many species of insects and assorted beasties, all the way down to microscopic size and even the invisible yet important unicellular life-forms like bacteria and yeasts; and also the occasional macro life-form which either lived in or just passed through the vineyard, like spiders, worms, birds, goats, sheep, cows, all the way up to the vigneron himself!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Old vine <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenache">Garnacha </a>vineyard, in El Tiemblo (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_de_Gredos">Sierra de Gredos</a>) Spain:</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuntJZtUlZXw83hhBqByudKH4YSZHZyQwDDvfbKil0JnXLAHkCAJRZAUpbHfwxcpTnwJ1LOD3MXAfAX7RxkLUJJ1mKhM6qEpgCahBb4ex_yix8Sx9yVCMvPwndZHhR1EtOoXto17BNTBc/s1600/IMG_20160102_141046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuntJZtUlZXw83hhBqByudKH4YSZHZyQwDDvfbKil0JnXLAHkCAJRZAUpbHfwxcpTnwJ1LOD3MXAfAX7RxkLUJJ1mKhM6qEpgCahBb4ex_yix8Sx9yVCMvPwndZHhR1EtOoXto17BNTBc/s400/IMG_20160102_141046.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Harmony in the vineyard</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But then, one day when the vigneron went to the vineyard to start on the annual pruning, he found that the balance and the harmony had been lost; for one of the minor life-forms (the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cistaceae">Rock Roses</a>) had invaded the vineyard and were starting to dominate it, to the detriment of the rightful species, the Garnachas.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXRfyYS_by81jMJ0dWAT6oDq-J74paY3lDdpH6J9wZXy1Q7P39_NMZmYRvnzjqI75Fr2MEJwYzoZ2iX1jOEYBwPekePYmzoFwkuaguMpteoUdzhC-1kkqilOi2LOTGPwMONvD3VVu0IfI/s1600/IMG_20160103_162214.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXRfyYS_by81jMJ0dWAT6oDq-J74paY3lDdpH6J9wZXy1Q7P39_NMZmYRvnzjqI75Fr2MEJwYzoZ2iX1jOEYBwPekePYmzoFwkuaguMpteoUdzhC-1kkqilOi2LOTGPwMONvD3VVu0IfI/s400/IMG_20160103_162214.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Invasion of Rock Roses</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Most of the rock roses were concentrated in a patch at the bottom of the vineyards out of sight of the top gate, hidden by a dip in the land.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieGr0P3QNSadoHFO6P2Uq6f_8nFxtLIxfTw2nIMyiBqmPh80XlL1By5tG8MyAaL8HmMucTzrRA1c_d9dOnEbDX1LvQL9NvxsXGO_GX9JiC7Sa9k710CsDj3R0WJ4fTlAQlfbLH7pEhgwo/s1600/IMG_20160103_144652.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieGr0P3QNSadoHFO6P2Uq6f_8nFxtLIxfTw2nIMyiBqmPh80XlL1By5tG8MyAaL8HmMucTzrRA1c_d9dOnEbDX1LvQL9NvxsXGO_GX9JiC7Sa9k710CsDj3R0WJ4fTlAQlfbLH7pEhgwo/s400/IMG_20160103_144652.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Rock Rose patch at bottom of vineyard</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
What had happened? How had this come to pass? Was this a case of too little intervention by the vigneron? Perhaps. Some of those rock roses were quite tall and must have been there for at least two years. Others were small, less than one year old.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdS15C9bq2rq0r_D-nAoeCjV-G0j_BrIc6vfgHz67rR3P9klE21uWSgdIVoE1-gxVS1XAoQILuUYgx-v4Z2Q6sa7owz56BjDItOjZqfiZvhDZBOUWwjyWNqgCcBTWRVhDu7tVczDfCf9o/s1600/IMG_20160103_130254.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdS15C9bq2rq0r_D-nAoeCjV-G0j_BrIc6vfgHz67rR3P9klE21uWSgdIVoE1-gxVS1XAoQILuUYgx-v4Z2Q6sa7owz56BjDItOjZqfiZvhDZBOUWwjyWNqgCcBTWRVhDu7tVczDfCf9o/s640/IMG_20160103_130254.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>A tall deep-rooted 2-yr old rock rose</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Rock roses are OK 'near' and 'around' the vineyard as they provide a habitat and biodiversity, and they look nice and smell good, and make a positive contribution to the quality of the grapes and must and wine. But no way can they be allowed to grow 'in' the vineyard among the vines. This is because rock roses and actually bushes and can even turn into small trees if the conditions are right for them. They are perennials, have long deep roots and would directly compete with the vines for water and nutrients.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ6_ZF0g3oVyG_XGORReqbGTA12zjF6vyTDIug4fYtcWFxXJqwg7Zd4_2paDTTEDmsXy8r6QemtwBOVdCdljFE8xKUShEuMme4OQiUfw7e2BsVpOivuPfVwb8njRXSZmMkaDCWplsWoxo/s1600/IMG_20160103_124606.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ6_ZF0g3oVyG_XGORReqbGTA12zjF6vyTDIug4fYtcWFxXJqwg7Zd4_2paDTTEDmsXy8r6QemtwBOVdCdljFE8xKUShEuMme4OQiUfw7e2BsVpOivuPfVwb8njRXSZmMkaDCWplsWoxo/s400/IMG_20160103_124606.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Too many rock roses in the vineyard</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
This is totally different from life-forms such as grasses, plants, flowers or thistles, which are annuals (ie die off and decompose within the year), have short roots and don't directly compete with the vines.<br />
<br />
So, there's no doubt about it in my mind. They have to go! But how? Having renounced the use of chemical weapons of mass destruction, I will just have to uproot them all by hand! By crouching down and/or bending over, then grabbing and pulling.<br />
<br />
I can feel the pain already - all those muscles that I don't normally use, in my feet, bum, back, hands and fingers!!!<br />
<br />
So the plan of action is one or two days of mobilization of muscle power (situps, pressups, toestands, ankle rotations, hand and finger exercises, etc) then launch a counter-attack on the rock roses.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpE59g60tTDwtfTAqwXpJDL8JaT3W02lSeB2xRoR1fifU0f7iuFcVzbVnj_Ex9bmVzi3tYlg3ezpjnzLrbQMVpL7dZOb_gLlY4dArdTd5NOrpHUWUaidkP7IVrDwgE-ek6WOSumEaM5Qs/s1600/IMG_20160103_124552.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpE59g60tTDwtfTAqwXpJDL8JaT3W02lSeB2xRoR1fifU0f7iuFcVzbVnj_Ex9bmVzi3tYlg3ezpjnzLrbQMVpL7dZOb_gLlY4dArdTd5NOrpHUWUaidkP7IVrDwgE-ek6WOSumEaM5Qs/s640/IMG_20160103_124552.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>They're everywhere</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4wsF_q67inlblvnIiN-iOdE2Xe4zOH8ksScK5gRANWMMFbhhknng12hgsW0_L6mR2P3SGlbHBBL_Q7USYTRh7_BL4J46GQuoJN1iqtNMSwLR0DKFwtFMpQbzGhgOUrYl78E7D_sjDzf8/s1600/IMG_20160103_124638.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4wsF_q67inlblvnIiN-iOdE2Xe4zOH8ksScK5gRANWMMFbhhknng12hgsW0_L6mR2P3SGlbHBBL_Q7USYTRh7_BL4J46GQuoJN1iqtNMSwLR0DKFwtFMpQbzGhgOUrYl78E7D_sjDzf8/s640/IMG_20160103_124638.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Rock Roses invading Garnacha vineyard</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I hope to be done in one or two days!<br />
<br />
Happy New Year, btw :)Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-22258975190593207542015-11-06T14:02:00.003+01:002015-11-06T23:16:37.224+01:00Wine Woes, or post-harvest f***ups!<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I was really looking
forwards to a period of rest and relaxation after the harvesting and
winemaking, which is of course the most stressful time of year for a small
grape-grower and winemaker like myself. This is because you have to get
everything right first time! If you do something wrong, you don’t get a second
chance. You have to wait till next year! But I have to say that everything
actually went very well this year – all my harvests went smoothly and according
to plan, at the optimum dates, the fermentations all went well, and the
resulting wines are coming along nicely, touch wood!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So what happened? Why
can’t I rest and relax yet? Well, basically because I messed up three different
orders for wines that I exported recently – at the same time as the harvesting
and winemaking in fact! And not just one order, but three! So now I have to
sort out the messes and placate my angry importers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">With the first pallet,
which went to London, I mixed up the Sauvignon Blanc with the Airen, and I sent
double quantity of SB and no Airen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">With the second
pallet, which went to NY, I mislabelled the wines and used labels with the
wrong vintage. Now I have to print new labels, send them over, and this angry
importer will have to open all the boxes and stick the good labels over the bad
ones – about 500 bottles!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And with the third
pallet, which is on its way to California right now, not only did I mislabel
the wines (same problem/solution as above) but I also unwitting sold to someone
else, the 300 bottles of SB that this angry importer had reserved months ago.
So this importer is doubly angry with me, as he has half a pallet of mislabelled wines
and the other half missing entirely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Oh woe! How
embarrassing! How stupid! I'm angry at myself too! Well, everything is in the
process of being sorted out. But what can I do now? I suppose that I shall just
have to be much more careful in the future, ie triple-check everything, write
proper lists down on paper, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maybe try not to do more than one order at a time, maybe try not to ship
out during harvesting and winemaking?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">More bad news: the
other day, I was informed by the transport company that my California pallet
had been opened in transit and 9 cases of wine stolen! I don’t know the
details, but I imagine that the lorry was parked somewhere (driver having
lunch?), then thieves broke into it, slashed open the plastic film wrap around
the pallet, and made off with what they could.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So now I have to write
a new invoice and re-do the Customs and Excise documents, which are a nightmare
at the best of times. I don’t want to think about the amount of time and mental
energy I’ll have to waste on this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Even worse is the fact
that 5 of the cases were a special order for a specific winestore for a
specific wine that I don’t normally sell abroad, as there’s so few bottles left
(Airen 2012). (Sorry JD, we’ll have to try again next year!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Moving on to the next
item in my list of f***ups:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In an attempt to
compensate my UK importers for the inconvenience I caused them, I decided to
come over to London and pack in a whole load of promotional events, tastings,
etc to help them move my wines. So I booked my flights (yesterday Thurs 5<sup>th</sup>
to Tues 10<sup>th</sup>) and here I am, writing this!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But little did I know that weekends are the worst possible
time to organize tastings in restaurants or winebars – because they are all
very busy at weekends obviously! Duh! How totally stupid of me! Again!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">But I last I now have
time to write this post, ha ha! And in fact we have managed to organize two
events:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Tasting
(and aperitivos) at Eliott’s, at 19:00, tomorrow on Sat 7<sup>th</sup>. See
details on FB.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Screening
of the short documentary “Spanish Grapes”, by Zev Robinson, in which I feature
slightly along with other Spanish wineries (from the real wine world – not the
natural wine ghetto! Ha ha)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Followed by a question and answer session with personalities from the
Spanish wine world (don’t know if I'm included in that!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Followed by a tasting of the wines featured in the documentary
(including mine)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This is all happening at the Copa de Cava, starting at 18:30.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">You are all invited to
come to both events (if you are in London this weekend obviously). The
screening is free and on me. I’m not sure if you have to pay anything for the
tasting at Eliott’s – you’ll have to check the webpage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And that’s about it.
Cheers, and hope to see you soon!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-50421056226365203132015-09-24T23:39:00.000+02:002015-09-24T23:39:12.157+02:00Harvesting and winemaking 2015 – so far so good!<div class="MsoNormal">
Most of my
grapes are in! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! It’s been a very
intense, and tiring, and stressful experience, but in the end, of course an
enjoyable one! So far I’ve harvested: Albillo, Garnacha, Doré, Tempranillo,
Sauvignon Blanc, Airén, and Malvar. The only one left is the Chelva, which I
should be taking in this week or maybe next.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">This year
I’ve managed to be sensible and I’m only going to be making about 10,000
bottles of wine in total. Not like last year, when due to irrational exuberance
and not knowing how to say “No” I attempted to make 15,000 bottles, but had to
pour about 5,000 down the drain (see this <u>old post</u>)! Yes, this year I decided
to run a ‘tighter ship’ as it were, ie to consolidate on the same quantity
(10,000) and make them better, as opposed to trying to do more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">So I’ve
more or less made (am making, rather) the same style of wines as usual - plus
the odd experiment of course </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span lang="EN-GB">.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Basically this
is what there’s going to be:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br />
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-GB">Airén.
No skin contact, just crushed, pressed, and racked once. All in stainless
steel</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Doré.
Just a wee bit of skin contact, 8 days this time, which is slightly longer than
last year. In stainless steel, with an experimental lot in a baby amphora
(which I lined myself with beeswax by copying a YouTube video from Georgia)</li>
</ul>
<!--[if !supportLists]--></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO_bd_15KWno1zwmdzouKh-q0tr6t4uIKUGzM3NW0T6vQQKl5ye4uhiX6wyG0XBS8n-i7P8nW65__8btBl5MxrOP4LzzT21f_uDmRFG2u9kTJl2bZwL-5dsrVmZ7kDRgHEDC_ZmJbHMG4/s1600/IMG_20150822_183726.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO_bd_15KWno1zwmdzouKh-q0tr6t4uIKUGzM3NW0T6vQQKl5ye4uhiX6wyG0XBS8n-i7P8nW65__8btBl5MxrOP4LzzT21f_uDmRFG2u9kTJl2bZwL-5dsrVmZ7kDRgHEDC_ZmJbHMG4/s320/IMG_20150822_183726.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Unlined leaky baby amphora</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1PTNOw3YLpZZjm7saWa22ybbKiLiPzsjVKv74S9dQFfKEbcp5SQavw5ryVVWMsEPaF63ObZl8rjHVAtBdqy-zLDWj7uRixFReM6_VJLFq_1bMrHJuAa_VQdkblTAo63xdZKFuEZEwhW4/s1600/IMG_20150822_183743.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1PTNOw3YLpZZjm7saWa22ybbKiLiPzsjVKv74S9dQFfKEbcp5SQavw5ryVVWMsEPaF63ObZl8rjHVAtBdqy-zLDWj7uRixFReM6_VJLFq_1bMrHJuAa_VQdkblTAo63xdZKFuEZEwhW4/s320/IMG_20150822_183743.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Lump of beeswax and mop</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Tgz_oClZpxmytxxo4NyGpGnw3A3SGz0IBABSfQwqPJVW7qfRcg1UFzxtq0uV_B59LIbeGd6UanSvWl8wVinY4dY99i8WX2nBRb6q0eIGKEbAg9YqsA6nI3b1umwiJwUqasmqofhWzrQ/s1600/IMG_20150822_184600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Tgz_oClZpxmytxxo4NyGpGnw3A3SGz0IBABSfQwqPJVW7qfRcg1UFzxtq0uV_B59LIbeGd6UanSvWl8wVinY4dY99i8WX2nBRb6q0eIGKEbAg9YqsA6nI3b1umwiJwUqasmqofhWzrQ/s320/IMG_20150822_184600.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Melting the beeswax</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim6AmIUHa-r1sOeoufWS6nzyGBHGdekkD_hjrl4X06wP3Eo6xORHmjjRulS0zxYSqP4T4JM7WWP9TbnSbw5GVzI1GX7kuB87TZJaajLb212VVlTwFPBMGSEDcpoS81m0g8T_6zw3hoe38/s1600/IMG_20150822_185712.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim6AmIUHa-r1sOeoufWS6nzyGBHGdekkD_hjrl4X06wP3Eo6xORHmjjRulS0zxYSqP4T4JM7WWP9TbnSbw5GVzI1GX7kuB87TZJaajLb212VVlTwFPBMGSEDcpoS81m0g8T_6zw3hoe38/s320/IMG_20150822_185712.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Lining the tinaja with melted beeswax using mop</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDXyfJn-ih0VnhcOJcpwfdRbw08ZoAUDxYKJTplzjKcDnFZ0xUglWodukuHE9Cc0rNu7Gyse9xIi0VNQoS40YKx0SBxwVleXtB_G4awzpU4UO4xosKV8K2Dmj61rodg6zhEj1VVUDob4/s1600/IMG_20150908_223710.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDXyfJn-ih0VnhcOJcpwfdRbw08ZoAUDxYKJTplzjKcDnFZ0xUglWodukuHE9Cc0rNu7Gyse9xIi0VNQoS40YKx0SBxwVleXtB_G4awzpU4UO4xosKV8K2Dmj61rodg6zhEj1VVUDob4/s320/IMG_20150908_223710.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Baby tinaja with Doré</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS9Y0ZI7MDqucp5NuMkg_flb1FaIkgOX2k-nbY2lKaSZsarLIcahaIOTlzbtfBs5P8Y5-hMMZ98MRHmThZYYp6w7IdDWpHUhhnFLMYamFYGuFdg8XHwcBJgPkQgwsqCnNlOschH-EZX4A/s1600/IMG_20150908_223558.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS9Y0ZI7MDqucp5NuMkg_flb1FaIkgOX2k-nbY2lKaSZsarLIcahaIOTlzbtfBs5P8Y5-hMMZ98MRHmThZYYp6w7IdDWpHUhhnFLMYamFYGuFdg8XHwcBJgPkQgwsqCnNlOschH-EZX4A/s320/IMG_20150908_223558.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Stainless steel with Doré</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br />
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB">Albillo.
Lot #1 is my usual Albillo, ie 2 days
maceration and then pressed and into a large tinaja. Lot #2 is a smaller
lot (experiment), in stainless steel but with the grapes crushed underfoot, as
opposed to using a manual crusher. Lot #3 is also small, 300 litres stainless
steel, and with this I’m going to make an orange wine, so it’s been crushed but
I’m going to leave the skins and stems in there for a few months and see what
happens.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwRq0bQD0YE86ZkZU_RhxeYy1fzo_CP8WtiWgmom_17fjSehicUFeLO1sQFhuDzFAoZsyw4znNgOwQkhfrdNvnXR2RXfjiCbRsJvIGiSNrusXKcO_J3nsk3G_fr3YdOqOxC9kKdZlJIRI/s1600/IMG_20150820_111715.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwRq0bQD0YE86ZkZU_RhxeYy1fzo_CP8WtiWgmom_17fjSehicUFeLO1sQFhuDzFAoZsyw4znNgOwQkhfrdNvnXR2RXfjiCbRsJvIGiSNrusXKcO_J3nsk3G_fr3YdOqOxC9kKdZlJIRI/s400/IMG_20150820_111715.jpg" width="296" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Albillo (Lot 2) in stainless steel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-GB">Sauvignon
Blanc, same procedure as last year, ie 10 days skin contact and then into
tinajas</span></li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZBk24GR6NjCnAQcgyue3LUr11-q-27UVqm5S883uJ99qG-v6YcdYkBHpI2QuOZJlEH1xPbOXZqDq6FJCfZBUwUqvbMrirVfT83Ui2Y4piHNY75PQ_Lhve9KdmVbD-njvnkUDul98TDS8/s1600/IMG_20150911_151948.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZBk24GR6NjCnAQcgyue3LUr11-q-27UVqm5S883uJ99qG-v6YcdYkBHpI2QuOZJlEH1xPbOXZqDq6FJCfZBUwUqvbMrirVfT83Ui2Y4piHNY75PQ_Lhve9KdmVbD-njvnkUDul98TDS8/s320/IMG_20150911_151948.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>SB in large tinaja</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixEALzKotaq7Qu8UPCsvzNWa_eEWKBIwQrLFB0iirVfRJtRHUHRBXk7ovKSLc1csXVOkO9TeK572k3HLcSIu5Qkg8UJKgmBx0d_39SHnPG0DP15hNp0CaF16JXluv5kjT-kRRkLRu-nRk/s1600/IMG_20150911_151928.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixEALzKotaq7Qu8UPCsvzNWa_eEWKBIwQrLFB0iirVfRJtRHUHRBXk7ovKSLc1csXVOkO9TeK572k3HLcSIu5Qkg8UJKgmBx0d_39SHnPG0DP15hNp0CaF16JXluv5kjT-kRRkLRu-nRk/s320/IMG_20150911_151928.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>SB in small tinaja</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br />
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-GB">Malvar.
At the moment I’ve got some Malvar (still with skins and stems) in open top
barrels and some in stainless steel, but I would like to get it all into
tinajas, sometime and somehow! This will involve a bit of racking off and
movement of liquids form one place to another, and some transdimensional
winemaking, ie putting larger volumes into smaller volumes!</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-GB">Garnacha.
For the first time I’m going to make a Garnacha in tinaja. This is Lot #1 which
is quite big, in this large tinaja. Lot #2 is in stainless steel at the moment,
and I’ll be pressing it off soon, into a big 500 or 600 litres oak barrel. <i>Old
</i>barrels of course, because I don’t want the wine to taste of oak!</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-GB">Tempranillo.
This will also soon be pressed into a 500 or 600 litre old oak barrel for
aging.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And that’s
about it, except for the Chelva, of which i hope to do about 2 or 3 different
lots!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">All of the
above I’ve been doing more or less constantly since the 9<sup>th</sup> August
(first Albillo harvest). There have been a few peaks of intensity, ie of
getting up at 5:00 in the morning and going to bed at 1.00 in the morning, but
of course not all days were like that. Not quite like warfare (as described by
‘<i>who was it</i>?’ as periods of intense boredom punctuated by instants of intense
fear) – harvesting and crushing/pressing is more like periods of intense
stress/tiredness combined with periods of worry and doubt (about what I did with
the grapes already and what I’ll going to do with the ones about to come in). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I think
this is because winemakers only get one chance per year to make their wines,
and you have to get it right (or at least not too wrong!). I suppose that if
you’re making beer, or bread, or cheese, or whatever, if you get one lot wrong,
it doesn’t really matter very much, because you can just try again next
day/week/month. Also, in my own case, even though I generally try to more or
less make the same wines each year (“if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!”) I don’t
actually follow set formulas and procedures (and my note-taking is terrible
anyway!).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">On the
other hand, I’m not in the least bit worried about fermentation not starting or
getting stuck. Fermentation has always started for me and has never stuck. Nor
am I worried about “nasty” bacteria or “strange” yeast strains “infecting” my
must or wine. I think that these are irrational fears drummed into oenology
students by over-technical and control-freak oriented wineschools, who fight
against Nature instead of working with Her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9MtqQy2DTAFeIXMWecP2tf8jUAnO3JH0_kyTVdrFVmCBju3dpgjA0V_cMxv51aP9nKRdCx6MgWIqdvPdfx1AOEx2HI-ciWxx0FMyixtC6SsdyLZk3AoL8733Cbuogh29bVS3whPAG7sU/s1600/800px-S_cerevisiae_under_DIC_microscopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9MtqQy2DTAFeIXMWecP2tf8jUAnO3JH0_kyTVdrFVmCBju3dpgjA0V_cMxv51aP9nKRdCx6MgWIqdvPdfx1AOEx2HI-ciWxx0FMyixtC6SsdyLZk3AoL8733Cbuogh29bVS3whPAG7sU/s400/800px-S_cerevisiae_under_DIC_microscopy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"S cerevisiae under DIC microscopy" by Masur - Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">As you (readers)
probably already know, for fermentation to happen, I rely exclusively on the
natural yeasts floating around in the environment. I don’t purchase or use any manufactured
packets of yeast from a factory or laboratory.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The over-scientific
anti-Nature approach to fermentation is to first of all to sterilize the must
and kill all living creatures in it (bacteria, yeasts, etc) using sulphites and
then to inoculate with a manufactured strain of the “good” yeast <i>Sacchoramyces Cervisiae</i> according to
whatever flavour, style, mouthfeel, etc they want their wine to have. This is
OK (in fact it’s probably the ONLY way) to produce great quantities of
commercial wines that are pleasing to great quantities of consumers who don’t
really care very much about the niceties of wine (eg, terroir, complexity,
interesting characteristics etc).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">But I don’t
want to make that kind of wine – there are millions of bottles of that, in
thousands of brands, available already in the supermarkets, all with pretty
labels and at appropriate price points! What I’m trying to do is to express the
terroir, the variety, the year, the climate, the sense of place, the tipicity,
etc of each wine that I make. And to do that, it’s essential to use all the
yeasts and bacteria and other micro-organisms that happen to live in your
winery, on your equipment and in and around your vineyards. And NOT exclusively
use a strain of <i>Sacchoramyces Cerevisiae</i>
extracted and propagated in a laboratory from a distant strain from some other part of
the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s my
understanding that it takes a few days for good old <i>Sacchoramyces Cerevisiae</i> to establish a foothold, reproduce itself
and then to totally dominate the fermentation process to the end, to the
exclusion of all other species, because (a bit like myself) it has a very high
tolerance for alcohol, as opposed to other species of yeast. When the grapes
come in, and for a few days afterwards, there is hardly any<i> Sacchoramyces Cerevisiae </i>yeast present at all. The yeast
population at this point is almost 100% non-<i>Sacchoramyces</i> species. So, statistically it does seem like a huge risk to
rely on this natural or spontaneous type of fermentation. But like I said
above, after a few days of fermentation when the alcohol level reaches around
5%, all these non-<i> Sacchoramyces</i>
species can’t stand the heat in the kitchen, and they die off because they have a very low
tolerance to alcohol. Now is the moment that the high alcohol-tolerant <i>Sacchoramyces Cerevisiae </i>takes over and
ferments the remaining sugar up to 15%.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I also
believe that it’s during these first few days, when <i>Sacchoramyces Cerevisiae</i> is not present in significant quantities,
and when those other ‘nasties’ are working, that the interesting, local and unique aromas, tastes and
flavours are created that give the wine its tipicity and a good, faithful and
interesting expression of terroir.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I’m not
saying that this is not risky. It is risky! If one of those ‘nasties’ (like the
black, hairy, spiky cartoon creatures used to sell toilet-cleaning products on
TV! hahaha!) manages to reproduce itself too much, then of course you’ll get a pretty
weird and probably not very nice wine – and certainly not expressive of the
terroir or anything else! But if you just take a few simple countermeasures,
the risk is practically reduced to zero: 1. Keep everything super-clean (tanks,
presses, equipment, floor, hoses, scissors, buckets, absolutely everything you
use). 2. Just bring in healthy, top quality grapes from healthy vines growing
in healthy, living, complex soils. Et voilá – no problemo!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><b>And
lastly...<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And lastly,
an update on my sparkling wine experiments! Not much to report since my last
post on that. Basically what I’ve discovered so far is that I have to bottle up
much later than I expected. I was thinking that around a density of 1015 or
1010 would be a good range, ie fizzy enough to be sparlkling but not too much
to erupt volcanically on opening the bottle. But no! I think I need to wait
till about 1005 or even 1000. I opened up a bottle recently that was bottles at
1007, and it too erupted volcanically. See <u>this video</u>.</span><span lang="EN-GB"> I’ll be bottling up more soon. Stay posted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And even
more lastly, ... no, I’ll save my other news/gossip/rants for a separate post
next week </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-36778660078348125612015-08-25T01:09:00.001+02:002015-08-31T08:37:35.899+02:00Sparkling Experiment #1 (Albillo)<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333330154419px;">Last Sunday 16th August, i</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">n accordance with my
Sparkling Master Plan, ie to make a few bottles of sparkling wine from every variety, from every
plot, and from as many states of grape ripeness as possible, I duly bottled up one (1) bottle of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albillo">Albillo</a>, from the Charco del Cura vineyard
(El Tiemblo, Sierra de Gredos), at a density of 1025.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Note: This year I'm
just going to do the 'Método Ancestral', ie just bottling up with a crown cap
(beer bottle style top) while the wine is still fermenting. Next year, perhaps,
I may consider thinking about other methods, second fermentations, degorging,
etc. But this year, I'd rather not complicate my already complicated life too
much :) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZnD-fqpYklho12lESZYPxUMQv0fRkwZp4ci7ZWDqjPC684spHJFFO-WXTtb61Gb6uYzWgywaxuNQw22u8QxYDZV-cutz8kdzT_1K0vekKAWOVyo6KZfuQ18fGq4P3j3OfuUOUOFJRufY/s1600/IMG_20150819_194804.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZnD-fqpYklho12lESZYPxUMQv0fRkwZp4ci7ZWDqjPC684spHJFFO-WXTtb61Gb6uYzWgywaxuNQw22u8QxYDZV-cutz8kdzT_1K0vekKAWOVyo6KZfuQ18fGq4P3j3OfuUOUOFJRufY/s320/IMG_20150819_194804.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Sparkling Albillo Experiment #1</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So on Wed 19th August
last, I proceded to taste it with my friend David, owner of the <a href="http://www.lavinetadecarmelo.com/">La Viñeta de Carmelo</a> winestore, in Madrid.</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTJclo-HU_NmhSnFPeC7fDFWDJOWoN3aCsyz1nbJTieEEGLrQ-eTaXSVIUOU-kKcACdo6tiou7W4P75aF8gDYSr56qZunfHDtuvxCMml3OMyRTffHczfZuWagOkaUQYF2uTBKi505SadU/s1600/IMG_20150819_194645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTJclo-HU_NmhSnFPeC7fDFWDJOWoN3aCsyz1nbJTieEEGLrQ-eTaXSVIUOU-kKcACdo6tiou7W4P75aF8gDYSr56qZunfHDtuvxCMml3OMyRTffHczfZuWagOkaUQYF2uTBKi505SadU/s320/IMG_20150819_194645.jpg" width="237" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">We decided that David
would do the opening and I would take the photos.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">First though we put the
bottle in his fridge to cool and settle a little as I suspected that it got
slightly shoogled in the car on the way from my house to his shop.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">So after 30 mins -
Action stations. Camara ready. Bottle opener ready. Here we go!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGmBU9kGaJPCpTEeXdBpo42Rm_MxVeOunMpixdfp-g4qUxSc4rfwwigtxOlvGukq3znFrqgZG4yx6DqDO9_NYaddOR-nMIRVs24k5M_tCf0gUabKhwtmuSvnIl_iX7w2PAOw5V3QnqSY8/s1600/IMG_20150819_194657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGmBU9kGaJPCpTEeXdBpo42Rm_MxVeOunMpixdfp-g4qUxSc4rfwwigtxOlvGukq3znFrqgZG4yx6DqDO9_NYaddOR-nMIRVs24k5M_tCf0gUabKhwtmuSvnIl_iX7w2PAOw5V3QnqSY8/s320/IMG_20150819_194657.jpg" width="237" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Good Grief! What an
eruption! What a fountain! I've never seen anything like it in my life! At
least 75% of the bottle went spurting all over the floor!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">But we did get a glass
each to taste.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_oHTpAodQRaGv7wdPNPlpou0aHTX14yN6gaGbUWXul93OlOOHJJ1_OS2YxZvSGmWZd-uZLktgMR66ytsk4us_M0o17xyi50L3iDQQnhiS5-CMG8jBULkPAz4Qv8u8T2K7GotB0f-ferU/s1600/IMG_20150819_194736.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_oHTpAodQRaGv7wdPNPlpou0aHTX14yN6gaGbUWXul93OlOOHJJ1_OS2YxZvSGmWZd-uZLktgMR66ytsk4us_M0o17xyi50L3iDQQnhiS5-CMG8jBULkPAz4Qv8u8T2K7GotB0f-ferU/s320/IMG_20150819_194736.jpg" width="237" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Extremely cloudy,
infact, totally opaque. Colour of light
mud or sludge. But appearances can be deceptive, as it was totally smooth in
the mouth. Not much fizz left after the eruption, just gently pétillant. Very
fruity in the nose, very sweet in the mouth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhUUb4kkM5cynwOYvk3FtexHGGILZ3hB6kp9zTnZiXg5vVspb3ayOIKQ4KNPKvBwhD_dgElay6cu3QXNFZWFgrX1Qs1ND8geNeWI8G8E7BtRq-76CqUTgpR6skAvP5NeXZPx4hPx1nhn8/s1600/IMG_20150819_194816.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhUUb4kkM5cynwOYvk3FtexHGGILZ3hB6kp9zTnZiXg5vVspb3ayOIKQ4KNPKvBwhD_dgElay6cu3QXNFZWFgrX1Qs1ND8geNeWI8G8E7BtRq-76CqUTgpR6skAvP5NeXZPx4hPx1nhn8/s320/IMG_20150819_194816.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Cleaning up the mess!</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So, conclusions and
lessons learned. The main one is that for future experiments I will have to do
long, slow cool fermentations, as opposed to my preferred hot n fast approach.
This is because I need time to taste a few days after bottling and if happy
with the result, the remaining wine ought to be at more or less the same stage
of fermentation. Otherwise I will miss the boat!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Another lesson learnt
is that 1025 is perhaps a bit too gassy. Maybe I'll wait until 2020 for the
next experiment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><b>Experiment #2 </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Another experiment is
underway already. It's with the same Albillo but this time bottled up at a
density 2010. This is probably not fizzy enough, but I bottled and capped the
last 15 bottles of this lot, because there wasn't enough room in the 300 liter tank
into which I had just racked the wine. Waste not want not. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Watch this space for
the results of Exp.#2. David, prepare your mop, bucket, and protective
goggles, j'arrive :)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Racking into a 300 liter stainless steel tank (on the right)</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW6OP1zEU4gCj13S-wxH1VnXvjqq0yYBi2LUVweg6KrcUymyI2CKIVezfTy3S9zAyCa-qRJ690Pa1gRbLMxljrN-4kWLrF1DBRwiKSqAx86zW3wA1pXC824lu7Ea6usULsQwXjP5fp8g4/s1600/IMG_20150820_111715.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW6OP1zEU4gCj13S-wxH1VnXvjqq0yYBi2LUVweg6KrcUymyI2CKIVezfTy3S9zAyCa-qRJ690Pa1gRbLMxljrN-4kWLrF1DBRwiKSqAx86zW3wA1pXC824lu7Ea6usULsQwXjP5fp8g4/s320/IMG_20150820_111715.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>300 liter stainless steel tank full of Albillo wine</b></td></tr>
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Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-27173238497916322262015-08-23T19:22:00.001+02:002015-08-23T19:23:30.930+02:00Albillo Harvest Time in Sierra de Gredos<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Yes, it's that time of
year again! I did my first Albillo harvest two weeks ago on 8th August, and my
second one last Saturday on 15th August. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albillo">Albillo</a>, a white variety, ripens several
weeks before all other grape varieties (at least here in Spain). This is quite
convenient for me, as for a few weeks, as the different Albillo plots ripen and
are harvested, I get to practice or warm up as it were for the main harvests of
all my other varieties. Then, once I've picked all my Albillo plots and
processed the grapes, I get to have a mini-break (the calm before the storm)
before starting on my Tempranillo, Garnacha, Airén, Malvar, Doré, Chelva
and Sauvignon Blanc, all in mid-September - October.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRC3vavYYC-Qmi7cHBuM_gMpkMdwbVGycGkKb3VZNhYwvPLnmJnYObD2cmHlNbIqTrcavTgGWlxf14GPEshwGpPwIL6MXOOXflkjzU9b97JUcCtY4TBXVvSyqpKkkZPPJfV8K7w6lz-sw/s1600/IMG-20150816-WA0008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRC3vavYYC-Qmi7cHBuM_gMpkMdwbVGycGkKb3VZNhYwvPLnmJnYObD2cmHlNbIqTrcavTgGWlxf14GPEshwGpPwIL6MXOOXflkjzU9b97JUcCtY4TBXVvSyqpKkkZPPJfV8K7w6lz-sw/s640/IMG-20150816-WA0008.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Albillo vineyard with Charco del Cura reservoir in the background</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Another Interesting
thing about Albillo is its incredible intensity and tastiness and structure.
Although its a white grape, it's actually really more like a red grape! All the
Albillo wines I've tasted have been big, structured and complex wines - not
like a 'normal' white wine at all.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVnMFNIqjPgzFWp9CNaEcpk-xTWG5fQg3ZBKrKkmCrgG4cGlb_yNZA-5N7dYZ6Q_YZAv2CBgUAGC3HthliQEZVzQGVo0GldebFiMkntRS7z00YtT1GAbG6SGjt_PB-aKlfKZQZZH0_UL0/s1600/IMG-20150815-WA0022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVnMFNIqjPgzFWp9CNaEcpk-xTWG5fQg3ZBKrKkmCrgG4cGlb_yNZA-5N7dYZ6Q_YZAv2CBgUAGC3HthliQEZVzQGVo0GldebFiMkntRS7z00YtT1GAbG6SGjt_PB-aKlfKZQZZH0_UL0/s400/IMG-20150815-WA0022.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Closeup of Albillo grapes</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6HNbxrBBdhbej3xnFw8XbgCeJs_1u38xeJ_UqW46qvuY8swUMut0MeboLE_AOW0jJlm2a4rhN-5Y5khDFQ0zmObzZuA6ymhMFyvbMInpKLv4ro2a123m58M-ubfmk1zze8RBB6WamJH4/s1600/IMG-20150815-WA0023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6HNbxrBBdhbej3xnFw8XbgCeJs_1u38xeJ_UqW46qvuY8swUMut0MeboLE_AOW0jJlm2a4rhN-5Y5khDFQ0zmObzZuA6ymhMFyvbMInpKLv4ro2a123m58M-ubfmk1zze8RBB6WamJH4/s400/IMG-20150815-WA0023.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Another closeup</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">This year I've been
lucky enough to have three different Albillo plots, near El Tiemblo! Albillo is
in short supply all over the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_de_Gredos">Sierra de Gredos</a>, sadly, due to a couple of
reasons that I can think of right now: firstly, growers try to sell their
Albillo as table grapes to fruit shops or fruit wholesalers because it's so
tasty and sweet and because table grapes command a higher price. This is bad
new for us winemakers because it reduces the supply and increases the price!
Another reason that there's so little of it about is that many growers, I'm
told, ripped up their old-vine Albillo vineyards and planted new vines of
different varieities. A terrible shame and tragedy, but c'est la vie I suppose.
They must have had their reasons for doing it.<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpFjQX4b1Y9T6DzVSPSR3TF0Fnc_l1Y5NfmlJgwwVxB3vEpCELjjX5o1JouAfeOnvjpsbEEUzPl37H82jtUOtXkL7Ut2NbE0HKl1415ps7yll71u4OmS4cm4xkBLn_U7-kvHgtJ-GOLHo/s1600/IMG-20150816-WA0006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpFjQX4b1Y9T6DzVSPSR3TF0Fnc_l1Y5NfmlJgwwVxB3vEpCELjjX5o1JouAfeOnvjpsbEEUzPl37H82jtUOtXkL7Ut2NbE0HKl1415ps7yll71u4OmS4cm4xkBLn_U7-kvHgtJ-GOLHo/s400/IMG-20150816-WA0006.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bucketful of Albillo</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKLuVSRP8H9GrN793j7RirJXOFMpoVw_IMtVE9PpSsqn7QQsGyAlKWVVl-2UGyEkTs8vGaNWlZnRnaVv9yELbrsJPwJ_TKe9y5Gqaiokdw8OSVW2MNahrc5UcJ5KsjQPfdZSs-J62oGrk/s1600/IMG-20150816-WA0007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKLuVSRP8H9GrN793j7RirJXOFMpoVw_IMtVE9PpSsqn7QQsGyAlKWVVl-2UGyEkTs8vGaNWlZnRnaVv9yELbrsJPwJ_TKe9y5Gqaiokdw8OSVW2MNahrc5UcJ5KsjQPfdZSs-J62oGrk/s400/IMG-20150816-WA0007.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Moving boxes of Albillo</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">It is in fact very
difficult to find really old vines of any variety in the Sierra de Gredos. I
believe that most have been ripped up and the few that are left have been
'snapped up' by people who appreciate the quality of the wine such vines can
produce, rather than the quantity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">So this year I'm going to
make several different batches of Albillo, keeping each plot separate: some in
'tinaja' (clay amphora), some in stainless steel, and if I can get my hands on
some second-hand white wine barricas, I would like to age some in old oak
barrels too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6z49Q2f1MNBzDKUw4l6lOGkztWmtOG-O-nFSQGExOm_xYFedAdrfzYBrtTeKKFz3H0kVJQz3cfGSOtNJHOnElbR8wagwwJXs9Grgsi__qcHM83Qy6fbaX7nS2itI6Jn1T5xzNiTvqSxs/s1600/IMG-20150815-WA0009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6z49Q2f1MNBzDKUw4l6lOGkztWmtOG-O-nFSQGExOm_xYFedAdrfzYBrtTeKKFz3H0kVJQz3cfGSOtNJHOnElbR8wagwwJXs9Grgsi__qcHM83Qy6fbaX7nS2itI6Jn1T5xzNiTvqSxs/s400/IMG-20150815-WA0009.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Picking Albillo in confort!</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-wi6U8TG4Vmkd5kJj1pDD-ooDimF2E-s0i3XmfsHI2kCrH1829-A6I-l-BkHVqRaSJMclaflWeXrBC5nNTKqoLchLMkqmp8hTVyO6HZKXmi3tM9ozKl2FdTAzcJR89neWA5pkQXDjCVc/s1600/IMG-20150815-WA0018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-wi6U8TG4Vmkd5kJj1pDD-ooDimF2E-s0i3XmfsHI2kCrH1829-A6I-l-BkHVqRaSJMclaflWeXrBC5nNTKqoLchLMkqmp8hTVyO6HZKXmi3tM9ozKl2FdTAzcJR89neWA5pkQXDjCVc/s400/IMG-20150815-WA0018.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Harvesters</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjJQRPisS_YH31lNkfHcL4LgnFOa9qlSL3X4665XUv_K1eyPjp-WZ4MtQLihh9zKMuRz8iz45tQg_Nz8ZwtKKpOJQTh18KGvdyW6J4tjVa0B2aw0ZW_U4gdcdfM4-tRrZr7Y25USeBs7M/s1600/IMG-20150815-WA0004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjJQRPisS_YH31lNkfHcL4LgnFOa9qlSL3X4665XUv_K1eyPjp-WZ4MtQLihh9zKMuRz8iz45tQg_Nz8ZwtKKpOJQTh18KGvdyW6J4tjVa0B2aw0ZW_U4gdcdfM4-tRrZr7Y25USeBs7M/s400/IMG-20150815-WA0004.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Grapes safely in the bodega</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFf9rbo7Xo5FaEx_lhozgr5T8DfBd81yhOGL9co8ajD61r1eDUFC0ZLtGKNV8UJ9ZP7iPwjqx6gddfl2af2YC5WPNW04c9xae-e7RXw8b2zwHrSIGOMaAttOhesVF3pPBOJAVR9G0xRPs/s1600/IMG_20150815_164756.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFf9rbo7Xo5FaEx_lhozgr5T8DfBd81yhOGL9co8ajD61r1eDUFC0ZLtGKNV8UJ9ZP7iPwjqx6gddfl2af2YC5WPNW04c9xae-e7RXw8b2zwHrSIGOMaAttOhesVF3pPBOJAVR9G0xRPs/s400/IMG_20150815_164756.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Weighing in</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMbGpijUo_sJ1-kJDyO2Xaq4OQ4cL_qJvX232mYpPaoDoeFZwimP_zZKihadjLnsRlmt0mcuxacQUcg_upXFeqZFDuqnNZFiqeGIPMro-YKdUHSg81dH6-L1GtNJF47G3xHt_m3ub8N9M/s1600/IMG_20150812_164924.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMbGpijUo_sJ1-kJDyO2Xaq4OQ4cL_qJvX232mYpPaoDoeFZwimP_zZKihadjLnsRlmt0mcuxacQUcg_upXFeqZFDuqnNZFiqeGIPMro-YKdUHSg81dH6-L1GtNJF47G3xHt_m3ub8N9M/s400/IMG_20150812_164924.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pressing</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7K6jHYwN0jBgTxdO85traDYl3cV_QzVjxmdSS8I7D91K82ZRqBpLH4FPmSehfdeFWPWNdiBrK-L-FqV8yUP7z__VBdKiYkCaw7hW8vj7-E-PCt7qFxWvFiMYF7YoesAv7CYmCtue8PUA/s1600/IMG-20150813-WA0000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7K6jHYwN0jBgTxdO85traDYl3cV_QzVjxmdSS8I7D91K82ZRqBpLH4FPmSehfdeFWPWNdiBrK-L-FqV8yUP7z__VBdKiYkCaw7hW8vj7-E-PCt7qFxWvFiMYF7YoesAv7CYmCtue8PUA/s640/IMG-20150813-WA0000.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Fermenting</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOip3p-cZCraPbn77AlJL9yEAukMU6NDOEZ_2i8FbWaAJB3RTyfeUS_y1d6TlX_ekOBg9wNDlcvifWCPaBOHGAumZZ8g2lgliHoearU1swwvejqF51W2Hz4m4QU_7MGtnvvti-5p7gjhE/s1600/IMG_20150820_104421.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOip3p-cZCraPbn77AlJL9yEAukMU6NDOEZ_2i8FbWaAJB3RTyfeUS_y1d6TlX_ekOBg9wNDlcvifWCPaBOHGAumZZ8g2lgliHoearU1swwvejqF51W2Hz4m4QU_7MGtnvvti-5p7gjhE/s400/IMG_20150820_104421.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Racking off the gross lees from one tank to another</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><b>Sparkling Wine</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">My major experiment
this year consists of me trying to make some sparkling wine! Time
and circumstances permitting, I'm going to try to make a small quantity of
different sparkling wines from each grape variety I have, from each plot I have
and with grapes harvested at different levels of ripeness!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In order not to
complicate my life too much, I'm just going to use the 'metodo ancestral'
method (or méthode ancestrale, as they say in French). I'm not going to get into degorging or riddling or adding dosages, etc.
Yet! The 'metodo ancestral' basically consists of bottling up while the wine is
still fermenting and closing the bottle with a crown cap (beer bottle top). The
trick is to bottle up at just the right moment - at around a density of 1020
I've been told. If you bottle up too soon, the pressure will be too great and
the wine will explode! If you bottle up too late, then there won't be enough
pressure and the wine will be flat!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzBaaf7UBKqfKClVvbPwGmGzfMd51BZuAh7xcbAI0rcQHjQiDfCZOGcrq-zmYGiuHvZ1VppMuTbqx-CSg6ocroBtANBXt2UnpP7TDOJz1UktmMAn6taH1rCbI1946DeERCduc7V1A6gV8/s1600/IMG_20150723_172757.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzBaaf7UBKqfKClVvbPwGmGzfMd51BZuAh7xcbAI0rcQHjQiDfCZOGcrq-zmYGiuHvZ1VppMuTbqx-CSg6ocroBtANBXt2UnpP7TDOJz1UktmMAn6taH1rCbI1946DeERCduc7V1A6gV8/s400/IMG_20150723_172757.jpg" width="293" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Machine for putting 'crown caps' onto bottles</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I already have one
bottle in the bodega which I bottled and capped when the wine was at 1025. I
suspect this is too soon, and I may well find a big mess when I next go to the
bodega!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5XijvHkGP8RlZS9v_nORHetEox_dPB6CBxuCRFJzeOTuQMTYXQayK6EALt9svxGdye5rhhVHYiplJpto2kN5enibp8Yz6Ayy4zmKoYFei6X26UyKs7FQTsOBVF6-ESSg7S5GxF62-J9k/s1600/IMG_20150819_194446.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5XijvHkGP8RlZS9v_nORHetEox_dPB6CBxuCRFJzeOTuQMTYXQayK6EALt9svxGdye5rhhVHYiplJpto2kN5enibp8Yz6Ayy4zmKoYFei6X26UyKs7FQTsOBVF6-ESSg7S5GxF62-J9k/s400/IMG_20150819_194446.jpg" width="293" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Sparkling Albillo, bottled at 1025 density!</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">My next post will be about the results of this experiment and others! Stay tuned!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Cheers, y'all! Here's to
interesting wines and the enjoyment thereof :)<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003799659416268091.post-43639681819197486182015-06-23T01:48:00.000+02:002015-06-23T01:49:41.887+02:00Winding down for the summer<br />
Well, its late mid-June-ish, and all is well. More or less. The vineyards are beautiful (touch wood); the bodega is semi-prepared for the coming harvest; (touch wood); and the marketing and sales is going really well too (touch wood!).<br />
<br />
<b>Vineyards</b><br />
<br />
I’m really happy with my vineyards. I've let all the grasses, flowers, thistles, etc grow all year, and now all I'm doing is cutting them all back around the vines, so that they will be easier to access during the harvest. The reason I do this, instead of ploughing, is of course to create a living soil and a living ecosystem, full of micro-life (bacteria and other invisible organisms) and visible life itself (insects and other small animals).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhCshqRJ0oQPXzp4XKnxz1_8W5OyLPXWqd5CzvPD4I_1VrCAm-pcjuCOat4BmP72dJIesGS_D8lbypWU6M751ar2m6XRsbkaPeSs8JtKqp7d2gXw89IoyilqqbU7UwuBxD1D2Ody2zc5Q/s1600/floweryvineyard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhCshqRJ0oQPXzp4XKnxz1_8W5OyLPXWqd5CzvPD4I_1VrCAm-pcjuCOat4BmP72dJIesGS_D8lbypWU6M751ar2m6XRsbkaPeSs8JtKqp7d2gXw89IoyilqqbU7UwuBxD1D2Ody2zc5Q/s400/floweryvineyard.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flowery grassy vineyard, Garnacha, El Tiemblo, Sierra de Gredos</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
If the soil is rich and complex and alive, then the vines can take all the nutrients they from it. No more and no less, but just exactly what they need. The way I create this rich and complex and living soil is just to let everything grow, reproduce, die and decompose; and help the process along a little by cutting the grass and plants back with my sickle. I also keep the canes from the pruning and chop them up into tiny pieces.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL_KRttEm0-U2ATVFxr5IqYaA2P6tkXQ30a6Jz4f1zZK4FnYZd-Bg63JtUNkB0N7aavCcl3WOt-h8Igwr-v4YQYnQrxeGPrOfjNlwUd8LbpRPHvXuXqmfb-KchcsxptiWZ_Fx47EWx82I/s1600/gassyvineyard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL_KRttEm0-U2ATVFxr5IqYaA2P6tkXQ30a6Jz4f1zZK4FnYZd-Bg63JtUNkB0N7aavCcl3WOt-h8Igwr-v4YQYnQrxeGPrOfjNlwUd8LbpRPHvXuXqmfb-KchcsxptiWZ_Fx47EWx82I/s400/gassyvineyard.jpg" width="296" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At this time of year, dry grass and thistles!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Every few years I add some manure, which I bury near the vines. It's better to bury it because if you leave it on the surface all its nutrients are used by the surface grasses and it doesn't get down to where the vine's roots are.<br />
<br />
By letting all the different species of grasses and plants grow, you create diverse and interesting habitats for many different species of insects; whereas if you plough up and keep the vineyard naked, then only one or two species can live there – precisely the ones that eat vine leaves and grapes! Obviously, because there's nothing else left to eat! So now you have to use chemicals to kill them because otherwise they'll destroy your vines and grapes!<br />
<br />
This natural system, IMO, produces grapes of a much higher quality than industrially-chemically farmed grapes. The must of naturally farmed grapes is much more complex and interesting and contains a much wider range of components and micro-components; the bunches of industrially-chemically farmed grapes may be bigger and more impressive looking, but the must is diluted, unbalanced and poorer in diversity of flavours and aromas.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzAMktE99vWzC4yMFHzHwzEeUVHVDVWueS6Z7Ms0W-_NrQUfjaD3O8HjoyWH1QDv6SnbxZDXjyHHa-cSF_Kqox0oFn5JOcqqNOkKq0g-QZjvaEX9pM102OPA7AvVkfSjpKhMCwWsObm2U/s1600/supergrassy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzAMktE99vWzC4yMFHzHwzEeUVHVDVWueS6Z7Ms0W-_NrQUfjaD3O8HjoyWH1QDv6SnbxZDXjyHHa-cSF_Kqox0oFn5JOcqqNOkKq0g-QZjvaEX9pM102OPA7AvVkfSjpKhMCwWsObm2U/s400/supergrassy.jpg" width="296" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">more grass</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Each to their own. To produce millions of liters of 'affordable' supermarket wine at nice price points, it may well be necessary to pollute the environment and use lots of dodgy chemicals, but to produce small amounts of quality, terroir-expressing, comment-worthy fine wines, it's essential to practice sustainable, environmentally respectful and safe agriculture. IMO.<br />
<br />
Next year I'm going to give my vines a fortifying booster, in the form of a horsetail infusion (Latin: Equisetum; Spanish: Cola de Caballo). It's been a few years since I last did this.<br />
The other day I watered the 200 new Tempranillo vines that I planted back in April.<br />
<br />
<b>Bodega</b><br />
<br />
The bodega is more or less under control too; it's just that there are lots and lots of minor loose ends to be tied up, but for which I never find the time.<br />
<br />
For example:<br />
-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The patio outside<br />
-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Shopping for ‘stuff’: Hermetic lids, Boxes for harvesting, Crown cap machine, small bits n bobs<br />
-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Cleaning everything: steel tanks, tinajas, presses, crushers, floors, etc<br />
-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Bottling up some barricas<br />
-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Stick insulating panels back on doors<br />
-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Line a new tinaja with beeswax<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVZKA6b3B6XrmzCqjZdO7creDqW11joTO99IkWI2vVbOxaGZH0ZecQK1rcVxW3M_Ozyf3UYKGwb-zze7y3RrfvDU9W7aUqPRSTqAUcRYDj6KzgLwn6_CAz_XsU5ue1qJFZ4G-8WpRiNlo/s1600/pergola.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="473" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVZKA6b3B6XrmzCqjZdO7creDqW11joTO99IkWI2vVbOxaGZH0ZecQK1rcVxW3M_Ozyf3UYKGwb-zze7y3RrfvDU9W7aUqPRSTqAUcRYDj6KzgLwn6_CAz_XsU5ue1qJFZ4G-8WpRiNlo/s640/pergola.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not much shade here - maybe next year!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I have to do all the above and more, but I have no time to do it all! So I have to prioritize and decide which tasks are more important, and which can be left till ‘later’. The main things are in fact done, ie most of the wines are sold, most of the bodega and equipment is clean and ready for the final pre-harvest thorough cleaning. I will just have to be philosophical and come to terms with the fact that there’s no way I can do everything and have everything ‘just so’ to my entire satisfaction. :)<br />
<br />
<b>Marketing and Sales </b>(the unglamourous part)<br />
<br />
No real complaints in this department either. One of my goals last year was to diversify my exports, instead of selling exclusively to <a href="http://www.josepastorselections.com/portfolio.html">JPS </a>in the USA, and I’ve managed to achieve that. I now also export to Denmark, Belgium, France and the UK (see <a href="http://vinosambiz.blogspot.com.es/p/our-wines-and-where-to-buy.html">this page</a> for details).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfTlrHF5PMjOYcxEXoe-1JjNMoU_GDGsRJ-WonVYQjdi3waFWSZcQByoG0Yh7AjVbuiYFLq-bXCQ1Z9WumgKdDBlNOlHSe3KI_-z_WeU-oN4X9vmcLyRjiMOVa5wtzg2Kdj7f0KNC5WKs/s1600/bigpallet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfTlrHF5PMjOYcxEXoe-1JjNMoU_GDGsRJ-WonVYQjdi3waFWSZcQByoG0Yh7AjVbuiYFLq-bXCQ1Z9WumgKdDBlNOlHSe3KI_-z_WeU-oN4X9vmcLyRjiMOVa5wtzg2Kdj7f0KNC5WKs/s400/bigpallet.jpg" width="296" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a nice big pallet of wine, almost ready to go</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I also decided to try to sell in Spain too, but that is proving more difficult. I do sell regularly to three places in Madrid (Enoteca <a href="http://www.enotecabarolo.com/">Barolo</a>, <a href="http://www.solodeuva.com/">SoloDeUva </a>and <a href="http://www.solodeuva.com/">Montia</a>) and also sporadically to another few places. But I see two problems here: firstly there is a lot less demand for natural wines in Spain, it’s still very much a novelty, like it was back in the 80’s or 90’s in other parts of the world. And I have no desire to ‘evangelize’ or try to persuade to drink natural wines. My approach is “if anyone wants to buy my wines they are more than welcome to do so, but I’m not going to argue or justify.” That’s a completely different thing from providing information or answering questions, of course! Which I do, a lot!<br />
<br />
The other difficulty with selling wines in Spain is that I don’t have the time, resources or skills required to be a distributor! I can only just manage those three places I mentioned above, and even then it takes me weeks to respond to orders! What I really need, I suspect, are some proper distributors! J<br />
<br />
<b>Winding Down</b><br />
<br />
So, time to wind down and try to relax. The first thing I have to look forward to this summer is the <a href="https://h2ovegetal.wordpress.com/2015/03/21/h2o-vegetal-2015/">H2O</a> Natural Wine Festival, held in the village of Pinel de Brai (Tarragona).<br />
<br />
Next up will be the Albillo harvest, at the beginning of August. (Albillo Real is a very early ripening variety!) Then there will be a respite of a few weeks, until the regular varieties become ready for harvesting all through September and October.<br />
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Before, during and after those two events I hope to hang out in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barga">Barga </a>(Tuscany) my family’s home town, and apart from doing the usual odd-jobs about the house and garden, I hope to expand my knowledge of Italian wines at the local enoteca – <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Enoteca-COLORDIVINO/151258036046">Colordivino</a>, set right in the centre of the old part of town :)<br />
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Fabiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08029558448422815096noreply@blogger.com1