Critical Mass Fiesta (2)

Thursday 29th October 2009 was the 5th anniversary of the Critical Mass bicycling event in Madrid (known as the Bici Critica in Spanish). After the ride, there was a big party (organized by the organic veg co-op BAH) at the Dragón Social Centre, near the Almudena Cemetery in Madrid.

Vinos Ambiz contributed to this protest against traffic, pollution and the general hostility of cities caused by cars, by donating free wine:

- a bottle of Crianza 2007 (100% Tempranillo, oaked for 10 months) as part of the eco-basket of goodies to be awarded as 1st prize in a raffle

- and as many bottles of Tinto Joven 2008 (Young Red) also 100% Tempranillo as the thisty cyclists could drink! In the end it was only about a case (seems that cyclists are more beer drinkers!

Photos taken on mobile phone. Will post quality photos on Monday!

The 'Tostas' Team

The 'Kalimocho' Team

DJ 'Musicas'

Basket of organic products (wine, bread, glasses, apron, and the basket itself) that was raffled

The winner of the raffle celebrates with a bottle of Vinos Ambiz Crianza 2007

Cabernet Sauvignon harvest and crushing by foot

Yesterday (Sunday 25th October 2009) we did a partial harvest of the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in the vineyard in Ambite.



It was a very strange harvest for a number of reasons:



Firstly, as can be seen from the colour of the leaves, it was very late in the season and the grapes were way past their optimum state. Sugar level too high, acidity level too low. Probably over 14º alcohol.


Lots and lots of tiny bunches

Secondly, the vineyard was abandoned 3 years ago and the parcel we harvested hadn't been pruned. So the clusters were very numerous and very small. The berries were very small too. The ration of juice to pip/skin was very low!


Difficult to access

Thirdly, we only managed to pick about 50 kg, even thought there were 8 of us! Why? Well, we started late, those tiny clusters hardly weigh anything, they were difficult to access, and we were invited to lunch/barbecue!


Still difficult to access

Apart from picking the grapes we also managed to crush them (underfoot) and pour them into a fermentation vat.

Foot massage therapy

"Critical Mass" Fiesta

Thursday 29th October 2009 is the 5th anniversary of the Critical Mass bicycling event in Madrid (known as the Bici Critica in Spanish). After the ride, there's a big party (organized by the organic veg co-op BAH) at the Dragón Social Centre, near the Almudena Cemetery in Madrid.

Vinos Ambiz is contributing to this protest against traffic, pollution and the general hostility of cities caused by cars, by contributing free wine:

- a bottle of Crianza 2007 (100% Tempranillo, oaked for 10 months) as part of the eco-basket of goodies to be awarded as 1st prize in a raffle

- and as many bottles of Tinto Joven 2008 (Young Red) also 100% Tempranillo as the thisty cyclists can drink!

Racking, and surprise tasting

As yesterday was Green Sunday at the co-op (ie, a day when urban consumers can go and get their hands dirty at the farm), I took advantage of the presence of 30+ organic food and wine lovers to inflict the latest offerings from Vinos Ambiz onto them:

Lunch and wine tasting in Perales de Tajuña (Spain)

- The Young White 2009 (100% Airén), which is not done yet. Probably ready by end November. This year, it doesn't look like it's going to be slightly bubbly, like it was last year. A pity because a lot of people liked it bubbly ("con aguja" in Spanish). But that's life with natural wines, they come different every year!

- The Young Red 2009 (100% Garnacha, made by the carbonic maceration process, ie whole clusters, uncrushed, fermented in a sealed tank for 15 days). Also not ready, and probably by end November. This year it looks like its going to be drier and less fruity than last year.

- The Young Red 2008 from last year (100% Tempranillo). This one was more than ready of course and several bottles were tasted and appreciated!

Yesterday morning, before going to perales for the tasting (and for lunch) I racked 350 l of the afore-mentioned Young White and 300 l of the Young Red. This is done to separate the wine from the lees that have settles to the bottom of the tank.

We used to do this manually (no kidding!) But a few years ago we invested in little drill pump (<€20), and it's amazing - it can pump around 3000 l of liquid in an hour!

Little drill-pump

We kept part of the gunge at the bottom of the tank for our friend Caro (La Meiga) who uses it as an ingredient for her artisan hygiene/cleaning/cosmetic products.

Lees of the red Garnacha wine

Back to Main Page


.

Recycling and sustainability

Here's a summary of what and how we're recycling.

Recycling of bottles:

Right from the start of this organic wine project (5 years ago), we have made an effort to reuse our bottles. Apart from the obvious envirnomental reasons for recycling, there is also an economic benefit - both for us (the producers) and for you (the consumers). This is because we pass on the cost savings to the end customer by keeping our prices lower than if we had to buy all our bottles new.

Each new bottle costs us around €0,20 if we were to buy a whole pallet of 1561 bottles, and it would cost a lot more if we were to buy smaller quantities. We estimate that our consumers return about 50% of the bottles over the course of the year, which we then wash and reuse.

It's easy to return your bottles to us (in theory!). Just leave your empties at your pick-up point on delivery day (or a few days before if possible) and we'll take them away. You can also take them to the winery of course whenever you pop in for a visit.
We can also use wine bottles that are not ours, but in this case, we'd really appreciate it if you soaked the labels off first.

Cardboard boxes:
We've never actually bought any 6- or-12 bottle boxes, ever! We have this arrangement with a wine-bar whereby they keep their empty boxes and we pick them up every week or so. A classic win-win situation, as we get free boxes and they get free trash removal!

Corks:


Used corks can't be used to reseal a bottle of wine, but you can return them to us if you want. We've accumulated several thousand so far and we're saving them up make 1) anti-fly curtains for the doors and windows of the winery and perhaps 2) cover a wall of the winery like this shop has done: [link]

Reuse of stems, skins and pips:
We have two uses for these materials. Usually we take it all back to the vineyard where it decomposes/composts and so we improve the quality of the soil by adding organic matter. Some years we make grappa/orujo using a still.

((Vinos Ambiz - sustainable vineyard, natural, genuine, authentic, good quality wine expressing the terroir, recycling as much as possible, improving the fertility of the land, doing our bit for the environment and people's health))

Photos of Grape Harvest and Winery 2009

Photo 1. Here we are resting in the van after having harvested and loaded the crates in the morning. We use small crates (15 - 20 kg) so that the grapes at the bottom don't get crushed and reach the winery in good condition.


Photo 2. Destemming and crushing. This machine separates the grapes from the stems and crushes the grapes between two rollers. In the photo you can see how the stems are ejected down to the left and the crushed grapes falling down (centre) into a container.

Photo 3. Crushing barefoot. Normally, we don't crush our grapes barefoot inside a stainless steel tank, but we thought we'd give it a try!

Photo 4.
This is the 'cake' that is left after pressing the grapes to extract all the must. Normally we put these remains into sacks and scatter them in the vineyard, thus closing the cycle and improving the fertility of the soil. This year though, in collaboration with out friend, La Meiga, we're going to make 'orujo' (in Spanish) or 'grappa' (in Italian). What's it called in English?