Pruning our Sustainable Vineyard

Last Saturday 6th Feb we were pruning again, this time just three of us (no students!) so we managed to do quite a lot (about 200 vines) relatively speaking, but unfortunately we took far too long over lunch, otherwise we could have done maybe 300 vines!

Juan prunes a vine

The two photos below show the same vine, before and after pruning

                      Before                                                After

The next two photos below show the same vine before and after sawing off a dead ‘arm’

                       Before                                                      After


Here we can see a ladybird (US: ladybug), a bit out of focus (sorry, will do better next time). Ladybirds are our friends! They are super-predators and eat all sorts of nasty aphids and bugs that attack the vines/grapes. This is just a small part of the vastly complex biodiversity that we work to create in the vineyard, as opposed to using industrial agro-chemicals that poison the environment and affect peoples’ health.

"I say ladybird, you say ladybug"

More biodiversity! This is a holm oak sapling (one of five) which has sprouted right next to a vine. We are going to transplant them to the edge of the vineyard next day we go.

Holm oak sapling 1 of 5

Below left is a vine that has gone wild, ie the grape variety (either Tempranillo or Airén) that was grafted onto the rootstock either didn’t take or died off at some point. There are about 100 of these wild vines in the vineyard, and we are planning on regrafting them this Spring with a different variety. Any suggestion as to which variety we should select?

                   Wild                                                  Tamed

Above right  is what was left when I’d finished with it! The reason we prune these vines back is not for any ‘production’ reason (the bunches are tiny and the berries are tiny too) – we only do it because they grow enormously long and smother the neighbouring vines (which are about 3 m away!).

Bottle-Washing in the Winery (2)

Last Sunday 31st January, we were filling bottles of young white (100% Airen) and young carbonic maceration red (97% Grenache, 3% Cab Sauv). This was a pleasant fun task, as it was accompanied by interesting conversations, glasses of wine (quality control is important!) and regional music (specifically Manu Chao and Radio Futura on this occasion).

Unfortunately, before that we had to wash bottles and/or take the labels off. That wasn't so much fun, but at least we consoled ourselves knowing that we were doing a good turn for the environment by recyclcing so many bottles - and not only we 4 who were there, but also all our beloved consumers who made the effort to return their bottles and (in some cases!) to take the labels off :)

José Luis and Fermín taking labels off, and Juan in the background, at the bottle-washing machine

Fermín and José Luis taking off more labels

More bottles to be soaked for the next time

Strict quality control procedure

First Day of Pruning

At last (on Friday 29th January) we managed to start pruning in the vineyard in Carabaña. It has rained and snowed so much this year in central Spain, that we couldn't start earlier.

We didn't actually get much done, as we were with the agricultural students from the Escuela-Taller de Alcorcón, who wer doing the parctical part of their course studies in our vineyard.

In the vineyard (looking North)

Juan explains how it's done, around a vine

In the vineyard (looking South)

After working so hard all morning, lunchtime came round, and as it was such a lovely day, we decided to light a fire and eat in the vineyard.

Barbecue in the vineyard

Bye-bye Vineyard

We are kind of sad today at Vinos Ambiz as we have ‘officially’ relinquished the big vineyard in Ambite (Madrid region, Spain), that we took on just over a year ago. We saw this coming, but it’s hard when it actually comes about.

Cabernet Sauvignon

As some of you may know already, it was a vineyard that was abandoned and had run wild for 2 years. There was about 15 acres of Tempranillo and 5 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon. Our plan was to prune it, enclose it with a fence, uproot the tree saplings, and generally nurse it back to health and eventually to full production. (See some earlier posts from last year)

More Cabernet Sauvignon

However, to cut a long story short, it turned out that most of the vines (about 80% of them) were dead. The only viable solution for this vineyard would have been to uproot the dead vines (or even all of them) and replant, which unfortunately we can’t afford to do.

Tempranillo vines with oak tree

Well, it was an expensive lesson learnt!

Vine 'crying' - just like us!

The only good thing about it (appart from the lesson learnt, and the good times we had in the vineyard during the course of the year! - see previous posts) is that we managed to harvest ('scrounge') about 100 kg of Cab Sauv grapes from the abandoned vines which we then crushed, fermented and blended with our Garnacha ('Grenache') wine to make blend of 3% Cab + 97% Garnacha.

Woe in the Winery

Well, over the weekend we made a start on fixing the roof of the winery. There were several leaks during the Christmas holidays, though luckily there was no serious damage. The stainless steel vats full of wine were all under leakless parts of the roof. Our carboard boxes, though, were soaked and we had to throw them out. Also, our two oak casks have grown mould, due to the dampness - luckily they weren't full of wine. We will have to clean them thouroughly and disinfect them.

'Uralita' panels and ancient tiles

We managed to do about 25% of the roof area. First we lifted the tiles off, then we put down corrugated panels of 'uralita' and then put the tiles back down on top. Easier said than done!

A well-deserved glass of wine

If all goes well, we should be done with the roof, this week. Then we have do the pruning in the vineyard, and wash/recycle a few hundred bottles!

Tasks for January 2010

Well, after the Christmas break, we're off to a good start - we came back to find that the winery roof has sprung several leaks!

Saturday 23 and Sunday 24
- Fix roof. We have already got some corrugated panelling, so we need to lift the roof-tiles, place the panels. and then replace the tiles. photos pending
- Wash barrel and fill it with the future Crianza 2009 (Tempranillo) photos pending
- Move 700 l of young Airén 2009 to new deposit, to take it off the lees.

by Saturday 30 and Sunday 31
- Start pruning vineyard in Carabaña (weather permitting)
- Finalize order for new oak barrel
- Update shortlist of 'investors' in barrels for next year
- Wash barrel and fill it with the future Crianza 2009 (Garnacha)

Vinos Ambiz annual wine tasting event

Last Saturday (12th December 2009) was the 4th Vinos Ambiz annual wine-tasting event; this time we did it in La Dragona, a tavern run by Ecologistas en Acción, in c./ Marqués de Leganés 12, Madrid (Spain).

In 2008 it was in the El Patio Maravillas; in 2007 in Off-Limits and in 2006 in the old Seco Social Centre.

La Dragona - Alberto and some wine tasters having a chat

We would like to say thanks to the over 40 people who came the other night. I think we all had a great time and we even learned a thing or two, thanks to Alberto (from Bodegas Corral, in Navarrete, La Rioja), who led the tasting in a very pleasant, informal and informative manner and even made people participate actively (as opposed to just 'listening to the expert'!).

Juan talks about Vinos Ambiz; photos in the backound

Glass of wine, anyone? (that's me on the right!)

According to my (sketchy) notes, here are some of the comments and impressions of the wines:

Blanco Joven 2009 (100% Airén)
Colour: pale yello, slightly golden, sort of greenish
Still, no bubbles (last year the same wine was like cava or cider!)
Aroma: wine (!), alcohol, apple, vainilla, fruit, flowers
Taste: not a lot of taste!, green apples, slightly acidic, very nice, a bit like cava

Surprisingly, the young white had a lot of body, aromas and taste. Historically, Airén has been considered not suitable for making quality wine, and has always been used either for mixing with other wines or sent directly to the distillery. Well, it seems that it dosn't have to be that way, and that it is if fact possible to make quality wine with Airén (maybe due to the artisan (non-industrial) processes and/or organic ecological practices). :)

Crianza 2008 (100% Tempranillo)
Colour: very intense, dark read, almost opaque
Aroma: strong, forest in the rain, toasty, red fruit (cherries)
Taste: astringent, strong, red fruit, tonacco
Needs more time in the bottle to round off and improve

The Young White, The Young Rosé, and The Crianza

We only had time to taste two of the three wines we had: the Young White 2009 and the Crianza 2008 (we'll have to do the young rosé some other time).

Note the lack of labels. The plan is to update the previous Crianza label, and to design for the first time labels for the young white and the young rosé. Hopefully in January or February.

- Young White 2009 (100% Airén; 12% vol.)
- Young Rosé 2009 (97% Garnacha, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon; 13% vol; carbonic maceration)
- Crianza 2008 (100% Tempranillo, 6 months in oak barrel; 14% vol.)

I'm sure I've forgotten to mention lots of things that were said (what with all that tasting and chatting I had to do!), so if anyone who was there would like to add anything, just click on the "comments" below and type away! :)

Consumer Participation in Vinos Ambiz Winery

We've just launched a new way for our consumers to participate more closely with us in the wine-making process. By 'new' I mean new for us, as like most things, this has probably been done before somewhere by someone!

The idea is that a consumer (or group of consumers) finance the purchase of a new oak cask (around €300) and we pay them back in bottles of wine.

This year, because we had such a small harvest, we only have enough wine to fill one (1) additional cask, but next year we intend to buy a lot more. The financing of this year's cask has already been 'awarded' to a friend (and notorious long-time consumer of our wines), as we've been talking about doing this for years!

Our two current casks (and the space where the third one is going to go in January)

These are the terms and conditions:

The fundamental reason or motive for financicng the casks in collaboration with our consumers is not economic or financial in nature, but it is intended to be a way of facilitating consumer participation in the project, of establishing closer relations between producer and consumers, and of exchanging information.

There are no interest payments nor any other type of economic or financial incentive as the idea here is not obtain profits from an investment. Its simply another way of participating, just like helping out at the harvest or pruning or washing bottles. It is assumed that the person financing the cask in this way is doing so in order to participate in the wine-making process and to support the project in general.

We have tried to make it as simple as possible and the same for all the future participants, so as to reduce complications and 'administrative overheads' when there are many participants.

1. The cost of the cask is repaid exclusively in bottles of wine (the participant can choose if he wants the very wine produced in the cask, or any other type of wine produced by Vinos Ambiz, if and when available)

2. The bottle of wine is valued at the price set at the beginning of each year

3. The participant can choose if he/she wants to receive the bottles of wine in a single lot or if he/she wants to spread them out over the lifetime of the cask

4. The participants, like all our consumers, can come to the winery to help out with any activity involving their cask (filling, racking, washing, etc)

5. The old cask belongs to the particiapnt. If he/she doesn't want it, we'll keep it at the winery.