Harvest Time

I know I'm on holiday, and yes I acknowledge it may appear a little weird to take a vacation in a place where I also do a lot of work. But if you love it, what can you do! So I'm in Rioja for the 2013 harvest. A late one. But it is also going to be very interesting, and my initial thoughts are ... this is one of those years that will really benefit the guys with older vines and who really work the vineyards. 

Yesterday evening we walked through many of the small parcels that will eventually go into the making of Gomez Cruzado Vendimia Seleccionada and Gomez Cruzado Reserva. It was really interesting to taste the difference in maturity between some of the parcels, and the different character of the fruit depending on the soil, aspect, and in particular the age of the vines. The picking date will be key. There are disease pressures - we saw quite a bit of botrytis following all the rain over the past few weeks - and ripening was slow. But we were in some of the best sites in Rioja Alta and tasted from a lot of older vines so most of this fruit is looking good.

At this stage, white grapes have come in but we are waiting on a day to start picking the reds. Looks like some work Wednesday (conveniently allowing us to make the Gastronomia festival in San Sebastian on Tuesday!) and then a lot of harvesting Friday and Saturday. The biggest threat to this plan is more rain. True at the moment I am sitting in some glorious Autumn sun looking out over the Cantabrians but this could change...Fingers crossed!