Friday, June 30, 2006

Progress in the vineyards

Young AlbariƱo fruit in our El Pazo vineyard

I'm afraid that some ugly rumours have been circulating relating to the gap between recent posts and the start of the World Cup football. I have to reasssure you that this is, of course, purely co-incidental!

However, I confess that between matches I have been asked by some customers about the progress of the 2006 vintage, and when I answer that everything is going well, I am always afraid that I will be tempting fate. However, despite the early summer being a little cooler than 2005, we still appear to be on track for a very healthy and generous harvest.

At this moment our team are in the vineyards thinning the canopy to optimise the amount of sun that penetrates through to the fruit. This is actually a careful balancing act, as, believe it or not, grapes can actually suffer from sunburn if they are over-exposed. Perhaps a light spraying of Ambre Solaire factor 15 might be the answer?

Seriously though, despite my recent silence, there are actually a number of new and exciting happenings in the pipeline. As soon as they come to fruition you will be the first to know.....