Angela and her able assistant Day eight was merely what I call a 'mopping up exercise', mostly waiting for our suppliers to gather the last few grapes from their vineyards. Simple as this may seem, it's actually quite complicated owing to the capacity of our presses.
We have two Vaslin/Bucher pneumatic presses, one with a minimum capacity of 3.000kg and the other with a minimum of 4.000kg, and to load less than these quantities risks serious damage the press. So if we are left with an odd 1.000kg at the end of the last day, then we have a problem. The last few hours therefore, are spent anxiously trying to calculate the outstanding kilos and how this will dictate the loading of the last few presses. It's actually quite a tricky puzzle - like sudoku with grapes.
Anyway, the picking is over for another year, and now the serious work starts in the bodega with our vinification. We can be thankful that we have harvested in generally good weather, and that every grape has arrived at our door in a perfectly healthy condition. It's now in the hands of Angela, her very able assistant..... me!
P.S. Did you notice me slipping in another song title?
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