The 'Big Boys' join in

Who me? 150kph in the vineyard? Impossible!

2007 Harvest - Day 5 - Thursday 20th September

Speaking to our electrician yesterday I am reliably informed that some of the larger players (the two main Co-operatives) in our denomination are entering the game today. I have always been puzzled as to how such a small denomination (less than 3,000 hectares in total), can support two such large Co-operatives, so you can imagine my complete astonishment when I tell you that a third Co-operative opens it's doors for this harvest. This is assuming of course that the doors have actually been fitted yet....

I am sorry to tell you that this new co-operative was possibly born out of a lack of trust between the bodegas and the growers. The absence of contracts or the complete abuse of such, mean that the growers form co-operatives in an attempt to achieve some sort of security and continuity - you cannot blame them really. The downside of this is, of course, that there is more pressure put on grape supply, and rumours already abound of increased prices - the last thing that any denomination needs.

However, setting up a new co-operative is one thing, selling the wine that they produce from a standing start, is quite another. Time will tell.

So, meanwhile back to our Bodega, the grapes continue to roll in and all is well here in a warm, sunny Barrantes - I only wish I could get my ADSL connection to work properly - we have recently upgraded the connection to 3Mb, but quite frankly I don't think the lady on the local switchboard can handle it......