On the home stretch

'Behind the scenes' - Luisa records the incoming crop

2007 Harvest - Day 6 - Friday 21st September

At the same moment that many Bodegas in our area are springing into action, our 2007 campaign is about to draw to a close. In some ways this can be one of the most complicated parts of the whole harvest.....

We have two presses, each with a different maximum and minimum capacity. Incredibly the minimum capacity is probably more important than the maximum - exceeding the maximum is practically impossible anyway, as the grapes will not physically enter into the press. However, leaving the press with too few grapes can cause the pneumatic membrane to rupture, as it is forced to over-expand and presses against the rubber 'fingers' on the inner walls of the drum. (Does that make any sense to you?)

Meanwhile, back to the original story. Taking into account these weight restrictions we have to ensure that we are not left with an odd few hundred kilos of grapes at the end, as obviously we would not be able to fill even our small press to the minimum level. This might sound like a relatively simple problem that is easy to work out, but believe me, it can be quite tricky when your brain is seizing up at the end of a long week!

And so, apart from the one night of rain, and missing one day to accomodate the drying process, we have enjoyed pretty much a perfect week. I will post a resume of proceedings in the next day or so.

With thanks to my small, but beautifully formed team for 2007