My Vineyard Blog April 2009

Buying votes?

Election year in Portugal with the country revving up for the European elections in June followed by parliamentary elections in October. There is now a frenzy of public works underway including the long overdue re-building of my walls at where the local câmara expropriated some land at the bottom of the quinta (see my last entry on Monday 4th August 2008). One of the azinhagas that forms the boundary to the quinta is being widened at huge expense so that my neighbours can access their property with a car. Four votes there.

Blending the 2007 lote

We spend the day in the adega making up the final lote for the 2007 Pedra Basta which is to be bottled next month. It comes down to a choice between Lote A (which represents approximately 16,000 bottles) and lote B (nearly 14,000 bottles). Lote B (which contains less Trincadeira) gets my vote for its aromatic, ripe yet crunchy fruit character, structure and firm, sinewy length of flavour. So we have the equivalent of an extra 2000 bottles of wine for our declassified so called ‘Pedra F.’ blend.

Spring in the serra

After a cold and thoroughly sodden January and early February we have spring in the serra and temperatures have already reached 25oC. Budburst occurred nearly a month ago, at least two weeks earlier than is normal. Fortunately the thermometer has now fallen by around 10 degrees and it is down to 5oC at night. The esteva (gum cistus) is already in flower and a heady smell now fills the cool night air. In the vineyard my new plot of Aragonez is looking very good indeed. This variety has to be our aposta(or one way bet) for the future.