We harvested Fincas Alta y Vieja yesterday. There was a little rain on Thursday and they were predicting more yesterday. It was mostly scattered showers on Thursday and we got just enough to settle the dust in El Molar. Pere brought a big crew (13) to start around noon and they finished Finca Alta in about an hour and a half.
Six people stayed after lunch to work on Finca Vieja since the winery couldn't start processing the fruit until 6:30. The work went well and we were about 90% done when a big thunderstorm appeared on the horizon and seemed to be headed right at us. As it drew closer, everyone was picking like crazy. Pere jumped in his truck and drove around the corner to talk to Arkady, the local bar owner. Arkady has a big house and barn next to the bar. He agreed to let us park the grapes in his barn.
Pere went back to get the grapes while I helped Arkady open the doors. Pere roared into the barn with his tractor and the grapes just as the blessed bottom fell out. It was what my grandfather used to call a "Texas Toad-Strangler". There was a lot of laughter and back-slapping in the bar while we drank beer and watched the storm pass.
It is about a 15 minute drive straight uphill to the winery. The guys were there and we processed the fruit with no trouble. The grapes looked really good. We ended up with 3440 kilos and the chemistry is excellent. I will go back tonight to start the pump-overs. This has been an interesting year and I'm very pleased to be done with harvest.
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