Harvest 2015

   We harvested this year on September 14th. After the hottest July on record, the weather cooled off somewhat in August. The first two weeks of September were cool and we had some rain. For the second year in a row, we had enough rain in June, August and September that I didn't have to irrigate at all. The vines set a huge primary and secondary crop. I went through the vineyards and dropped at least 1500 pounds of second crop on the ground. I was concerned that, if the cool weather continued, we would have trouble ripening the primary crop. Also, in the past, I had trouble getting the pickers to leave the second crop.
   Most of the grape pickers here work for farmers rather than winemakers so, if it looks like a grape, it goes in the trailer. This year was different. The Tost family brought some pickers who understood the concept. They left whatever second crop I missed. The result was that the grape chemistry was right on the money (as follows):
Alcohol 13.9%
pH 3.65
t.a. .7g/100ml
   I couldn't be happier! As you can see, the fruit was beautiful. The harvest went smoothly and we were finished by 2:00 pm. I am embarrassed to say I only picked about three hours. Since most of the fruit hangs less than eighteen inches from the ground, I'm a little too tall for this kind of work. We were assisted by four very nice Moroccan gentlemen and the Tosts (Rosa Maria, Josep and Marc) matched them cluster for cluster. In my 33 years of grape harvesting, I've never seen anything like it.
   We ended up with 6875 kilos (7.5 American tons) which was 50% more than last year. Ramon Bargalló, from whom I bought the vineyards, said he never got more than 6000 kilos so it was an all-time record. It was more fruit than would fit in my 5000 liter tank. Renè Barbier generously allowed me to use three of his one ton fermenters so we were able to get everything in the barn.
   The fermentations went well (quick and clean) and the vintage is now put to bed. I would like to thank the Tost Family for making this harvest so bountiful and pleasant. I would also like to thank "Los Tres Amigos de La Figuera":
Josep
Joan
Albert
And, of course, thanks to all of you!!!
¡Gracias de Nuevo y tu amigo!
Russell

¡GRACIAS! We're now over 6000 page views.

Just this week we passed over 6000 page views on this blog. Thanks to everyone for your interest in and support of our adventure! It's been a blast and we've enjoyed sharing the wonders of Catalunya with everyone. We're hopeful that the best is yet to come.
¡SALUDOS!
Susan y Russell

Heather and Dave

Our friends, Heather and Dave, came to see us in mid-September just after harvest. We picked on September 14th this year. They spent some time in Barcelona and Mallorca before taking the train to us. We spent a few days hanging out and seeing the sights. Heather is really into wine and recently took and passed the initial Sommelier exam. She and Dave also make wine at Water to Wine in Austin. They do a good job and I always enjoy their wines.
We went to Scala Dei one afternoon and had a wonderful lunch outside in the plaza. Scala Dei winery (a part of Codorniu) has a tasting room there and we tasted through their line-up. As always, the wines were good and the tasting room manager was very informative. We then went to Siurana and had a little private tasting of our own at the top.
We spent a very nice afternoon in Tarragona and had tapas. Heather and Dave went with me up to La Figuera to do pump-overs and punch-downs on my fermentations. Francesc Masdeu came over one night and made his famous hot rum drink. He was very impressed with Heather and her castellano and asks about her frequently.
We took a walk through the countryside and then made the obligatory tour of El Masroig. They had a bicycle trip through Penedes planned and I drove them over. Afterward, they took the train back to Barcelona and spent a few more days. We look forward to getting together with them when we get back!

Music in El Masroig

  Music is a big part of all the festivities here in El Masroig. This post will give you an idea of what goes on. The videos (click on the Youtube link) are short and will probably take longer to load than view. They're fun to see and you'll enjoy the spontaneity of the music.

 Helena Sabaté is our landlady's daughter and the pictures above are from a concert she and three friends gave to benefit the church. We didn't video the concert but it was spectacular. Helena has an incredibly beautiful voice. She sings with such wonderful pitch, purity and  texture we were completely knocked out! She should probably move to New York but seems happy enough here. I'm sorry she doesn't have any professionally produced recordings for you to hear. When she gets one, I'll post it.

Festa Major kickoff

https://youtu.be/kKU4K82Ux4U

                                                  The Festa Major kicked of with a parade through town by the young people and their band. This is a slightly different group than plays with the traditional instruments. They ended up at the pool after marching through town and stopping for drinks along the way. This video was taken as they were leaving the pool and on their way for more drinks at the community center across the street.

Festa Major Dance

https://youtu.be/82xAOevbHug

This video will give you an idea of what goes on at the dances we have for Festa Major. It was taken at about 1;30 a.m. when things were getting into full swing. The band plays covers of popular songs from the past 40 years or so. Please notice the professional light show in the background. A lot of people dance and everybody from babes-in-arms to great grandparents shows up. I missed filming a rousing cover of Tom Jones'  famous song, It's Not Unusual, because we were dancing. You'll have to come someday and see it for yourself.

Sardana 

https://youtu.be/n1m_b-4eiik

One morning of the Festa Major is devoted to drinking vermut (vermouth) and dancing Sardanas. The Sardana is the traditional dance of Catalunya and has special music. Each piece begins with a soliloquy by a traditional recorder-like instrument that was once used by shepherds. Another instrument you can hear is the "Gralla" which is a double reed instrument similar to an oboe or English horn. Double reed instruments are very difficult to play. The band you hear is a professional Sardana band that travels around to different Festas. The intonation problems you hear may be attributable to too much vermut too early in the morning.

The next John Bonham

https://youtu.be/BofAhfn3VP4

I had to film this kid because he was playing his heart out through the entire Diablo parade. His mom was a trooper and helped him carry the drum. He was having the time of his life and, you'll have to admit, he's got talent.

Catalan traditional band

https://youtu.be/BI0C9rQ3erc

This is the band that turns out for most of our community events. As you can see, all the members are young people. It's wonderful that the young folks are keeping the traditions going. All the villages around here have a band like this although I think ours is the best. These bands are exclusively made up of drums and grallas. They play mostly Catalan songs but our band can play "When the Saints Come Marching In" when they feel like it.