Preparing the 2017 vintage in the Rías Baixas

Everything is ready. Our technicians have just agreed that the harvest of 2017 will begin the week of September 4, two weeks earlier than usual.

There are only a few hours left before the golden bunches of Albariño reach the optimum maturity to be harvested. This maturity is determined by objective parameters (must analysis) and subjective parameters, where the experience of our technicians is very important to identify the maturity of aromas and flavors of the fruit of each plot.

During these days we are sampling grapes to analyze harvest parameters in the laboratory, among which are pH, total acidity, tartaric acid, malic acid, sugar concentration, etc.

Broadly speaking, the vegetative cycle in 2017 is being very favorable for our vineyards. We start from a winter with little rain, followed by high temperatures in spring and early summer. The bud break started in March and the development of the plants was progressive and without incident until the ripening that took place a few weeks ago. During these days, the plant will generate sugars and the acidity will decrease until optimum maturation is achieved. The determination of the harvest day, together with a planned logistics to the millimeter are key factors to start from an exceptional raw material.

After the grape harvest, we conclude a long work season that began at the end of 2016 with pruning and it ended a few weeks ago with leafless and green pruning.

In a few weeks, we will have the Granbazán winery full of freshly fermented wines from the 2017 vintage.