One of the parts of the job that I love personally, is viticulture, and how the grapevines grow and adapt each year in the climate we have on Lanzarote. I am lucky enough to see this day to day through a full year cycle. When it comes to harvest, the island generally starts around mid-July, making it the first in Europe. Each vineyard tends to start their harvest at slightly different times depending on when the oenologist is happy with the ripeness of the grapes, for the style of wine they are going to produce.
I am grateful to have the chance to get involved with the harvest each year. It isn´t glamorous, it is certainly very hard work, but is incredibly good fun and rewarding! Most years I like to visit and help one of my favourite bodegas, and this year it was Bodega El Tablero, which many of you will know.
Bodega El Tablero this year started their harvest in the third week of July. Our team of 5 on the day (including the winemaker and owner Juan Antonio and his wife Dory) got together at the Bodega in the famous La Geria region at 6:30am, just before sunrise. We had a general discussion of the plan of the harvest, then the gloves went on and off we went to work!
Harvesting grapes in La Geria is one of the hardest harvests I have experienced, including fruit and vegetables which I previously harvested. Firstly, we climb into the holes (hoyos) up to 3 meters deep with a basket, then from below knee height we cut the bunches of grapes from the vine using pruning shears. The grapes then get placed carefully into the basket and carried out of the hole (bear in mind this is 20KG when full).
The whole vineyard is hand-harvested in this traditional form, true heroic viticulture! This year was harder than usual, as temperatures in Europe where high this summer. It meant our normally cool northerly wind was a lot warmer than usual. At around 10am when we had the sunrise over the valley of La Geria, we were harvesting grapes at temperatures of around 30 °C!
We finished the harvest at around 11/11:30am to retire into the cool bodega for refreshments and a general chat and break down on how the year went. This year, like most vineyards on the Island, are looking at around 20% less grapes than the previous year. We are now all waiting for the new wines of 2022 from Juan Antonio to be released to taste and enjoy at his bodega. We can’t wait!
Dan Priestley
