We awoke yesterday morning to the sound of lots of activity in the vineyard. Tractors with trailers being towed behind. We quickly got ourselves out the door to see what was happening.
Harvest has begun! So exciting!!
We first came across this contraption spitting out the waste from the grape bunches.
We walked through the village to the find the workers hand picking the grapes.
What a daunting task it must be. For the most part the vineyard will be hand-picked.
Viladellops sell some of their grapes to other wineries. Some areas of the vineyard are hand-picked. Some other areas are picked using this magnificent looking machine. This machine is usually used at night due to providing a better control of the sugar content of the picked grapes. The rows of grapes need to be trained to grow a particular way for the machine to be used.
Hand picking the grapes results in better quality wines but of course that makes them more expensive. Having said that the price of wines is influenced by many things. Remember it is not how much the wine cost necessarily but what you enjoy. If you purchase an expensive bottle of wine but it is not to your liking yet a less expensive one is to your liking then drink that one. Too many people become wine snobs because they think a less expensive bottle cannot taste as good. We disagree. Don’t be concerned about what others think or say. Find one that you enjoy and drink that.
It has been exciting to watch the vineyard grow through the different stages. There is a lot more harvest to go and a lot more for us to learn. Have I mentioned how much we love living in a vineyard?!
