As the new winemaker at Lagar de Bezana I just wanted to share some thoughts and technical information on the vineyards and cellar after my first two months at the job.
After a rather dry winter, I was happy to find that the vineyards had been well-irrigated before my arrival, two months ago. This has ensured vigorous and healthy growth to be able to ripen the crop later in the season. We've been spraying against fungal diseases a bit less than usual, and have stopped application of sulphur altogether. Even though sulfur is used in organic and biodynamic viticulture, it tends to burn the fruit when air temperatures are high. For the people in the vineyard it's also better, as the sulfur gets into your clothes and smells really bad! The team I've inherited is very good, as everybody seems to know what they have to do and what's expected of them. I certainly hope to keep it that way.
In the vineyard, the Cabernet is looking great. There were many clusters of flowers this spring, but fruit-set was rather low so the bunches are small and loose which is ideal to avoid rot later on, close to harvest. As a consequence, we didn't have to drop a lot of fruit to balance the fruit/shoot ratio. We stopped irrigating a few weeks ago, and the vines have stopped active growth as a consequence, focussing all their energy on the ripening fruit now. In most blocks we had to tip (hedge) the shoots only once, which saves labour. Since temperatures have been rather high the last few weeks, it's a great bonus not to have to go through the vineyards with a hedger all the time!
We're now thinning the fruit on the Syrah, which is another story. Syrah seems to really like it here, and rewards us with an enormous amount of bunches, at least two per shoot, which is more than they can handle. In some of the blocks, we're eliminating about half the fruit there is, which is a shame, but necessary if you consider that the quantity of leaves we have if only sufficient to ripen about 8000 kg/ha. The same goes for Mourvèdre and Grenache. Since the soil of the vineyard they grow in is very poor, there was little growth in spring so we had to drop a lot of bunches very early on to leave the plants some energy to grow longer shoots. Next year we'll be trying a different way of pruning, to see if we can avoid this problem earlier on.
The Carmenère looked a little uneven, so here we applied the same principle: leaving only the amount of fruit every individual plant can really handle. We're applying cow's manure as well in those areas that we feel need a bit more "energy." We feel this is better for the plants and the soil in the long term than chemical fertilizers. It was provided by one of our workers, to keep the circle closed! The Petit Verdot, with it's dropping shoots, is a very messy grower and needed a lot of shoot positioning but is now looking tidier and growing well.
In the cellar thing have been quiet, as we've only been topping up barrels and racking a few barrels and tanks. This gave us time to fix the tasting room, which is being repaired and getting new paint. We've uncovered some beautiful doors as well, which have just been restored and give some extra "cachet" when we receive visitors, so whenever you have the time and the possibility, do come come and look us up.
On a personal note, I really love the house that came with the job. There's water running beside it, which is very peaceful to listen to in the evenings when I'm enjoying a glass of wine on my terrace, contemplating the vineyards and the mountains behind. What more can you want for!?
Next month we'll be bottling some of the 2010's, and the wines are looking very good. I'll keep you posted on any new activities.
All the best!
Meinard Jan Bloem
