The Sherry grapes are
now arriving at the presses, at least those from the inland vineyards. The abnormally low incidence of the
hot Levante wind, moderate temperatures and above average rainfall have caused
the grapes to ripen more slowly than usual, but that is no bad thing. A harvest
of over 80 million kilos is expected, some 10% higher than last year. González
Byass and Grupo Estévez, among others, have been granted permission to start picking
by the Consejo Regulador.
Grupo Estévez started picking at their 50
hectare Tio Mateo vineyard near Trebujena at about 7 o’ clock last night using
a harvesting machine. The firm owns a total of nine machines because they own
over 800 hectares of vineyard, making them the largest wine producer in Andalucía,
and the machines are much cheaper and quicker than human pickers and can pick
up to half a million kilos a day. 80% of the firm’s grapes will be harvested by
machine.
The machines discharge the grapes into lorries
which take 14,000 kilos of them at a time to the winery where the grape
reception system can deal with 25,000 kilos an hour. The grapes are pumped to
huge tanks which use gravity to separate out the “mosto yema” or free-run juice
which is the best quality. After correction of pH and acidity, it is pumped to
the fermentation tanks, while the rest goes to the pneumatic press where two
further qualities of juice will be produced: the “segunda yema” and the “prensa”.
The mosto yema will be used to make Fino or table wine; the segunda yema will
be used to make Oloroso while the prensa will be used for distilling or
vinegar. The entire system is controlled by an electronic panel.
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