According to Collbaix Celler el Molí manager Josep Maria Claret, the winery has completed an ‘intense, fun, but non-stop’ harvest,, resulting in a good yield that points to high-quality wines. The harvest was intense, lasting less than a month. It began on 18 September (a standard date) with the white Maccabeo variety, continued with the Picapoll Blanc, Merlot, Syrah, Tempranillo, Mandó, and Cabernet Franc varieties, and ended, on 16 October, with the Cabernets Sauvignon.

According to the Collbaix Celler el Molí management, the varieties ripened in quick succession due to the high temperatures in September and October. Temperature is the key factor determining the optimum ripening point for a grape, in some cases even altering the plants’ biological cycles.

Close-up of the grapes harvested this year

Collbaix uses both manual and mechanised harvesting techniques. The manual harvesting is done during the day, focusing on the oldest vines, grown under glass. The mechanical harvesting is always done at dawn, to take advantage of the grapes’ naturally lower temperature. The best feature of mechanical harvesting is the speed with which the grapes are picked and brought to the winery. Almost 70% of the grapes are machine harvested.

This year’s harvest was good in terms of the quantity of grapes, with no health problems in the vineyard. All of the winery’s wines are very good quality.

Ageing Picapoll in Galician granite amphora

Every year, Collbaix takes advantage of the harvest to experiment with new forms of winemaking. This year, the winery has purchased a Galician granite amphora to age one of its best Picapolls, especially selected for the trial. According to Josep Maria Claret, ‘The idea is to create a line of Picapoll varietals.’