The vineyard
Vines are trimmed using the guyot system between the end of March and mid-April, in order to delay the emergence of shoots and, in doing so, avoid late frosts.
The vines produce between 8 and 10 clusters of very small Prieta grapes of between 50 and 300 grams each, with production of less than 3 kilograms per vine at the most.
The vineyard is registered with the Council for Ecological Agriculture of the region of Murcia (operator number MU-0000/PV).
Manual harvesting, with the meticulous management of our twelve sheep, we control pressure on the spontaneous vegetation of the fragile soil, which keeps it fresh and loose, in a quest for balance between the “world” of the vineyard, production, healthy ageing, and the concentration of grapes.
“World” is the term used by the locals to describe the level of insect activity in spring, in particular of the bees that feed on the rosemary and thyme flower to produce their rich honey. That "world" is that which, in our case, keeps pests at bay and minimises the need for processing.
We place great importance in humus content; as a result, the organic matter in the soil is naturally replenished by the fertiliser produced by the herd that grazes the vineyard, returning to the earth the nutrients created by the latter. This organic fertiliser also contributes to the balanced pH, which itself is high (8.5). In doing so we help preserve life in the earth, improving its structure and microbial biomass and the symbiosis of fungus and endomycorrhiza in the capture of nutrients by the roots.
To protect the crop from hail, starlings, wild boar, red deer, and mountain goats, the vineyard is covered with netting from June until harvest time, with various openings to facilitate its operation. The protection system is dismantled and collected before the arrival of the hurricane winds each year.
As the harvest draws near, the sun, rain, humidity, temperature, and winds each day provide an indication as to what needs to be done on each plot. We want the grape to be healthy and to provide the best quality extract possible. To achieve this aim, clusters are sacrificed where necessary and work is done on vegetation, with steps taken to control the exposure of the cluster to the sun depending on the objective in question.
Finally, it is harvest time. This is a traditional festival for friends and the inquisitive who come by to enjoy the event.
The grape enters the cellar intact, just a few minutes after being cut from the vine. Using a quad, it is then carried on trailers of 6 12-kg boxes without spilling a single drop of juice. Each cluster is carefully chosen in the vineyard, where any flawed grapes are removed, and is inspected for a second time before de-stemming. It is in this way that, starting with a grape that is uniform, completely healthy, environmentally-friendly, and nurtured to the desired level of ripeness, we are able to produce wines that require hardly any intervention and express, with no contrivance, the identity of our plot.