Currently we’re deep in the middle of harvest. This year it started a bit earlier and there were wineries in Penedès and Empordà who were picking their grapes at the very beginning of August. As to when it will finish, that’s always impossible to tell as the weather dictates a great deal of what will happen. If there’s a big burst of heat, many will harvest earlier. If the year continues in this “fresh” manner with alternating days of a little rain followed by good, abundant sun, it will be a very late harvest, possibly even later than last year and most cellars are already declaring 2014 to be one of the best vintages on record.
While no one knows what the future holds, this gives us an interesting point to look at those wines which are part of this very late harvest. Oddly enough, despite being a warmer climate, both of these are from DO Montsant in the Priorat comarca which has that wonderful mix of heat and just the right amount of rain to stop just sort of causing mildew problems like you see the further north in Europe you go. This allows both of these cellars to harvest the grapes for these wines in the middle of November making them special, wonderful bottles that are worth a look if you get the chance.
