Dear friend of Lumière :
On 21 March 2021, spring began, and with it, an explosion of life and colour. We left behind a winter that has been very good for us, despite the waves of the pandemic.
In terms of communication, we have continued to receive good reviews in 2021. The Master of Wine and one of Spain's leading wine experts, Sarah Janes Evans, sent Christmas greetings to all Spaniards with our Lumière wine on her Twitter account. And a few days later, she selected us for the most prestigious wine magazine in the world: Decanter, among the top 10 wines not to be missed in 2021, scoring Lumière with 95 points.
https://twitter.com/SJEvansMW/status/1346586808658833408?s=20
Jancis Robinson, also a Master of Wine, and perhaps the world's most famous wine journalist, also included us in her selection of winter wines for the Financial Times.
https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/whites-winter
They have been two references that help us to continue working and striving to make different wines, wines with soul, sincere and honest wines that express the place, the terroir and a respectful viticulture.
Also in the Wine Guide 2021 of La Vanguardia, the journalist and communicator Zoltan Nagy, has selected our wine Vibrations 2018 among the 100 wines of Spain to enjoy.
As for our work in the winery and vineyard, we have had a very rainy winter, something we needed after two years of drought. And it has also rained “by the book”: slowly and intermittently, which is unusual in our area, where it usually rains in a concentrated form, and the albariza soils do not usually have time to absorb it.
The albariza soil is a loamy soil that sticks together when it rains and creates a film that stops absorbing after 30 litres. That is why in the Marco de Jerez the technique of "alumbrado" or "aserpiado" is used. In our case, we play with green roofs and living soils as a means of increasing their absorption capacity.
We have taken advantage of this moisture to continue nourishing the soil, with the application of nettle slurry, ideal for improving the behaviour of the roots and the plant's reaction to chlorosis. We have also applied two Maria Thun preparations and a 500P preparation, to boost the life of the soil, and generate living soils capable of containing moisture and giving richness to our grapes.
As for the vine, winter is the time for pruning, when the sap sleeps in the roots. This season we have made some explanatory videos on the pruning of Vara y Pulgar, on our Instagram account which have been very much appreciated. The traditional pruning of Vara y Pulgar is a very valuable pruning, a heritage that includes numerous details of the care of the plant that today are referents in the new pruning theories, such as the famous Simonet&Sirch technique.
https://www.instagram.com/muchadaleclapart/?hl=es
After pruning, we have proceeded to collect the shoots and tie up the canes. This year we have had to hurry as the vines have sprouted a couple of weeks early. It hasn't been a cold winter, except for the very cold days in January, when temperatures dropped below freezing at Pago Miraflores. These cold days are very beneficial for the plant, which gives it time to rest, and they clean the vineyards from insects and fungi.
Happy entry of Spring and may nothing extinguish your Light.
Alejandro and David
