We cut-back the vines during the winter months to prepare for the upcoming growing season. Here you will learn the importance of pruning, proper technique, and the function it serves in regulating and storing the plant’s energy. During this visit we participate in a calçotada, location dependent on the selected winery. The experience lasts for two days.

After capturing bud burst on the webcam, we begin work to maintain the health of the vineyard while it is vulnerable. Applications of different treatments in-line with the winery’s philosophy occur at various times during the initial months. You will be active in exploring the vineyard, seeking out indicators of potential distress, and correctly diagnosing the cause and appropriate remedy. You will also be advised when your vines are beginning to flower, which will likely coincide with your visit. Also during this visit we explain the importance of architecture and design in winemaking, and visit several wineries to better understand how architecture serves wines’ purpose.

The vines’ flowers have turned to fruit, which is beginning to mature. You will continue to participate in choosing the continued minimum necessary treatments, and also help during the green harvest. Some unripe fruit is cut from the vine and left on the ground, helping to concentrate and intensify the remaining fruit for a higher quality wine. The work is paired with a culinary experience: cooking class/show cooking. The client participates for two days.

The most intense time at a winery; all hands are busy and you will join right in, helping to select only the best grapes in the vineyard and bring them to the winery, participate in the sorting process, crushing the grapes, and conducting “punch downs” and “pump overs.” If the winery uses commercially cultivated yeasts, the you will select the best type for your wine. This is an intense time, and the you’ll participates for four days. You eat with the team at midday, while staying in luxury accommodations.

You get to choose the size and type of barrel to be used to age your wine, and may even be present as the barrel is filled. The participatory stage during the second year is learning to do a barrel tasting. You will understand which salient elements are important, and what the desired development is of the wine. You decide the appropriate ageing profile.

You get to choose your own bottle style and shape, select a cork, and design your own label. On this day these decisions come together into the final product. The barrel is transferred, filling the bottles. You may choose to continue to bottle-age the wine on site, or take the wines to your home cellar for maturation.