This year’s harvest of Ortega has been a special one. The yields aren’t high but the sun’s been relentless and the fruit quality is very high. Due to the rather lovely conditions, we started picking fruit almost two weeks earlier than we usually would. As well as our classic Ortega, we’re making a Skin Contact and bringing back our Amphora-aged Skin Contact too.
Both have had no added yeast, and have fermented with just the wild strains from the fruit and in the winery. Some of the juice is destined to stay in tank, while a smaller portion is resting in our beloved 500-litre amphora, handmade by Artenova potters in Florence. The amphora has just been re-lined with beeswax from our friend’s Sussex hives, and we’re over the moon to have it back in action. We’ve made some beautiful wines in it in the past, so we’re excited to see what unfolds. There’s always a little uncertainly when you’re fermenting without wild yeasts and no stabilising additions, but it’s often also where the magic resides.
Both the amphora and the tank fermentations are being kept on their lees (sediment made up of yeast cells, grape solids and tartrates), which offer natural protection and texture. The wines will overwinter quietly until February, when we’ll revisit them to see where they’ve arrived at. At the moment, the overriding note of the wine is bright tangerine, but as the weeks progress, it will all keep evolving.
Every harvest brings a mix of patience and anticipation.. but 2025 already feels like a particularly juicy chapter in the Ortega story!
