It usually waits on the wall near the Finca terrace table.

Then hops down to feed on insects and our crumbs.

We’ve gradually made friends, and leave it a few breadcrumbs for a morning snack.

Recently its gotten more friendly. Often joining us for breakfast, tea and biscuits (not too many), and sometimes lunch (depending on available crumbs).

A few videos of our feathered friend. Mostly eating. Which can be entertaining. I think it just needs a knife and fork…

The post Robin Redbreast, Petirrojo appeared first on Finca del Rio, Self catering holiday in Andalucia, Spain.

The Syrah/Shiraz vines seem to be the first to bud…

The post Springtime in the vineyard appeared first on Finca del Rio, Self catering holiday in Andalucia, Spain.

You will need to get a free permit from the tourist centre in the town of el Bosque, either by visiting the tourist centre (you will have to practice your spanish) near the bullring in el Bosque, or applying via email, or telephone. If you visit the centre you can buy a small map of the walk (80cents). Its better to get the permit a few days before your walk, as it can get busy. The walk is closed from June 1st until October 15th due to the risk of fire.

The start of the walk.

A short path on the left goes to a Mirador. The main path to the canyon goes to the right.

The main path continues going slightly up.

The descent begins…

As you go further, the path becomes steeper…

The path finally reaches the bottom of the canyon through some trees.

The canyon is many ‘stories’ high.

The nesting vultures will circle overhead throughout your walk.

The post A walk into La Garganta Verde, Parque de la Sierra de Grazalema. appeared first on Finca del Rio, Self catering holiday in Andalucia, Spain.

The walk was just a few kilometers, and took 2-3 hours. There are signs in the village, and maps to the Cañón de las Buitreras.

The house next to the electricity power station you have to pass to enter the path to the Cañón de las Buitreras.

Be careful to follow a rocky path that goes up to the left of the road and follows the electricity pipeline. You turn right at the top of this path.

Once on the path, it’s a straightforward walk.

Aquaduct…or slide.

Mysterious tunnel…

There’s always goats (cabras).

A slightly scary suspension bridge.

Lots of buitreras (vultures).

A small pebble beach, which can be accessed from the main path.

The route on the wikiloc website;

The post A short walk from El Colmenar to the Cañón de las Buitreras appeared first on Finca del Rio, Self catering holiday in Andalucia, Spain.

Poppies

Roses

The post Springtime in the vineyard appeared first on Finca del Rio, Self catering holiday in Andalucia, Spain.

The post Butterflies in the vineyard appeared first on Finca del Rio, Self catering holiday in Andalucia, Spain.

There is an art gallery displaying various artworks, and many sculptures scattered around the village.

Sculptures near to the entrance to Genalguacil.

The main square.

A mural located just off the main square.

The Church of San Pedro de Verona

Trompe l’oeil mural on the main square.

Spot the sculpture…

A close-up of the impaled ball.

Flores. These are real, not sculptures.

It looks well fed. Paella maybe.

Dumpster diving.

Siesta perro

Perro bonito.

Sculpture overlooking the Genal valley with Africa in the distance.

Who neeeds social media.

A home for mice.

Ceramics.

Simulacra, simulacrum.

Very contented.

Sleepy cat sculpture.

Real cat sculpture.

Pink Panther sculpture. This seemed new to me.

Sculpture near the escuela.

Found this sculpture down a side turning. Looked like ceramic tiles to me.

Even the local fountain includes sculptures.

The post Genalguacil sculptures appeared first on Finca del Rio, Self catering holiday in Andalucia, Spain.

Using a sieve and filter to pump wine from fermentation tank full of tempranillo grapes.

Pumping the ‘free run’ grape juice from the fermentation tank to the steel tank.

The steel fermentation tank.

Using a colander to remove the grapes from the fermentation tank.

Grapes added to the wine press.

The wine press with wooden block in place, pressing the wine by hand.

The pressed wine juice sieved into a bucket to be transferred to the stainless steel fermentation tank.

The ‘cake’ leftover after pressing the juice from the grapes.

The post Pressing and tanking the grapes appeared first on Finca del Rio, Self catering holiday in Andalucia, Spain.

After the grapes are picked, usually starting at 6am, they are brought to tables to be sorted. We remove green grapes, split grapes and any grapes that show signs of powdery mildew.  Although we do cut any mildewed grapes off before the harvest, as much as possilbe and discard away from the vineyard. All the work is done by hand, except the de-stemming.

After sorting of the grapes. They are put into a de-stemmer machine. This removes the grapes and juice from their stalks using an archimedes screw at the top of the machine which leads the grapes onto grooved flexible rollers and then into a revolving drum with cut-out holes and paddles inside the machine.

The stalks are collected from the machine, then later are put back onto the vineyard as compost.

The grape juice is transferred from the de-stemmer machine using plastic buckets into a large tank. Fermentation takes place almost immediately. No sugar is added and the vineyards own natural yeast is left to combine with the sugars in the grapes. The tank is covered with a muslin cloth to stop fruit flies from spoiling the fermenting grape juice, but still allows a good flow of air across the top of the must.

The fermentation ‘cap’ is pushed down, also called ‘punching down’, so that the skins of the grapes add colour and flavour during maceration (skin contact) and do not dry out.

The syrah tank during punch down and maceration.

The tempranillo tank during punch down and maceration.

To control the temperature of the fermentation, bottles of ice are used to cool the grape juice. These are replaced at intervals.

After the harvest the de-stemmer machine is thoroughly cleaned for use next year. The revolving cylinder with punched out holes can be clearly seen. These holes effectively cause the de-stemming by tearing the stems from the grapes as they revolve around.

So now we wait for the fermentation to stop before the next stage which is to seperate the juice from the skins and seeds and to place the juice, now wine, into stainless steel tanks.

The post Grape Harvest (Vendimia) 2018 appeared first on Finca del Rio, Self catering holiday in Andalucia, Spain.

The label is made from recycled kraft paper.

Named after a rock found buried under the land when the vineyard was first planted. It is now a fountain on the Finca terrace.

The post Piedra Verde 2017 wine label appeared first on Finca del Rio, Self catering holiday in Andalucia, Spain.