Doseluna winery

I realized I’ve been neglecting to talk about the vineyard we were staying on! Doseluna winery is completely owned and operated by Selen’s family. They produce a red, white and rose wine from the grapes grown here. Vines sprawl down the hill from the house, ripening in the Mediterranean sun. The harvest of this season’s grapes won’t happen for another month, but we were lucky enough to tour the winery and help out with production.

Rows and rows of green and red grapes

Aging the Cabernet in oak barrels

Fully stocked and temperature-controlled storage

There’s a fully operational lab in the winery. Winemaking is a science, and precise monitoring of pH, sugar, alcohol and sulfate levels is crucial to a consistent and delicious wine. Here, we were adding potassium metabisulfate, a necessary preservative, to a red wine in a steel tank.

Adding sulfate to the tanks

Lauren measuring out metabisulfate to add to the wine

Earlier that day, Lauren and I set out to hike a nearby peak (okay, more of a hill). It was a long walk through olive groves and miles of thornbushes, but worth it for the views!

Sunrise in the olive grove

A wall surrounding a dead tree. Who built this shrine, and why?

Scrambling up some rocks on the way up.

Exhausted and scratched, but happy to be at the top!

The vineyard, as seen from the peak.