30/09/2024

It is starting spring at the south hemisphere. The days are much longer, and temperatures in Mendoza often reach 20 degrees Celsius (68F). Soon, the canes will come out of their hibernation state, and the sap will begin to rise through them. The end of the harvest has arrived.

That doesn’t mean that the work on our plantations has finished. All the harvested canes must be prepared to enter an aging process. After a few weeks of letting the material rest, the leaves will be removed, which will make possible the next step, which is sunning. The canes will literally sunbathe for 15 days on each side. That is when they will have acquired their characteristic golden color.

They will be classified by their diameter, to know which instrument they will belong to, and finally they will begin the aging process. Depending on whether they are for clarinet or saxophone reeds, this determinate the length of time that the material will be stored. This process is done in a place with a stable temperate throughout the all year, and almost in complete dark. This stage is crucial to guarantee the subsequent quality of the reeds. The cane will gradually lose moisture, transforming their sugars into new substances, and stabilizing the wood, resulting in a consistent, predictable, long-lasting reed with a rich sound. Meanwhile, the plantation prepares for a new stage, sprouting.