Facts & Figures. Grape Production.

Harvest 2012

2012 Harvest has ended with a total grape production of 77,764,696 kg, a new record for the D.O. Rueda.

This production refers to grapes under appellation Rueda in 2012, once the Harvest is concluded and all the grapes entries verified by the Technical Services (apart disqualified grapes).

98% of that production corresponds to White grape varieties (76,601,917 kg). The authoctonous grape, the Verdejo, is the majority grape with  65,498,564 Kg. (85,51% of the total crop).
Harvest started during the night of August 29th to 30th and finished on October 24th. The picking began  with the Sauvignon Blanc, a variety that ripens earlier than the rest, owing to its shorter vine growing cycle and faster ripening phase. The picking of the other varieties (Verdejo, Viura and Palomino) then followed before the harvesting was completed with the latest-ripening red varieties.

For this 2012 harvest, the registered surface area under vine was 12,853.88 hectares (31,76 acres) of which 95% were white wine varieties totalling 12,162.70 hectares (30,05 acres).  The main and indigenous Rueda appellation variety, Verdejo, is clearly the majority grape, covering 10,282.43 hectares (25,40 acres). 92% of the Verdejo vines are trellised and are thus able to be harvested by machine. The 2012 campaign saw an increase of 242 hectares (597 acres), in vineyard surface area, creating a new record figure overall. This increase in 2012, coupled with new vineyards that have been planted over the last five years at a rate of 1,000 hectares (2,47 acres) a year, explains the increase in production.

The crop brought into the cellars was in excellent health, and as a guarantee of quality control 50 crop supervisors were contracted by the appellation to oversee the fulfilling of the norms set out by the Rueda Control Board.  The rain that fell on September 25th and 28th helped make up some of the crop deficit in some vineyards. However, yields were generally very irregular from plot to plot, so much so that in some of the appellation’s harvests losses were as high as 40-50% compared with previous years, especially those vineyards which hadn’t been able to irrigate and those located on poor soils. On the other hand, some vineyards which had just come into production or which had good sources of irrigation, managed to maintain and even increase production compared with previous years.

During the 2012 campaign, two new wine-growing bodegas joined the appellation. These are Bodegas Hugad in Serrada (Valladolid) and Bodegas Herrero Vedel in Nieva (Segovia), as well as two new bottling wineries: these are Selección de Torres in Villafranca de Duero (Valladolid) and Bodegas Pinord in Rueda (Valladolid).

The number of kilograms harvested by variety was:

• TOTAL CROP RECEPTION 2012: 77.764.696 kg
• Verdejo: 65,498.564              
• Tempranillo: 958,563
• Viura: 6,535.613                    
• Merlot: 47,838
• Palomino: 448,243                  
• Cabernet Sauvignon: 156,378
• Sauvigon Blanc: 4,119.497