Vineyard health conditions are excellent and the Verdejo grape harvest will be generalized in the second half of September.
Despite of the vegetative cycle began with a slight delay compared with the last harvest, the first grapes of Sauvignon Blanc Varieties are already being harvested because of an earlier ripening than the other varieties.
Specifically, the first grapes were picked on the past 30th of August in Villafranca de Duero (Valladolid). Moreover, some vineyards of Sauvignon Blanc varietal, in Rueda and La Seca, have been harvested throughout this week but it will become gradually widespread if the weather permits.
Sauvignon Blanc is the first varietal to be picked because its vegetative cycle is shorter. It is followed by Verdejo variety and then Palomino Fino, Viura and red varieties.
The vegetative cycle began with a slight delay because of May and June rains and cold temperatures in these months together with the hot temperatures July and August and the lack of rain have helped the grape’s slow ripening.
The health conditions of the grape vines are excellent and will be picked when wineries decide that the alcohol and acidity levels are appropriate. The lower temperatures at night, should enable a better activity of the plant, which is better for a higher quality grapes.The speed of harvesting and selection of plots is achieved by the machines because with them is possible to harvest those vineyards that have achieved the ideal parameters.
Nowadays, 90% of white wine is mechanically harvested but in case of Sauvignon Blanc it accounts for a 100%. Harvest takes place at night for two reasons. Firstly, to avoid must oxidation which is produced by sunlight and secondly, to take advantage of the cool temperatures at night that allow the entry of colder grapes in cellars which favours the production of increased quality wines.
The area of vineyards registered in the Rueda D.O. for this vintage is 11, 727 ha. (984 ha rather than the previous campaign), being 10,100 ha. of white varieties (1,008 ha. more than in 2009), among which dominates the local variety Verdejo with 9,134 ha of them. This increase in vineyard area is foreseeable to reach a new record in the amount of grapes harvested, which in 2009 amounted to 60 million kilograms.
The Rueda Regulating Council, in addition to its five inspectors already operating in the appellation, took on 53 supervisors for this vintage to keep a watchful eye on the quality and the origin of the grapes, checking their source, the yields in the vineyards, the health and the quantities of the varietals that were brought in to each of the appellation’s wineries, and rejecting those bunches and berries that did not conform to the standards set out in the regulations of the Regulating Council.
1,455 growers and four new wineries are authorised to harvest during this campaign: Velasco Estero S.L. (Rueda), Copaboca S.L. (Torrecilla de la Abadesa), Diez Siglos de Verdejo S.L. (Serrada) y Miguel Arroyo Izquierdo (Puras). The total number of wineries authorised to produce wines in Rueda A.O. are now 58.