Weather permitting, over the next couple of days theD.O. RUEDA will achieve a maximum grape production, inline with the growth trendof the last few years.
On the night of September 17th, one of the latest harvests in the history of D.O Rueda will start, and it is expected to continue until late October. The beginning of the harvest of this season is recognised as the most delayed harvest in the last couple of years, in particular when compared to the previous season, which started on the 26th of August, which in contradiction was one of D.O. RUEDA’S earliest harvests. The usual start date for the harvest can be estimated around the 8th of September.
The vineyards and grape production that begin the collection process are in excellent health condition. The variety that is being harvested first isSauvignon Blanc, whose vegetative cycle is shorter than the rest of the varieties and which is maturing earlier. Throughout the coming weeks, the harvest will be replicated both in the wineries and for the rest of the varieties that are reaching their suitable degree of ripeness for harvesting.
The registered surface area for the Harvest of 2013, is 12,932.44 hawith an increase of 78.55 ha more than last year, of which 95% (12,242.19 ha) correspond to the white grape variety, and 85% (10,394.22 ha) correspond to Verdejo, the main and native variety of D.O. Rueda.
Almost 90% of white varieties (and 100% in the case of the Sauvignon Blanc)are grown in trellises, that is why they are suitable to be harvested by machine, which involves an important quality factor, because the harvest is conducted quickly,with cool temperatures and at the appropriate moment – harvesting those land plots and vineyards that the vine grower and the oenologistbelieve to be in a best conditions for being harvested.
Despite the fact that the increase in vineyard surface-area is not very significant compared to last season of 2012, the growth forecast for this year is to increase the production from the amount gathered last year (which ended with 77,764,696 kg collectedunder Rueda Designation of Origin), since this season the vineyards planted in 2009 are now reaching 100% of their production (1,039 ha). The rainfall registered in winter and spring has enabled good vegetative developmentall through the summer.
For this harvest, the Regulating Council will hire 48 supervisors to reinforce its Technical Services in order to carry out the quality checks that are conducted throughout the year, and that these days are increasing exponentially, checking the source of the grapes, the yields in the vineyards, the health status and the quantities of grapes brought in to each of the wineries, rejecting those bunches that do not conform to the standards set out in the regulations of the Regulating Council.
For this season 1,550 wine growers were registered in D.O. Rueda, and four new wineries were incorporated into the wine production process: Viñedos Verderubí S.L. (Rubí de Bracamonte), Agrícola Sanz, S.L. (Rueda), Explotaciones Agrícolas Páramo de Valdecuevas, S.L.D (Rueda), Soc. Coop. Valdechimoza (La Seca), making it now 55 wine producing wineries,of the 62 enrolled in the D.O. Rueda.
The amount of kilograms gathered in the harvest may be consulted on daily basis at: www.dorueda.com, on the home page, as well as in the progress section.