The 2020 vintage will bring important novelties, such as the first year of production of the “Gran Vino de Rueda”, a category that is made from vineyards that are over 30 years old.
The Rueda Denomination of Origin has finished the harvest with a total of 112,765,436 kilos of grapes with the right to be welcomed. Of them, 99.16% correspond to white grapes. The native Verdejo variety accounts for 87.07% of the total production, with 98,187,754 kilos.
The harvest began on the night of August 22 with the Sauvignon Blanc variety, whose vegetative cycle is shorter and matures earlier. On August 28, the harvesting of the Verdejo variety began. “The campaign has developed with complete peace of mind. The grapes have entered the winery in optimal conditions and have been harvested as indicated by the maturity indices of each plot, seeking the best balance between grade and acidity ”, confirms Jesús Díez de Íscar, technical director of the D.O. Rueda. “Our role as the Regulatory Council is to control the origin and quality, as well as the health status and quantity of grapes of each variety. In addition, in this year marked by the pandemic, all the pertinent security measures have been carried out, in order to minimize the risks of contagion ”.
The forecasts for the 2020 vintage are excellent. “Wines of great aromatic intensity and with good structure on the palate are expected. The balance that we find between acidity and alcoholic strength augurs wines with a greater longevity ”, concludes the technical director of the D.O. Rueda.
Carmen San Martín, president of the D.O. Rueda recalls that this is a very special campaign for the Denomination of Origin “since it coincides with our 40th anniversary. In addition, the 2020 vintage brings great novelties, such as the incorporation of the Great Rueda Wine category ”. The president of the D.O. Rueda confirms that “this new category represents an added value for consumers, since it is made with grapes from vineyards that are more than 30 years old, which allows to maintain the old vineyard and preserve the heritage of the area. When these wines are released on the market in a few months, we hope to surprise consumers, both nationally and internationally ”.
2020 campaign
This year the campaign had 1,580 winegrowers and 74 registered winemakers.
During the harvest weeks, the Regulatory Council has hired 16 assistants to whom PCR tests have been carried out, in order to minimize the risks of contagion and to be able to carry out the necessary controls in the field and in the winery, establishing working groups bubble with the 7 supervisors of the Regulatory Council. In addition, from the D.O. Rueda has collaborated with the Junta de Castilla y León in carrying out diagnostic tests on itinerant seasonal workers who have hired the wineries for the harvest.
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