12.8.16 Harvest About to Begin

The 2016 harvest will begin officially on Tuesday according to César Saldaña, director of the Consejo. Inspectors from the Casa del Vino, as the Consejo is popularly known, will be out checking sugar and quality levels to ensure the grapes are ideal for DO Sherry. Some grapes have already been harvested from the inland vineyards which are normally slightly more advanced, with the purpose of starting the “pies de cuba”, small fermentations at the bottom of the vat which will help kickstart the bigger fermentations when the harvest begins in earnest.

(foto:diariodejerez)

While picking will commence on Tuesday, it will not be at full speed as there is a slight lack of uniformity in ripening with variations of up to 2ᴼ Beaumé below the minimum required of 10.5ᴼ. César Saldaña says that the reason for this is the unusual weather conditions this year with an intensely dry spring followed by heavy rains. It looks as though the harvest will not be fully under way for at least two weeks. It will certainly be later than last year, and on the dates predicted earlier: towards the end of August.

The grapes have been plagued by episodes of the very hot Levante wind from the east which makes them lose weight in the form of water, but thereby concentrates the sugars and brings forward the harvest. Despite this, not all the grapes are ripe, especially those in the coastal areas where there is a strong influence from the nearby sea. The final yield is always difficult to predict, but thanks to the earlier mildew and the Levante, it could be about 20% lower than last year’s crop. The growers are thinking 60 million kilos compared to last year’s 72 million kilos.

25.7.16 Consejo Predicts Smaller Harvest; Fedejerez Re-joins FEV

With the 2016 vintage barely a month away, the Consejo Regulador, in its first harvest prediction, estimates a crop reduction of 10-15% because of the recent mildew attack. This will leave about 68 million kilos of grapes. Vineyards nearer the coast around Sanlúcar and Trebujena were the worst affected by the mildew since they have higher humidity than those situated inland. The Consejo puts the area of land affected by mildew at 7-10%, noting that the Levante (west wind, which has been blowing recently, has reduced the chance of an attack of oidium, another fungal disease which affects the quality of the grape rather than the quantity.

The 2015 harvest totalled 76.4 million kilos of grapes, of which 68 million qualified for Sherry production, whereas this year the Consejo expects about 68 million of which 65 million will qualify. It should be remembered that the 2015 harvest was 14% bigger than 2014, thanks to good weather conditions leading up to the harvest, and the Consejo is cautious, reminding everyone of the saying that “August has the key to the harvest” and much depends on whether the Poniente or the Levante winds predominate. The Levante is hot and dry and reduces the crop, and temperatures are already high in Cádiz. It is still early to say, but many think this year’s harvest will be a little later than last year when it began mid-August.

Fedejerez, the association of Sherry bodegas has re-joined the Federación Española del Vino (FEV), of which it was a founder member in 1978. The FEV is an organisation which represents the entire Spanish wine sector. Fedejerez had let its membership lapse in recent years, but some bodegas remained on their individual account. Pau Roca, general secretary of the FEV said he was delighted to have a founder member back in the fold, especially at a time when unity in the sector is so important.