16.8.15 Harvest Underway; Homage to Shakespeare

The harvest has started. A million kilos have already been picked in the vineyards further from the sea- that is the warmer áreas, where the grapes have ripened more quickly without the sea breezes and humidity to cool them. Harvesting began on Friday night with machines and floodlights. González Byass expect to start work in their own vineyards tomorrow, but have already done some harvesting in contracted vineyards.

Teams of people with harvesting knives toiling under the baking sun are nearly all gone now as the machines take over. They work at night as the grapes are cooler and less likely to oxidise and they work much quicker. The grapes have decent sugar levels, some reaching 12ᴼ Beaumé (a sugar level scale by which 12ᴼ Beaumé should equal 12%/vol alcohol in the must). The harvest will get under way generally tomorrow. The Consejo is hoping that each hectare of vineyard will yield 10,000 kilos which would give a harvest total of 70 million kilos. Last year 68 million were picked.

Machine harvesting at night (foto:diariodejerez)

Consejo director, César Saldaña, said that the weather this year had been very variable but that it had helped bring about healthy grapes without insect problems. The biggest enemy is persistent humidity which can set off grey rot and crops can be lost, but this has been a “magnificent” year. The growers are hoping to cash in on that: after a hard year’s work they are hoping to get 58-60 pesetas the kilo. The cooperative Nuestra Señora de las Angustias will also start picking tomorrow. All the “pies de cuba” have been started (small fermentations to get the main ones underway more easily).

The harvest should mostly be over by the end of the month, though there could be pockets close to the sea which will need to wait till the first few days of September, unless the Levante wind appears, something largely avoided this year – much to the gratitude of all.

One of the quieter events of the Fiestas de la Vendimia but no less important is the annual homage to William Shakespeare who did so much to publicise Sherry in his day. Enthusiasts meet at his memorial in Jerez, drink a toast and recite some of his works.

19.7.15 High Temperatures Make for Early Harvest

The high temperatures of recent weeks and particularly in the first fortnight of July, which saw one heatwave after the other following that which engulfed the whole country at the end of June do not seem to have adversely affected the vineyards. The only noticeable effect in the inland vineyards is the advanced state of maturity since the nights have been warm too and the grapes fatten, while in the cooler coastal vineyards things are much the same as normal.

The growers nevertheless are hoping for a bit more Levante wind between now and harvest which would bring dryness and balance the development of the grapes. Without this, the growers expect the harvest to be a week earlier than last year. According to growers’ president, Francisco Guerrero, the harvest could be generally under way in the middle of August. Last year it was underway in the first fortnight, but traditionally most of it takes place in September.

Harvesting in 2014 (foto:diariodejerez)

The Consejo still lacks enough information to announce a possible start date but they expect to begin surveying the vineyards shortly to gather information to be presented at the next meeting scheduled for the end of this month. The Consejo director, César Saldaña noted that the accelerated maturation of the grapes has been balanced by dewfall during the nights.

The growers and the Consejo are still forecasting a very similar harvest to that of last year which brought in 65 million kilos giving an average yield of 10,000 kilos per hectare. Last year was 20% short of the exceptional 2013, but 2014 and the predicted harvest for 2015 are within the norm. Although it will be a fairly small harvest, the Consejo is happy that there will be enough mosto to replace stocks. Curiously, this year the budding of the vines was a little late due to lower than usual rainfall, but it caught up again and the harvest will be early. Such dry periods can lead to insect problems, but the grapes are healthy thanks to effective treatment against the green mosquito and the bunch moth.

12.7.15 Sanlúcar Mayor Pro BIB; Latest on Harvest

The Town Council of Sanlúcar has made a stand in favour of Manzanilla producers who are flouting the wine rules in general and those of the Denominación de Origen (DO) in particular by selling declassified wines in bag-in-box (BIB), a container which is not authorised by the Consejo.

On Friday they sought explicit support from the Mayor of Sanlúcar, Victor Mora, in a ratcheting-up of the love-hate tension between Sanlúcar and Jerez, where there is also the issue of Sanluqueños being allowed to produce Fino for commercial expediency while Jerezanos cannot produce Manzanilla. Both issues remain unsolved.

BIB was the main topic of the meeting at the Council, which came out in spirited support of it, saying that the BIB is taking over from the traditional “garrafa”, the only vessel allowed by the Consejo for bulk wine, as the trade is modernising by taking advantage of this container’s superior qualities of hygiene and environmental impact. Wine is protected from the light and the air, and is more easily poured and transported.

Victor Mora meeting with Manzanilleros (foto:diariojerez)

The Consejo for its part says that BIB’s are marketed in a way which confuses the consumer, as they carry the name of the producer, Manzanilla imagery, and use terms such as “en rama” and “fina” leading people to think they are genuine Manzanilla.

Despite repeated heatwaves the harvest is looking fine so far. The worst enemy is the Levante wind which can reduce the crop, but not much has been seen of it. The predicted start date for the harvest is the 20^th of August and a crop of between 67 and 70 million kilos is expected, much the same as last year, which was sufficient to restock the soleras. The grapes are healthy, and growers are crossing their fingers that it stays that way.