Valdepenas DO 2018 harvest volumes up by 4.2%

Producers in the appellation of Valdepenas, located in the south of Castilla- La Mancha, ended the harvest with a total of 96.8 million kilos of grapes, a rise of 4.2% on the previous year, as volumes across Spain return to a more normal footing after a difficult 2017.

Harvest time in Valdepenas

More than 2,500 vine growers across 22,000 hectares of vineyards picked their grapes in “perfect sanitary conditions and high-quality standards”, according to a press note issued by the Valdepenas DO.

Of the 96.8m grapes picked, 38.4 million kilos were white grapes (Muscatel de Grano Menudo, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Macabeo, Verdejo and Airen) and 58.3 million kilos are red grapes of the following varieties: Petit Verdot, Grenache, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Tempranillo.

Compared with the previous harvest in 2017, this year´s data show an increase of 4.2%. Maximum yields per hectares for wines made under D.O. Valdepenas are set at 6,000 kilos for red grapes and 7,500 for white grapes.

This year’s weather conditions in Valdepenas were described having “mild temperatures in summer and rain during spring, which resulted in a late harvest which started at the beginning of September (around 7 days later than usual) and the grapes had a normal maturation cycle”.

“We trust that wineries under the appellation Valdepeñas sell this year´s wines in the more than 100 countries where our wines are sold in the world. We are the second appellation in the off -trade in Spain, and we can be successful also beyond our borders”, declared Jesus Martin, President of A.O. Valdepenas.

2018 Spanish wine harvest

It follows what was a difficult 2017 vintage in Spain, and the bulk of Europe, with drought, hail and heat waves leading to one of the smallest vintages in living memory.

Overall, Spanish harvest volumes dropped by around 20% to 35.6m hectolitres, compared with 44m in 2016.

Spain’s five-year average is around 43m hl. Early predictions from the Embassy of Spain have set 2018 Spanish wine volumes at 42m hl, however the final figure could well be higher, said the Spanish Wine Embassy, marking a return to normality.

“There are high hopes for a vintage offering both fine quality and good volumes as the last grapes are picked across the Spanish wine regions this autumn,” the embassy stated, ahead of a full report on the harvest, due in January.

“After the extreme conditions of 2017, this year the weather has been largely favourable with more generous rainfall and slightly cooler conditions. Many producers are describing fresher wines and an ‘Atlantic’ style for the new vintage. In areas badly affected by frost last year the vines have often recovered well and surprised growers, especially across the DOs of Castilla y León. Favourable conditions during the early autumn have allowed growers to pick gradually, and harvest dates have generally reverted to more traditional dates.”