End point to our wineries’ 2020 harvest. It was a closing with very positive general results in a harvest that we will remember for years to come as the most demanding in our house’s 130 years. This was due to the great logistic challenge posed by the extreme safety, health and preventive measures forced upon us by the pandemic.
In our Rioja wineries (La Rioja Alta, S.A. and Torre de Oña), mid-summer forecasts were not particularly optimistic in view of high temperatures and pronounced water stress. Fortunately, two essential weather factors helped overcome the situation leading to a very satisfactory conclusion with both magnificent quality and substantial quantity of harvested grapes. On the one hand, late September rains allowed for better ripening and a recovery from the water stress caused by the drought. On the other, cold, northerly winds arrived a little later to help the vines ripen with great balance. In addition, a late harvest allowed us to make wines with a great aging potential, with a lot of colour, typical of the area, abundant aromas and good balance.
In Áster (Ribera del Duero), the 2020 vintage brought generally satisfactory results, as well as the introduction of optical grape sorting. This is a system that has been used in the La Rioja Alta, S.A. and Torre de Oña wineries for several years. We scan each berry to make sure that only those grapes that meet the demanding parameters established by our technical team can enter the fermentation tanks. However, in this region, the final quality of the crop was somewhat affected by rains at the end of the ripening cycle.
Finally, in the Lagar de Cervera winery (Rías Baixas) we are also happy with the harvest season, marked by strong temperatures in the weeks prior to the harvest, which meant an increase in the quality of our Albariño grapes albeit with lower volumes than initially estimated.
In Ribera de Duero (Áster) the grapes also look magnificent. As in Rioja, ripening is slightly ahead of schedule and we plan to start in the last week of September.
In Lagar de Cervera (Rías Baixas) we are about to reach the halfway point of the harvest. We are picking high quality Albariño grapes, albeit in smaller quantities than initially forecast.
