Work, health, delay in the vegetative cycle, contained production, expectation, uncertainty and hope!!!!.
This is how our winemaker and technical director Borja Ripa would define this year. We started with a rainy autumn 2023, with average rainfall, where the vines had a hard time letting go of their source of reserves for next year, that is, the leaves, which were working until mid-November due to the rainfall and mild temperatures that accompanied us.
This augured well for sprouting if the winter rains were average. This was the case, since after the 90 liters collected in that season everything looked good for the beginning of the cycle, although we were aware that in spring it would have to rain to ensure a summer with needs covered. During this season, the most beautiful in my opinion, with the whole green field overflowing with chlorophyll, rainfall was good, around 100 liters per square meter. In addition to this, temperatures were much milder than normal with average temperatures around two degrees lower than in previous years. This led to a delay in the cycle, which has continued until the harvest, with a delay of about 10 days. On the other hand, the general trend this year in practically all the areas of our appellation has been millerandage, popularly known as smallpox, which has caused the clusters to be more lax due to poor fruit set.
During the summer temperatures have been high: they always are, but the successive “heat waves” have been less intense than in other years, which meant that the plant was not blocked, in our case because irrigation management, at this very necessary time, has been done correctly.
Regarding health, it should be noted that this year has been one of the easiest years that I remember after the 20 harvests that I have been caring for and managing the Bodegas Manzanos operation. Health to date is exquisite.
The uncertainty currently comes, as always, from what will happen between now and the harvest. The storms of the last week have been very positive for grape quality since vineyards in certain areas with simpler soils were beginning to suffer. What we do not know is what will happen this September. Let’s hope that the weather will respect the enormous quality that is in the field today.
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