![\"\"](\"https:\/\/bodegasmanzanos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Borja-Ripa-300x300.png\")
Just as we said last year that that vintage, the 2022, was a vintage of working more in the winery, this one has been one of more work in the field and we have had to interpret how the weather forecasts were going to influence our vineyards at every moment.<\/p>\n
This has been the year that we have been checking all the time all kinds of applications that give us the weather forecast because this was going to influence a lot the quality of the harvest.<\/p>\n
The quality and style of each vintage is defined, to a large extent, by the climatology experienced throughout the year and, within this, what most influences are the annual rainfall, its distribution over time and the temperatures. This winter was quite dry, which meant that the soil did not store the water reserves necessary for good bud break. As for temperatures, the vineyard did accumulate the cold hours it needed during its winter shutdown, but when April arrived, we had higher temperatures than normal, which warmed the soil earlier and, consequently, brought forward the time of sprouting. We had a cooler May than in 2022 so the cycle slowed slightly. Even so, temperatures this spring were milder than in 2022 which brought the cycle back to more or less normal dates. These conditions are more prone to powdery mildew development. What is noteworthy about this season is the scandalous lack of rainfall, which, added to the lack of winter reserves, made this factor quite decisive in the final quality of the grapes.<\/p>\n
The summer began with some storms that improved the drought situation a little, with June and July being months with normal temperatures. As for rainfall, July and August were, following the trend of this vintage, very dry. This situation, added to the heat wave we suffered in August, led to a hasty harvest, with a time lag between phenolic and technological maturity, due to a rise in sugar concentration in the berry and a sudden drop in acidity due to the loss of water from the berries as a result of dehydration.
\nWith the arrival of September, the weather also changed, and we suffered several storms, one on the 2nd with 33 liters per square meter and on the 10th and 11th with 21 liters, the first 33 liters being very good, since it made the plant absorb the water that it had lost with the heat of August. There was a spectacular change in the grapes, as they continued to ripe and the deviation we had between phenolic and technological maturity was reduced. “We were gaining fruitiness every day in the grape tasting; we were starting to see balanced and tasty fruit.” Fortunately, the second rains were not very abundant, as in the rest of the sites, and this caused a small delay, but we were able to harvest ripe grapes with a good sanitary index.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/bodegasmanzanos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Vinedo-Singular-Vendimia-2023-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Keys to a quality harvest:<\/p>\n
After taking a detailed look at the climatological year, we move on to detail the work carried out in our own and controlled vineyards:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Care of the soil microbiota with organic fertilizers in January and February. Healthy soil = root development = better absorption of macro and micro nutrients.
\n\u2022 Winter irrigation to ensure good bud break and development until flowering.
\n\u2022 Although the spring was dry, mild temperature conditions were favorable for powdery mildew development. As always, we managed the vegetation, creating a high, thin trellis so that the grapes were well aerated from the early stages, in addition to increasing the effectiveness of the treatments. Controlled health.
\n\u2022 Traditionally in our conditions it is better for the grapes to be covered by the leaves to protect them from the sun, so that is what we did, we kept the basal leaves healthy and fresh to preserve the aromas and the malic acid.
\n\u2022 Summer irrigations to make the trellis we had generated in spring photosynthetically active, avoiding the blockage of the plant by the high temperatures and achieving balanced grapes despite the adverse conditions of this summer.
\n\u2022 Very selective harvest, with special emphasis on the incipient botrytis outbreaks.
\n\u2022 Treatments with organic products without a safety period in certain vineyards to guarantee health at the end of the cycle.<\/p>\n
On August 16 we began harvesting early white varieties, such as Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. After good work throughout the year and especially from June onwards, our estates of this variety have behaved very well, giving us fresh fruit and freshness. I think we got it right with the early harvest.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/bodegasmanzanos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Vinedo-Singular-Vendimia-2023-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The early harvest has been the strategy we have followed with all the white varieties, and I think we have been right. Having balanced estates with average yields has had a lot of weight in this decision. “I like this year’s whites, although in theory it is not a white year”.<\/p>\n
As for the red varieties, there have been three harvests, the one before the rains, at the end of August, the one in the second half of September and the one at the end, which lasted until October 10. <\/p>\n
We started at the end of August, before the first rains, with plots that both for the type of soil, more sandy, and for their orientation and yields, had a good maturity and a young wine profile, obtaining great health and fresh fruit with less concentration.<\/p>\n
In the second part we harvested more balanced grapes, with a good structure, suitable for semi-crianza or crianza. In this vintage, the vines were green, with no symptoms of nutritional or water deficiencies. The berries were firm and the percentage of raisined berries was minimal. In this second vintage we harvested about 60% of our vines. The result has been more than satisfactory, obtaining clean, concentrated and ripe wines, although with a lower level of structure than the previous vintage. During this time, we harvested the plots that were ready and treated the estates that, for various reasons, we did not want to harvest.<\/p>\n
The last part of the harvest, in October, was the most beautiful, since we had estates where we had taken a risk and where we wanted to harvest something really different. These were normally high areas and Gracianos, which we normally use to make wines for cellaring due to their higher acidity and freshness.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/bodegasmanzanos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Vinedo-Singular-Vendimia-2023-3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
As for the winery, it has been a less stressful vintage than in the field, since there have been three separate harvests in time, the work has been more comfortable, with the time to perform all the tasks. The fermentation kinetics went very well and the only thing to note is that, at the beginning, the temperature of the grapes was a little higher than desired. <\/p>\n
PS: this vintage seems easy written in a post-harvest report, but day-to-day decision-making requires a high level of knowledge of the plots, great know-how of their evolution, great intuition with the weather and good coordination of the work of the whole team.<\/p>\n