05.10.2020



Part Two……of the reports in from the growers. 

Until we can actually get down to the vineyards this is all we will have for now, but it seems to be a happy place at the moment, despite the overlying issues of the global market. 

Germany

Weingut Thorle, Saulheim Rheinhessen (in brief as harvest has not yet finished)

Christoph has been inundated with great vintages recently, which makes one forget some of the more dreadful events of recent history. 18 was fabulous for the reds, 19 for the whites and this vintage, well, in his view although the quantity is not the highest, the quality for both red and whole fruit is exceptional. The warm start to the year brought on the flowering and bud set in calm conditions. The heat in August brought on the fruit incredibly quickly and there was a bit of a rush to bring the Spatburgunder and Silvaner in before the weather changed. The fruit has all been picked now and is in impeccable condition. The cooler weather brought on by a low pressure towards the end of the month of September will help to finesses the Riesling from the warmer sites, and won’t do harm to the cooler sites either, but this vintage will leave a real impact on the flavour of the vineyards, which is exciting. 

Spain:

As yet no news from Laura Lorenzo or Bodegas Fulcro, and Jose at Entre os Rios said he would report next month as e is super busy, but was brimming with enthusiasm for the fruit he has brought in to date. 

Jose Anotonio Garcia, Bierzo

Intense, hot, brief and exhausted, this is how Jose summarized his vintage this year. They started the harvest on August 26 after an incredibly hot period, so was quite early, something which is becoming the norm, and bringing on the harvest earlier and earlier each year. The lack of rain is also becoming worrying as it is stressing the older vines as much as the younger ones too. Across the 125 parcels they own in Valtuille de Abajo (amounting to around 30 hectares) the importance of understanding which sites ripen first is becoming more and more important to bring in a healthy and balanced crop. IN contrast Corullon is providing ever more balanced and nuanced wines from the steep sheltered slopes. IN Jose words, this vintage has produced “Fluid elegance resting on the cellar”.

Adegas Carballal, Valdeorras

Jose Oveido Pato has reported an impeccable harvest of Godello and the pictures he has sent through are of healthy and golden fruit from the Erebo vineyards. His comments on the vintage were lean, but he is happy and as usual modest, but he did say at least it wasn’t as hot as last year! Expect floral smokey wines from him this year.

Jose Gil, Rioja Alavesa

Jose emailed last week me after a visit from Luis Guiterrez sounding on top of the world, not only had the harvest started and the fruit was looking amazing for his own wines, and just as excellent for Olmaza, the family Bodegas, but Luis, who is a big name in Spain for the younger growers, was waxing lyrical about his wines too. So a good place to be. The fruit is all in now and in his words he has never had such a late harvest for his wines and never had such quality, he could not be happier. When I was there in February, there was concern over the early blossoms on the cherry and almonds, and frost would take them out in most years, but this year it didn’t happen and spring moved into summer seamlessly. The summer was hot, of course, but cool nights throughout June and July and a relatively cool august has eased the fruit to ripeness in a long and elegant fashion. The abvs are around 12.5, pH low at around 3.3-3.4 and ferment have started seamlessly. In Jose words, this will be an Atlantic vintage…

Lagravera, Costers del Segre

La Pell red and white vines were picked last week. The old vines (of which some are over 125 years) are in good shape, with fruit bearing at around the average quantity. The fruit coming in already is around 13.5% and pH at 3.25, but it is hard to tell with so much variety in the vineyard what is giving what. The vintage was a little touch a go as a late frost almost destroyed the bud set, only being avoided by a quick movement of a front across the Pyrenees. Otherwise it has been a well formed year, with only some excessive heat in August making a mark, but the late picking date is testament to the effect of the cooler September setting in, and snow was reported up in the valley at the beginning of the last week of September.

Aseginloza y Leunda, Navarra

Pedro emailed me after the first pressing of Kauten, which he is super happy with this year (this is the younger vineyard in the village of Unx). He was very happy with the fruit this year, and he is excited to see how the 2020 will leave it mark on his wines, and how these will compare to the 19, 18 and 17 vintages. (As are we). The fruit is coming in slightly cooler than 18 at 13.8 abv but the pH is roughly the same as 18 and 19, according to the vineyards. He will be pressing this week and then after that we will have a chat about how he feels things are going.