The full Regulatory Council of the DO Rueda has ratified, for the second time in its history, the harvest qualification 2017 as EXCELLENT. All this after studying the report and results of the Tasting Committee of the vintage wines. Tasted since last November.
The 2017 vintage, according to the DO Rueda, has been characterized by several aspects
• Advance of the harvest of about 15 days, with respect to the previous campaign. The months of February and especially March. In those months many days the maximum 20º C was exceeded, they were the cause that the plants began the biological cycle with this advance.
The harvest began on August 17 with the variety Sauvignon Blanc, as is normal in this area. It is the earliest ripening and its cycle is shorter.
Then of the variety Verdejo It started a few days later, on August 22. From which the grape harvesting of the different varieties received was already generalized. Until September 26, the end of the 2017 harvest, there were grape entries in the wineries of the DO Rueda daily.
In total, the harvest lasted 41 days, during which the harvest took place in good conditions. It was carried out slowly, as the vineyards reached their optimum degree of maturity.
• Excellent health status: The sanitary state of the vineyard in the D.O. Rueda it has been excellent. No damage from pests or diseases has been observed, due in large part to the drought suffered.
More than 90% of the harvest is mechanized
• Mechanical harvest: the harvest has been done mainly mechanically for many years now. During this campaign, more than 96% of the kg of grapes that have entered the wineries were harvested with machines.
• Weather accidents: They have caused a reduction of the harvest of 20%. The main ones were spring frosts, drought and hail
• The wines 2017: The wines have presented a great intensity in the mouth, very persistent and a nose of medium power. The graduations of between 13 and 13,5º have made them long, intense and highly structured wines. With hints of green fruits that persist and fill the mouth with freshness. With a slow aging given the registered graduation conditions that will extend the life of the wines.
"That will lead us to ensure that the characteristics of the variety mature and round out as time goes by. In this way obtaining wines that will be showing more intense, long and fresh. "
Source: Regulatory Council of the DO Rueda
