Harvest 2020
March
“The vines begin to sprout. Color returns to the landscape, timid at first, hiding that bright green exuberance that will come later. You can hear people talking with concern about what is going to turn our daily lives upside down.”
April
“For two weeks we have been looking at our vineyards not as closely as it would be usual at this time of year. Even so, the vineyard team and the family continue to monitor the vine cycle; everything indicates that it will be a year of very good performance. But it rains heavily: we collect 186 liters in a few days. It will be the highest amount of the whole viticultural year, and it will trigger outbreaks of mildew throughout the region.”
May
“It keeps on raining. We cannot take our eyes off the vineyard. Green pruning is intensified to favor ventilation and reduce humidity. The whole team gets involved: export colleagues, the sales team, the wine tourism department… everyone puts their hands to work to ensure that the grape, still small and in its initial stage, reaches the harvest perfectly.”
June
“Spring has given us no truce. Organic vineyards, such as those of the Can Llopart family estate, are the ones that have needed the most care in recent months. In this sense, the altitude of the mountain vineyards and the inclination of the terraces are key for the grapes to be more protected. The experience and rusticity of our vines, with an average age of 45 years (and which in some vineyards reach more than 85 years, with very limited yields) also works in our favor; they are an example of resilience.”
July
“We are approaching the harvest; some varieties begin to change color (a phase known as veraison) and offer us a kaleidoscope of increasingly intense colors. In contrast with previous months, during this one not a drop of water falls, the sun shines bright and accelerates ripening.”
August
“August 20 is the D-day of the first vineyards of Macabeu. The manual harvest that we carry out allows us to make a direct selection of the best fruits in the vineyard. This first day is already a good example of how this year’s harvest will be: yields are lower, up to 30%, but the quality of the grapes is very good.”
September
“We started the new month with Xarel·lo, the historic variety from Penedès and the protagonist of our viticultural mosaic. Towards the second week we also began to collect Parellada and Monastrell. This year we harvest all the grapes in boxes, which we will dump directly into the press and press them whole, gently, thus maintaining the maximum integrity of the fruit, reducing maceration and extraction.”
October
“We dedicate the last weeks of the harvest to the red and rosé varieties that will become our still wines: Garnacha, Sumoll, Xarel·lo Vermell. It is a very good vintage for wines: wines with very good structure, aroma and potential are emerging from the single-grape microvinifications that we are carrying out. Some of the base wines have also started to make their own way; now is the time to taste them, discover the potential of each one and decide on the blends that will characterize the distinctive profile of each sparkling wine.”
