The Catalan vineyard is recovering

TarragonaThere's a saying in the agricultural sector that a bad year usually leads to a good harvest. This trend, more or less, has been maintained over time, and if you look at the historical record, you find a certain balance, and the numbers end up adding up. But the drought that has affected Catalonia over the last three years broke all rules and has led to disastrous figures. Catalan winegrowers, who in a normal year can harvest nearly 400 million kilos of grapes, settled for 357 million in 2022, and since then, their yields have continued to decline: 278 million in 2023 and 248 million in 2024. This means that last year, the yields were 38% less than normal. This year, fortunately, the situation has improved.

Without taking their eyes off the sky, even if only out of the corner of their eyes, farmers are finishing their grape harvest these days, and with the entire harvest still to be completed and the count taken, they cannot hide their satisfaction. "The harvest has seen a change in trend compared to the last three years," explains Xavier Pié, president of the DO Catalunya, who celebrates that "the vineyards have recovered a lot," thanks above all to the rains last autumn and this spring. The vineyard has been grateful for these water reserves and the grapes have noticed: "It was a joy to walk through the vineyards of Priorat these days," said a satisfied Pilar Just, president of the DO Montsant.

Heat peaks

The summer started very hot, and some wineries brought forward the harvest a little, especially those of the white varieties, for fear that the heat would leave the grapes with acidity. During the month of August, there were also two weeks in which the thermometers rose more than winegrowers would have liked, but, in the end, the temperature wasn't as extreme. As if that weren't enough, the end of summer was very mild: "We experienced a September in which it felt like September," explains Pau Albó, president of the technical committee of the Empordà DO Regulatory Council. Excessively hot Septembers threaten to dry out the grapes and force the harvest to be rushed. In these cases, the winery is always late because they lack the necessary resources to carry out the harvest as quickly as they should. But this wasn't the case. From north to south of the country, in the absence of definitive data and according to the opinions of the appellations of origin surveyed, this season will have yielded nearly 20% more than in the two previous years, which were marked by drought. Even so, we're still 10% to 15% below what's considered normal. Estimates predict production similar to that of 2022 (357 million kilos).

Plant Survival

Beyond production, there's another piece of news to celebrate, Pié emphasizes, which is "the plant's response." He explains, "the vineyards have recovered greatly from the drought," and this news is even better than the production news "because the harvest is only a year away," while the vineyards should continue producing in the future. The three years of drought, especially the last two, have killed some vines (this mortality has been even more severe with hazelnuts), but most vineyards have resisted, and the fact that this production is good demonstrates their health. The oldest vines, as well as the newly planted ones, are the ones that have been left behind. One of the wine-growing regions where the lack of water was most severe is Priorat. "Here we're still in a drought period; it hasn't rained as much as it should," laments Salustià Álvarez, president of the DOQ Priorat. "We'd like to control the rainfall, but that depends on Saint Peter," he jokes.

However, the rains in November and March were sufficient to ensure the "good development of the plant." "Vines have been lost in very dry areas that had young or recently planted vineyards. These are the ones with the greatest weaknesses and the ones that need the most care," explains the expert. However, "there is no case of a vineyard that has completely dried out." "There are dead vines, but the vineyards have been saved," he celebrates. The resilience of this plant, native to the Caucasus and the Middle East, has been essential to resisting the consequences of the climate crisis. "The vineyard is adapted to drought, and, furthermore, episodes of water shortage also mean it is not affected by some diseases, such as mildew," he explains. Furthermore, "wineries' technical equipment and oenological knowledge improve every year, with better-trained people with greater knowledge and experience." And this is, in fact, the best way to prepare for the droughts to come.

Since 1980, the Catalan Institute of Vine and Wine (Incavi) has been operating in Catalonia, which depends on the Government of Catalonia. "We are dedicated to applied research and looking for tools to adapt to climate change because there is no other alternative," Xoán Elorduy, head of the viticulture, oenology, and ampelography service at Incavi, explains to ARA. This research involves finding more resistant varieties, improving the use of water and irrigation, and, ultimately, gaining greater knowledge. Elorduy receives information from the different Catalan designations of origin and also agrees that, "in general, they have all grown." Priorat is perhaps the one that is still suffering the most, while Penedès, where much more rainfall has fallen, could be the one that has recovered best. In this DO, very exhaustive monitoring has been carried out for twenty-five years, "and the recovery of the main varieties is very interesting," he says. The grapes have barely arrived at the winery; pressing has begun, and now the must will be obtained. After analysis, it will confirm or reject these good expectations, both in terms of quantity and quality, which also seems to be high enough. "The Xarelo and Macabeo are spectacular," assures the president of the Tarragona DO, María Rosa Blanch, while Álvarez celebrates that "the grapes are perfect for making quality wines."

In almost all of Catalonia, the only varieties left to be harvested are Parellada and Cariñena. The former, with a strong presence in the Penedès, Conca de Barberà, and Camp de Tarragona, is used, along with Macabeo and Xarel lo, to make cava and also white wines. The forecast is that it will also be a good year. Cariñena, on the other hand, is a black grape variety widely cultivated in Catalan vineyards. It can be found in Priorat, Terra Alta, Aragon, Roussillon, and Empordà. "We'll start harvesting it the last week of September, because it's one of the latest. It ripened foolishly, suddenly, and was losing water, but these last few rains have been good for it," explains Pau Albó, from the DO Empordà.

The future of wine

It's difficult to predict whether consumers will have to pay more or less for the wine now being produced. "The price of wine depends on many factors, beyond the price of the grapes," explains Elorduy. Blanch (DO Tarragona) is convinced that "there can't be any price drops because the work in the vineyard is very expensive." Thus, she maintains that "we must fight for a reasonable price that allows the entire supply chain to be maintained and allows everyone to live." For this to happen, wine consumption must also recover, which, after a surge during COVID, has been steadily declining.

Salustià Àlvarez (DOQ Priorat) highlights that three very important factors currently determine the wine sector: "Productivity problems (due to, among other things, the drought); market problems (with an excess volume of wine); and an international situation that increases the cost of living and causes less wine to be drunk (because babies don't also consume less wine). Tariffs."