Heat brings DO Empordà harvest forward with smaller but ‘high quality’ grapes

The strong heat of this summer combined with the lack of rain last winter and autumn has resulted in winemakers DO Empordà bringing this year's harvest forward by about ten days. 

With numerous heatwaves already this season, 2022 has been the "driest" summer they can remember, causing significant dehydration of the vines. 

The grapes have ripened early and, although they will be smaller, they will have "a lot of quality," the winemakers in northern Catalonia claim. 

"Everything makes us think that we will have concentrated wines with very clean aromas," the president of the technical commission of the Empordà DO Regulatory Council, Antoni Roig, explained to Catalan News. 

The wineries of the Denomination of Origin of Empordà anticipate production levels to be similar to the average of other years. 

However, the sector is also calling on help from the administration to deal with what they describe as a “plague” of wild boars in the area.

They are asking for help to cover the costs of installing fences on the estates to prevent the feral hogs from wreaking havoc.

Heatwaves affecting harvests

The harvest has started earlier than normal in other parts of the country as well, with the Catalan Institute of Vine and Wine (INCAVI) citing the high temperatures. 

This year’s crop will be 15% lower than previous times because of the lack of water. However, INCAVI hopes it will be a "healthy and quality" harvest. 

Regarding the number of grapes, Macabeo, a white variety of wine grapes has been reduced, while the Xarel·lo one remains similar to the past years. 

Harvest in the Penedès county, near Barcelona, -where the DO Cava (sparkling wine) has the vast majority of winemakers- sparkling wine and early-harvest varieties started cropping on July 27.

This is between six and nine days earlier than in 2021 and the first time in history that they start cropping this early. 

Girona apples, sweeter but less colorful

This summer's heatwaves and higher-than-normal temperatures have wide-ranging effects on harvests up and down the territory. 

Girona apples, for example, will be sweeter this year due to the heat, but they will also have less color. Girona apples have EU Protected Geographical Indication status for their quality and agricultural tradition.

Fruit farmers in the north of Catalonia assure the apples this year are of a very high standard. “The apples are sweeter, they have slightly less colour but they’re of very high quality because they’re very sweet,” Martí Ferrer of the Girona Fruits company explained to the Catalan News Agency.

The harvest is expected to be 13% smaller this year: 88,500 tons, down from last year’s 101,750 tons. Despite this, 2022’s harvest will be one of the largest of the decade.