Date Published: 12/08/2020
ARCHIVED - Warm weather brings forward the grape harvest in Jumilla
ARCHIVED ARTICLE Garnacha, Syrah, and white Sauvignon Blanc grapes are all ready to be harvested now
The very high temperatures in recent weeks, with several days above 40 ◦C and very hot nights, have accelerated the ripening of the earliest grape varieties and have meant that harvesting in the Jumilla D.O. is being brought forward by more than a week.
Plots of red varieties Garnacha and Syrah, and white Sauvignon Blanc, have reached the optimal conditions of maturity, and other varieties such as Garnacha Tintorera, Macabeo, Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon are expected to be ready for harvesting next week.
The area covered by the Jumilla D.O. is very extensive, and early varieties coexist with others with a long cycle, such as the Monastrell grape which represents more than 70% of the vineyards.
This is one of the longest harvests in Spain, since it begins in early August in the southern area and ends in the first weeks of November in the northernmost part.
It is estimated that this season there is likely to be a level of grape production similar to that of last season, with prospects of around 15% more yield than in 2019 and with an excellent assessment of quality.
At the beginning of September, the first plots of Monastrell will begin to harvest.
The production area in Jumilla covers 17,000 hectares of vineyards, mostly rainfed, and located on predominantly limestone soils, at altitudes that vary between 320 and 900 meters.
Production areas are delimited, on the one hand, by the extreme southeast of the province of Albacete (Castilla La Mancha region), which includes the municipalities of Montealegre del Castillo, Fuente Álamo, Ontur, Hellín, Albatana and Tobarra; on the other, the north of the province of Murcia.
The climate of this area is continental, with the influence of the Mediterranean. The scarce rainfall that barely reaches 300 mm a year and the more than 3,000 hours of sunshine, favour the low incidence of pests and diseases, which allows a high percentage of organic farming.
In the Jumilla D.O. five kinds of wine are made: reds, rosés, whites, sweets and liqueur wines, and the production of native varieties prevails.
The Monastrell grape is the base of 70% of the wines that are made in this Protected Designation of Origin.
Covid measures
In this harvest there will be extraordinary efforts made to protect field workers and those working within the bodegas against Covid-19, and prevention and hygiene measures will be taken to the extreme, to avoid contagion and ensure that the activity is carried out with the maximum safety that this exceptional situation allows.
Visiting the bodegas of the Murcia Region
There are wine bodegas which can be visited in the three wine production areas of the Murcia Region; Yecla, Jumilla and Bullas. Bodegas offer paid tours, most have shops and sell directly to the public and are an excellent low-contact activity for visitors to the region. Reservations should be made directly with the bodegas themselves.
Contact details and full information about each of the three wine areas can be found on these links: