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With the annual grape harvest in the win-producing area of Jumilla now well under way the organization representing Denomination of Origin wineries is forecasting that the harvest this year will probably reach around 70,000 kilos of grapes.
Picking of the grape varieties which reach maturity earliest began in the second half of August, but the first fruit beloinging to the Monastrell strain, which accounts for 70 per cent of all wine grapes grown in Jumilla, began only a week or so ago. Nonetheless, with around 60 per cent of the crop already picked the total volume has reached 42 million kilos, hence the latest overall estimate from the Denomination of origin body.
At one point it had been thought that this autumn’s harvest could be down by as much as 20 per cent in comparison with 2018, but this has now been revised to 10 per cent. More importantly, though, the wine-growers continue to report extremely high quality in their produce this autumn, confident that the vines withstood the drought of the early spring and have produced excellent grapes. Fortunately, the hailstorms of August and the heavy rain in mid-September caused little damage, and the resulting delay in picking appears to have been beneficial.
In all the 45 Denomination of Origin wineries of Jumilla, collaborating with more than 2,000 agriculturalists, cultivate vines on over 19,000 hectares of land, more than half of it within the boundaries of the municipality with around 40 per cent distributed among the municipalities of Montealegre, Fuente Álamo, Tobarra, Hellín, Ontur and Albatana in the neighbouring province of Albacete (Castilla-La Mancha).
For more local news, events and information, including how to visit the wineries affiliated to the Jumilla wine route, go to the home page of Jumilla Today.
