The Regulatory Council estimates a harvest of between 18 and 19 million kilos of grapes in the County of Huelva. The Zalema variety arrives at wineries and cellars in an "excellent sanitary condition".
The County of Huelva has fully entered the harvest season with initial estimates from the Regulatory Council of the DOP Condado de Huelva and Vinagre del Condado de Huelva, as well as the IGP Vino Naranja del Condado de Huelva, pointing to a harvest of between 18 and 19 million kilos of grapes. According to Huelva Información, the raw material is arriving at wineries, cellars, and cooperatives in an "excellent sanitary condition" and with ripening parameters that inspire optimism for the new vintage.
The campaign is currently experiencing one of its most intense moments with the harvesting of the Zalema, an indigenous variety and the main reference of the Huelva vineyard. The president of the Regulatory Council, Vicente Pérez García de Prado, assures that grapes of "extraordinary quality" are being harvested.
This Thursday, the sector showcased the progress of the campaign with the traditional blessing of the first must at the Nuestra Señora de la Estrella Cooperative in Chucena, an event that brought together farmers, cooperators, and institutional representatives, symbolically marking the arrival of the Zalema harvest.
However, the harvesting began much earlier: it started in mid-July in Villalba del Alcor, initially with early white varieties, and then extended to the rest of the territory and the various grapes protected by the quality designations of the County, including red varieties. September remains the month traditionally associated with the harvest in the region and the period when the campaign gains greater dimension.
The first estimate handled by the Regulatory Council points to a production of between 18 and 19 million kilos, although the estimate may be adjusted as harvesting progresses. Pérez García de Prado believes that, if confirmed, it would represent a "very acceptable and very good" amount for the County.
The qualitative prospects are also favourable. According to the assessment made by the Regulatory Council, the dry spring and hot summer have favoured the development and ripening of the grapes, which present particularly good phytosanitary conditions. The Baumé degrees, used as a reference for the potential alcoholic degree that the wine may reach, are also at optimal levels.
We will have to wait for the production process to know the definitive result of the vintage, although the conditions under which the raw material is entering the cellars fuel expectations. "Surely later the wines will also have very good quality," says the president of the Regulatory Council.
The start of the harvest also reactivates an activity that has a weight beyond wine production. Vineyards, cooperatives, and wineries are once again mobilising during these weeks a economic chain closely linked to numerous municipalities in the County, where grape cultivation also retains an important social dimension.
In this last aspect, the mayor of Chucena, Antonio Rubio, has emphasised the difficulties faced by the agricultural sector during the previous campaign due to downy mildew. "This is not just an economic issue, but also a social one for our town," says the mayor, who hopes that the new harvest can represent "a relief" for the farmers.
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