The harvest 2020 at Torello Viticultors
Paco de la Rosa and a vine with grape before harvest
When did the 2020 harvest start and how did it unfold?
The harvest number 68 since we made the first bottle of sparkling wine in Torello, began on Saturday August 8th, with the Muscat and Pinot Noir varieties, followed by the traditional Macabeu, Xarel.lo and Parellada and other varieties from the Can Marti estate, and ended on September 4th.
A challenging year: mildew and pandemic impact
This has been a very complicated year and one of many challenges for the Penedes wine growers, especially for those of us who work organic. In the words of Paco de la Rosa Torello
“In addition to the terrible consequences derived from the covid-19 pandemic, the vineyard in the area has been seriously affected by mildew (a disease caused by fungi) in a way that is not remembered for more than a hundred years”
The varieties most affected by mildew have been Parellada and Macabeu, and those least affected have been Muscat and Malvasia.
Spring rains and a dry summer: extreme weather
2020 has been a very rainy year, in fact, between October 2019 and May 2020 a total of 746 litres per m2 were collected on our farm, instead the summer has been very dry, it did not rain a single day. This high rainfall in spring favoured the great proliferation of mildew.
Organic viticulture and the limits of natural protection
As you know, in Torello we mainly work with the three historical varieties for Corpinnat del Penedes sparkling wines (Macabeo, Xarel·lo and Parellada), with which one can get an idea of how far the effects can go. But you know, in this profession so beloved as it is hard, the winegrower is always looking at the sky. When you work with organic viticulture, you depend more than ever on the benevolence (or not) of the weather. The treatments available to us are much more limited than in conventional agriculture. Pests are not fought with chemical products in the vineyard, and only preventive treatments are used – always respectful of the environment and favouring the biodiversity of the farm -.
grape table selection
Manual harvesting and selection table for quality wines
This 2020 we have had less grape quantity, but of good quality. We achieve this thanks to the manual harvest: first selection of what we harvest in the vineyard and thanks to the fact that once the grapes arrive at the winery, we pass them through a selection table, where we make a second sieve of the fruits, before the grapes go to the press. In this way, we want to highlight the great effort made by the viticulture and winery teams to achieve the best harvest and high-quality wines in a year as difficult as this one.
DO Penedès wines and Corpinnat sparkling wines with aromatic intensity and balance
The DO Penedes wines resulting from the harvest have a great aromatic potential and a lot of concentration due to the dry and hot summer. Tropical notes in the whites of Malvasia and Chardonnay and very vivid and intense colours in the varieties intended for rose wine. We have produced very little base wine for Corpinnat sparkling wines, due to the difficulty of the vintage, but, in any case, they are distinguished by a very balanced acidity and alcoholic strength.
