The view from San Vicente in the morning of 28 April 2017 was devastating. A bitter frost had taken hold during the night, with temperatures as low as -5º C, and had destroyed the budding vines, including those in the municipalities of Briones and San Vicente de la Sonsierra, where the budding was particularly advanced.
Less than a month later, the forecasts were relatively optimistic; however, over the course of the 2017 harvest our yield was less than a third (32%) of what we would harvest in a normal year.
Today, however, there are strong signs that the vineyard’s recovery has been nothing short of spectacular, according to Rafa. “The fertility indications are very good”, he explains. “We’re likely to have two clusters per shoot on almost every vine. Frankly, the recovery has been incredible, and just a few months ago, during the prolonged drought, it would have been difficult to imagine such a positive scenario”.
Don’t miss the vineyard interview in which Rafa talks to www.lomejordelvinoderioja.com about the progress of the vines and the forecast for this year.
If you’d like to read the full article of La heroica madera de la vid (“The Heroic Wood of the Vine”), click here.
