Crisis Distillation Approved in Ribeira Sacra
On September 2, the Xunta de Galicia announced the approval of a crisis distillation order for Ribeira Sacra. The Xunta also activated up to €2M in aid for growers “against any remaining grapes that may remain in the vineyards.”
It’s the first time that a Galician DO will recur to crisis distillation, which involves withdrawing a certain amount of wine from the market in order to balance supply and demand. Wineries that decide to distill will receive aid from the Galicia’s Rural Environment Ministry in exchange for distilling their surplus wine to obtain industrial ethyl alcohol. The measure must also be authorized by the national Ministry of Agriculture and Brussels.
Many growers view the aid package as insufficient to offset the high production costs of cultivating vines on steep terraces. Wineries who choose to distill must transport wine to the distilleries on their own, and will most likely receive less than €1 per liter of wine.
Growers Demand Guaranteed Grape Sales in Protest at Ribeira Sacra Headquarters
About two hundred people gathered this noon in Monforte, in front of the headquarters of the Ribeira Sacra regulatory council, in protest against the lack of solutions to the problems for the sale of grapes derived from the surplus of red wine accumulated by the wineries. The mobilization was jointly called by Unións Agrarias and the Sindicato Labrego Galego, which agree in describing as “lukewarm and insufficient” the support measures for this appellation of origin approved in the last Consello de la Xunta.
Secretary of sectorial coordination of UU. AA., Félix Porto said that the Xunta must take “a step forward” to guarantee the purchase of grapes by the wineries and also activate a monitoring group whose objective would be to arbitrate solutions to the “structural problem” suffered by the Ribeira Sacra. This working group would be formed by representatives of the regional administration, the wine sector and agricultural organizations.
One of its tasks would be to respond to the challenges posed by “new consumption habits” for an appellation focused on red wines. “We have to activate mechanisms to avoid an irreversible situation. This is not only an economic problem, it also has a social and environmental aspect. It affects the viticulture of the whole territory”, underlined Porto.
Harvest has already begun in almost all of Galicia. The five wine regions expect both good quantity and quality. Valdeorras began harvest first, on August 21. According to the regulatory council, this year’s harvest is expected to be “historic and ideal.” Rías Baixas began harvest the week of September 2. The region predicts an abundant and good quality harvest with over 41 million kilos of grapes, 4 million kilos less than last year. Harvest of short-cycle and white grapes has begun in Ribeira Sacra, though the full harvest is not yet underway. In Monterrei, the regulatory council expects this year’s harvest to be exceptional, both in quality and quantity. And in Ribeiro, most wineries have begun to harvest a crop which is expected to be somewhat lower in quantity than last year.
DO Rueda Authorizes Godello, Causes Controversy
The government of Castilla y León gave DO Rueda permission to include Godello among its authorized varieties last Friday, prompting widespread outrage from DO Bierzo and the Galician DOs of Valdeorras, Monterrei, and Ribeira Sacra and allegations that Rueda was simply taking advantage of Godello’s trendy status among Spanish white wine grapes. On the other hand, ASAJA (Young Growers Association) of León said in a statement that “modern viticulture must constantly adapt to market needs, and today’s wine market demands innovation and differentiation.” Other newly-authorized varieties in Rueda include Cenicienta, Bruñal, Garnacha Blanca, Gewürztraminer, Moscatel de Alejandría, Moscatel de Grano Menudo, and Riesling.
“Each Year It’s More Difficult to Find Harvest Workers” Warns Ag Union
700 workers will be needed for this year’s grape harvest in Galicia for the last weeks of August and the month of September,according to an offer launched by the temporary employment company Randstad.
Last July in the Salnés Valley agricultural union Unións Agrarias warned that “it is increasingly difficult to find harvest workers.”
David Acha, from Bodega Davide in Vilanova de Arousa warns that the difficulty to find personnel “is a generalized problem that we all suffer, both large and small wineries, each in its own proportion”. The fact that all the wineries need personnel practically at the same time during harvest makes it difficult to find labor; and since it’s a short period of time, little more than two weeks in the best of cases, many give up the possibility of work to save themselves the trouble of interrupting and then resuming their unemployment benefits.
David Acha considers that the Xunta could alleviate the situation a little if it provided funds for the extraordinary hiring of people for agricultural campaigns who, in general, cannot have an employment contract, as would be the case of retirees.
Paula Fandiño, from Mar de Frades, also points out that “the most difficult things is finding grape harvesters”, and that in fact some years ago, “we were short of personnel”. In the case of Mar de Frades, they plan to start the harvest for the base wine of their sparkling wine around August 29, and in the Salnés Valley around September 2. This could make it somewhat easier for them to find staff, as many university students will not return to the classroom until the second week of September.