Pilar Mazo
Logroño, (EFE).- The green harvest returns this July to La Rioja to be able to recover the balance between supply and demand due to the high level of stocks in the wineries and, although the viticulturists benefiting from this exceptional measure They see it as “painful”, they agree that it is “a lesser evil” given what this next vintage may bring.
This was reported to EFE by two of the Riojan winegrowers who have taken part in this practice, aware that the wineries have their tanks full and that they cannot assume an input of grapes that would have been normal in previous years.
Some have already notified their suppliers that they will not buy all the grapes, others have been told to look for different buyers or to throw them away, and a third group have been told that they do not know how they will be able to pay for it.
Faced with this unknown, two of the farmers benefiting from this measure, -Marcos Fernández, from Villamediana de Iregua, and Rubén Castillo, from Uruñuela- agree that it has been the lesser evil because, after the last rains, an increase in the harvest in the Qualified Designation of Origin (DOCa) Rioja, which last year resulted in 368 million kilos of grapes.
In La Rioja, the Ministry of Agriculture has admitted 841 plots for green harvest, corresponding to 985 hectares of 319 beneficiaries, who will receive the requested and approved amount of aid, for a total of 3.7 million euros and which They have a deadline to cut their grapes until the next 15th.
This area supposes an estimated volume of wine withdrawn of 48,469 hectoliters and the amount of the aid is variable depending on each plot, since it depends on the yield of each one and the sale price of the grape.
IF THE GRAPE DOES NOT PAY YOU, IT IS BETTER TO THROW IT AWAY
Marcos Fernández will throw some 45,000 kilos of red grapes, tempranillo, between 10 and 35 years old, harvested by hand and planted in some 7 hectares of dryland vineyards in the municipality of Villamediana de Iregua.
“In a normal year -he recounted-, perhaps, you do not decide to make a green harvest, but a severe drought was coming, a short harvest was expected and, in the end, it has rained and a huge harvest could come.”
In addition, “this is an economic issue”, since “the amounts (offered for the green harvest) are quite interesting and, although you are not going to cover the entire harvest, they are quite good.”
With 23 years dedicated to the cultivation of the vineyard, as his way of life, he has recognized that he has been “very sorry” to have to throw away some grapes that have cost him money and effort to cultivate, but “you have to be realistic.”
“When I applied, I thought that they were not going to grant me the subsidy because my farms are small and I thought that I was not going to have enough points, but they have given it to me,” said Fernández, for whom “if the grapes are not going to Take it or they won’t pay you, it’s better to throw it away and get a subsidy because, in the end, you cover expenses”.
He has avoided revealing the identity of the winery to which he delivers his harvest from his nearly 18 hectares, but has acknowledged that “all Rioja wineries are full of wine because it is not sold and that is the problem.”
“Since the pandemic -the first time that the green harvest was authorized in La Rioja-, we have spent a few years in which wine is not sold and if it is left over, the grape is worthless; You have to be realistic”, he assured at the foot of the vineyard, also surprised by the “ridiculous percentage” of Rioja winegrowers who have taken advantage of this measure.
“Where are the viticulturists going to put the grapes?; the wineries are not going to take all of it because it does not fit in their warehouses”, Fernández continued in his reflection, to whom the winery to which he delivers his grapes suggested that he opt for the green harvest for part of his vineyard.
Estate where the Rioja winegrower Rubén Castillo has practiced the green harvest. EFE/Raquel Manzanares-
Rubén Castillo has spoken along the same lines, from Uruñuela, whose casuistry is different when opting for the green harvest, but under the same common denominator, that it is the lesser evil.
That farmer has also pulled his grapes by hand from about 3 hectares of irrigated ink vineyards that are between 8 and 10 years old, out of the 12 he cultivates and which are distributed between Uruñueña, Alesón and Hormilla.
Castillo sells all its grapes to the Marqués de la Concordia group, from Cenicero, a firm whose economic situation -it initially entered bankruptcy proceedings- has forced it to take this measure and “I did not know, until the last fifteen days, if this year we I was going to pick the grape or not”.
Finally, the bankruptcy administrator of the firm “has informed us that it takes the grapes from us, but the prices are unknown; The matter is not looking good and next year it is not known what will happen ”, he detailed.
With a desolate gesture, he also recognized that it is hard to have to throw away grapes after twenty years fully dedicated to the care and cultivation of your vineyards, although “it has been a lesser evil”.