This is how the "new harvest" is made in Valdeorras.

After a year of work and cares in the vineyard, it comes one of the key and more analyzed moments in the modern era of wine, in order to get a wine of the highest quality: the vintage.

The study of the acidity, the sugar and the tannin maturity (polyphenol maturity) determines the optimal time for the harvest, which is made as quickly as possible, during the colder hours of the day (or night), using plastic containers and in small amounts.

In some cases, the harvest is made in different stages and for certain wines or even there is a cautious selection of the grapes.

Once in the winery, where hygiene and cleanliness must be optimal (some people argue that this factor is noticed in the wine quality), the resulting must that has undergone destemming and passed through crusher, begins its fermentation in clean and conveniently desinfected stainlees steel tanks, the material used in Spain for the fermentation and the aging of wines.

However, in recent times there is a trend of processing and preservation as it was in the past in which, without prejudice the proper asepsis required by the winery, wood and concrete are materials widely used either for the beneficial micro oxygenation or the polyphenolic extra contribution.

While more than 100 years ago the wine aging was the result of the necessity of storage and transport, today it is in many cases a universal and democratic obligation that every winemaker must perform in at least some of its wines, if  pretends to compete in the market.

 The calculation and technicity have also occupied an important place in this area, where nothing is left to chance; from the origin and type of wood, to the exact amount of tannin that contains and, of course, the age of the barrels, which should preferably be young and new.

All these criteria have not gone unnoticed for the D.O. Valdeorras appellation, in which its wineries lovingly care the smallest detail; and all this dedication has made possible their presence in the most demanding markets, with wines that have been valued with infinity of international awards and praised by the most prestigious winemakers, critics and sommeliers of the international wine sector.

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91 points for "A Coroa Godello 2011" in the "International Wine Cellar" a publication of Stephen Tanzer

  New international recognition of the wine industry for Valdeorras wines that, once more, arrive by the hand of the A Coroa winery, achieving this time 91 points in the publication "International Wine Cellar". This is one of the referential publications in the world wine sector, together with "The Wine Advocate" of Robert Parker.

The prestigious American wine critic Stephen Tanzer, is back to track to elevate the Valdeorras Godello "A Coroa" giving to the wine, this time, 91 points in his bimonthly publication "International Wine Cellar".

The one considered by a large segment of the world of wine experts as the biggest competitor of  Robert Parker, bets once more on Godellos of the D.O. Valdeorras appellation as the reference of the Spanish white wines in the international wine market.

The A Coroa winery, which has just got a major gap in the Swedish monopoly market through System Bolaget chain, continues guaranteeing the quality of its Godello 2011. In this occasion, the cellar gets a new recognition to its achievements that is added to all previous of 2012: gold medal at the "World Wine Selection of Canada", gold medal at the "International Wine Competition of Lyon", silver Medal at the "Competition for the Best Spanish Wines for  USA", the silver "Bacchus" in Spain and the Silver “Acio” in Galicia.

In addition, A Coroa wine has been featured in the The New York Times this year. The magazine has stressed among 20 wines of the Godello variety sold in the USA market the A Coroa wine as the most significant of them all, following the taste of the wine critic Eric Asimov. He has highlighted this as a "deep, tasty and unique wine, with a succulent texture and flavors of tropical fruits", expanding his valuation with the sentence "is a wine that not only represents power, but the power turned into wine".

Stephen Tanzer

 Stephen Tanzer is one of the most famous critics in the United States. He is the director and editor of the bimonthly publication "International Wine Cellars", which was launched in 1985. This uses a rating system based on a wine quality scale that goes from 70 to 100 points, being the major competitor of "The Wine Advocate" publication of Robert Parker. However, the distinguishing feature of both publications lies on a less extravagant line followed by Tanzer.

Tanzer tastes more than 10,000 wines in the United States and abroad annually, and is a professional who spends many months of the year visiting vineyards, wine regions and meeting the producers.

Hence, this rating ratifies the international prestige of the Godellos of the D.O. Valdeorras appellation, and confirms the high quality of these as "some of the most fashionable wines in the international wine sector."

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New data on the D.O. Valdeorras appellation harvest confirm the high quality of the grapes

 As the week goes by, more wineries from Valdeorras have joined the picking of the fruit, as well as have shared with us their valuations on the new crop. Despite the fact that the amount of grapes has decreased this year, all them agree with the great quality of the fruit that, for sure, will characterize the 2012 harvest of the D.O. Valdeorras appellation.

Thus, among other wineries of the D.O. Valdeorras appellation, Godeval ushered in the harvest last week, being this the pioneering winery in the recovery of the godello variety in Valdeorras, thanks to its president Horacio Fernández Presa, in 1982.

His valuations of the 2012 grape harvest are about the more than ten days of delay of the picking jobs compared to last year. Also, and due to weather conditions, he points out that there's been a decrease in the quantity of grapes to be harvested this season. Nevertheless, and from the winery, they reaffirm that the quality of the grape is optimal and this will characterize the great wines of the D.O.Valdeorras appellation.

Horacio Fernández also estimates that Godeval will collect about 30 percent less production, but ensures that the quality will be "optimal". Fernández Presa explains that the white variety godello will also increase its acidity this year, considering this as an advantage: "if we are usually between 6.5 to 7, this year we will be in 7. Wines from this region are characterized by acidity, and this is what makes us different."

Horacio Fernández

Godeval harvest, that began yesterday morning in the farms of "La Granja" and "la Graciosa" in Vilamartín, will continue throughout the next ten days or so, and will be marked by a year of unusual weather conditions.

As Horacio Fernández explains, "this harvest is marked since October last year. The value of the soil water is very low because of the lack of rain in those months and the plants were not enough strong to prepare for a new flowering and maturation process."

The godello grape collection on the farms owned by the Godeval winery is made with boxes of 18 kilos, always following the standard of "not carry those grapes that you wouldn't eat to the winery"

 Once in the winery facilities, the process continues with the selection, pressing and fermentation of the must. Despite of this process, winemakers affirm that the base is always in the vid and in the field in which it grows, stating that "the wine is made in the vineyard".

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Valdeorras began the harvest with an excellent grape quality

Photo: Lolita Vázquez (La Voz de Galicia)  - Info Source: La Región

The María Teresa Nuñez Vega winery was the first in starting the picking work in Galicia, last Thursday at 08.00 am.

The vineyards are located in the City Council of Petín and there is where the campaign of the Autonomous Community began.  Leading the works, which will continue throughout the next days, we find the owner of the winery Celestino Naveira. He announced that the grape is of an excellent quality, although the crop is expected to be lower than the previous year.

'There are fewer grapes than last year, a 20% less, but in fact there are more than we were expecting. For sure, all the grapes are excellent ' he stated. Despite the fact that weather conditions led to several days of delay to begin the harvest, these also favored the development of the plants, that could enjoy several days of warm temperatures, ideal for picking the fruit.

The María Teresa Núñez winery works with mencia, alicante and godello varieties. According to Celestino Naveira, this last variety 'mature sooner', reaching 13.5 degrees this year. He also indicated that its production is slightly larger than 30,000 bottles, being of godello variety two out of three.

Video: La Región

The expectations of the winery of Petín coincide totally with those of the Regulatory Council of D.O. Valdeorras appellation. His technical director, Jorge Mazaira, also calculated a 20% decline in production respect the vintage of 2011, when producers in Valdeorras collected about 6.4 million kilos.

The technician of this winemaking organization also indicated that the 'quality of the grape is very good; it rained when rain was needed and it was warm at the right time. These days, temperatures of 30 degrees are ideal for the harvest; if these were higher, grapes could be damaged'.

Despite of belonging to the first Galician appellation that starts the harvest, cellars of Valdeorras begin this campaing a week later compared with the previous season, when at the end of August we could already find workers in the vineyards.

Throughout the weekend, a great part of wineries that make up the D.O. Valdeorras appellation have joined the harvest, although the main activity is expected to take place around 23 September.

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The Godello "A Coroa" of the D.O. Valdeorras appellation begins its merchandising in Sweden

 The  Godello A Coroa will be available on the premises that form the Swedish monopoly network, Bolaget System, from September 2012

 

 The Swedish state-owned company, System Bolaget -or monopoly-, is unparalleled in any other place in the world. It has 2,300 products from more than 40 different countries, including beer, wine and spirits. In addition, suppliers have in stock about 8,500 items available upon request at any store in the country and 2,000 new consumer goods are launched annually.

The A Coroa winery is delighted to belong to the list of products that form the Swedish monopoly, in which surely the best wines are selected from all candidacies than come to this country; undoubtedly, the A Coroa wine has passed through a strict quality control as well as a professional tasting for having been honored with this privilege.

In this sense, the team of this D.O. Valdeorras appellation winery state that "it is a privilege to have passed this test and we are very pleased to make known our wine in the Nordic market. We feel we are backed by a quality brand and a wide network of distributors and professionals."

 Currently System Bolaget has 418 stores and over 500 agents that cover smaller communities. Employees are qualified people and good experts in food and drink, who offer the best service to customers. They all perform a thorough preparation and all products, regardless of their origin, are entitled to the same treatment.

Bolaget System is defined as a company dedicated to the sale of alcoholic beverages responsibly, while seeking to provide a first-class service. This is achieved by a controlled access through a limited amount of stores, of opening hours and of sales regulations.

They argue not seeking to maximize its profits or have additional sales, but "to promote a society where everyone can enjoy alcoholic beverages considering health and in which consumers don't damage themselves or others."

Thus, the D.O. Valdeorras appellation takes another step forward in its internationalization, becoming one of the great ambassadors of the Galician quality products abroad. In turn, the great work of wineries that make up the appellation is still settling in new countries and major markets under the seal of quality offered by growers, winemakers and the Regulatory Council of the D.O.Valdeorras appellation.

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The vintage is coming to Valdeorras with an "excellent" grape quality.

  After a record year in terms of production and quality, the harvest goes back to normality with a 15% reduction in production but with an excellent fruit quality.

 

The D.O. Valdeorras appellation will be the first to start the 2012 vintage, being expected this to begin over next weekend.

According to one of the technicians of the Regulatory Council of the D.O. Valdeorras appellation, Santiago Pérez, "despite the fact that the germination occurs first on the coast because of the temperatures and the type of vine, it is common that Valdeorras collects the fruit in advanced since the ripening is favored in this area due to its continental climate, with a greater number of sunshine hours in the summer and heat peaks higher”.

Not much later, with the starting of the second fortnight, Rias Baixas and Ribeira Sacra appellations will begin with their harvests, while Monterrei will start between the 15^th and 20^th. Ribeiro will postpone the picking until the 25^th or so.

Although harvest dates are postponed comparing with the previous year, Santiago Pérez states that "this year is within the normality”, especially if we have a look to the average of the last decade. The slight delay from last year is due to the fact that temperatures of spring, when it begins the active cycle of the plant, were lower than usual, especially at night.

In this regard, the plant slowed its biological processes, a fact that is considered good for the quality of the grapes since these ripen slowly and can improve its quality rapidly.

 

Another key factor for the harvest is the autumn rains, as the weather plays an important role when the picking season arrives.

The forecast for the days coming indicates the arrival of an anticyclone with easterly winds. This means that the weather will be warm and free of humidity, a fact that would be very beneficial in all aspects, since it is at this time when the grape quality is determined, depending on the concentration of sugars, acidity reduction and other factors.

  In this way, technician of the D.O. Valdeorras appellation, Santiago Pérez, notes that "the level of alcohol is already being reached in this appellation".

 

As for the amount collected, according to data from Valdeorras on Europa press, a decline of 15% in production is expected this year, which means that about 6.5 million kilograms of grapes would be picked during the season.

The largest drop within the Galician appellations is the one intended by the Regulatory Council of the Rias Baixas, which estimates that the reduction will be "nearly of the 50 percent" with respect to the previous one.

Also Ribeiro appellation estimates that its production will be "lower" than last year, with a decline of 37%.

The expectations for the Ribeira Sacra are similar, warning that there will be a decrease of 30%.

Meanwhile, Monterrei expects a setback of 10%, which would mean a harvest of about 2 million Kilograms.

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