NUMBER 9, 2020
www.vintae.com IF WE WERE TO STOP DREAMING, WE WOULD NOT BE VINTAE
INTERVIEW
#WEOPENFORGOOD
MEDAL TABLE
Raúl Acha tells us about these months in the vineyards. Page 2.
Vintae’s campaign to support our pubs and bars. Page 3.
We remained unstoppable at clocking up excellent scores. Page 4.
Harvest is here, nature continues to take its course and reminds us that, despite everything, life goes on. Not only has humanity struggled this year, the vineyard has fought its own battle too. At spring time, we would not have put ourselves on the line for this vintage. Rain, hail, attacks of oidium and mildew... A very discouraging prospect, but neither the vineyard nor those tending it considering throwing in the towel. Finally, summer has restored our calm and everything points towards an excellent harvest in almost all areas, so with great emotion we are looking forward to the moment cutting the bunches begins. We are eager but also responsible. Harvesting during Covid requires an extra dose of mutual care from the entire Vintae family. We will, of course, strictly comply with all protection measures in the vineyard and winery alike. But in addition, the Vintae technical team is making additional social distancing efforts during this period to be able to give 100% in the coming weeks, when the Crew will be more necessary than ever, when the work of the whole year becomes reflected in our wines. 2020 is panning out as the strangest year in our entire lives. Lockdown time has made us reflect, look at what is essential and look for windows showing us nature where life does not stop. At Vintae we want to take a peek at it, so our proposal for this year is to be able to see live the joy, the effort and the emotion a vintage entails. And what better than the social networks to bring it to us. So watch our “window” carefully, because we are going to fill it with landscape, vineyards, wine and why not, also with dreams, as they are now more necessary than ever.
Follow the 2020 vintage on our Instagram profile @vintae and through the personal profile of @richiarambarri Richi will take us to Vintae’s most emblematic vineyards ;)
RICHI ARAMBARRI CEO of Vintae
THE EARLIEST HARVEST IN LA RIOJA The small hours of Thursday, August 13, saw the beginning of the earliest harvest in the history of the winery at Finca Maetierra, in Calahorra. The Moscatel de Grano Menudo for elaborating our Libalis, once again kicked off the grape harvest in La Rioja, during its
earliest ever year. Never throughout the almost twenty vintages cherished by Maetierra has the harvest started during the first half of August. With very healthy grapes and temperatures accompanying nighttime grape picking, the harvest for the freshest whites from La Rioja, the Libalis collection was concluded 20 days later, on the 1st of September. Although a bit early to venture into talking about wines, our technical team predicts exceptional quality for the 2020 vintage.
2/2020
mildew. If it is cold, other fungi usually arrive, but a warm, wet spring is ideal for mildew. What measures and treatments have been carried out in the Vintae vineyards to save the situation? We have fought it with more work than ever. We have applied a continuous antifungal treatment based on copper and some citrus and plant compounds in organic winegrowing. In conventional wine growing it has been combated with systemic products. In other words, the fungicide big guns have been brought out. In the case of conventional wine growing it is simpler, but for organic we suffered a real ordeal. In fact there are winegrowers who, despite treating the vines every week, have lost the grapes. It is very traumatic when you kill yourself working and do not get results, we felt totally helpless.
RAÚL ACHA TECHNICAL DIRECTOR OF VINTAE “It has been one of the most difficult years for the vineyard, but everything points towards an excellent quality vintage”
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n the lead-up to what is expected to be an excellent quality vintage, although somewhat reduced in quantity is expected, the technical director of Vintae reports on the very complicated agricultural year that our winegrowers have faced. Mildew has threatened many vineyards and has taken with it the production of a few, despite the efforts of those watching over them day and night. What was 2020 like climatologically and how has it affected the vineyard? 2020 has been a very difficult year in so far as fungal diseases. More or less until lockdown began, the year had been going well, it was dry, February was very spring-like as was the first half of March. But, coinciding with our lives being interrupted by the pandemic, the second fortnight was very very damp, the same as the month of April. In May and June some areas were luckier than others, and although it continued to be damp, it was not so widespread. The problem came because wet weather was joined by fairly tropical weather. Rain and higher than normal temperatures are the perfect breeding ground for
Which areas have been most affected? It is very difficult to generalize, not only by area but even by plots. The problems began in Galicia in April and early May, then they reached other northern areas, from Catalonia, passing through Aragon and ending in La Rioja. Even in Castilla y León, where it is very rare, there have been small areas affected, both in Ribera del Duero and in Toro and Rueda. In Rioja there have been more than in other areas, and within Rioja it is also very uneven. The entire central strip with Logroño as its axis, 15 km to the west and another 15 or 30 to the east, has had very few problems, but the two ends of La Rioja have been the hardest hit.
What would be the given optimal conditions for these upcoming weeks until the harvest begins? The remaining days are key. We are in midsummer, so the days are too hot, the thermometer not rising above 30 would be ideal, and for the heat to disappear now. We need healthy days, not very humid, with cool nights during which the temperature drops. This is what we are having, so it seems to be quite favorable. And in a specific area, if there was an isolated shower, it would be very good, but we don’t want there to be constant rain. This year it seems that the harvest is going to be very early in general. As for the beginning of the harvests, we are ahead between 7 to 10 days. We will be starting shortly in Toro, immediately followed by Rioja, Navarra and Ribera del Duero, in the coming days it will be widespread. In later areas of Rioja Alta or Aragón it will be at the end of September, but it seems that in all areas we will have started before the end of September. What is expected of the 2020 vintage both in quantity and quality? There are vineyards where much has been lost due to mildew and the occasional hailstorm, but where there has been no severe weather we can speak of a good year in terms of quantity. Everything indicates that quality will be excellent; we will confirm this in the coming weeks.
2020/3
SUPPORTING THE HOSPITALITY SECTOR
#WEOPENFORGOOD, VINTAE’S CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT OUR PUBS AND BARS
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fter several months of success in Spain for the campaign with the hashtag #abiertopornarices, it is now the turn of the international version #Weopenforgood which is aimed at helping premises with reopening after COVID-19 lockdown. Vintae is going to invest a total of half a million euros in the campaign, which has already provided significant support for more than a thousand hospitality establishments in Spain who were forced to pull down the shutters for weeks, and who faced a very complicated reopening. Using the hashtag #Abiertopornarices, Hacienda López de Haro launched a series of actions in May to encourage establishments to raise their shutters again and once more become part of people’s day-to-day, attracting customers and encouraging them to have some wine in their bars and on their terraces. These actions which have taken place included distributing 15,000 free bottles of Hacienda López de Haro, printing 650,000 placemats with the menus of each bar or 250,000 disinfectant wipes for customer use, all of which have been provided for the establishments. Likewise, the winery has launched actions aimed at the end consumer, such as the promoting the premises through geolocation, discounts and personal gifts, set to last for a whole year. These support actions have been complemented by others in the digital field, such as the launch of a video that has been widely received on social media, showing support by customers and wine enthusiasts, with well-known figures such as the writer from La Rioja Andrés Pascual, Aitana Rosón, the lockdown violinist, the singer Isaac Miguel or the rapper Princess Ramen. Hotel and catering professionals themselves have been the key players in another of the digitally-focused actions under the hashtag #NuevaNormalidadDeSiempre (New Normal as good as ever). Hacienda López de Haro has filled its networks with positive messages using the image of anonymous hospitality professionals who have gained a digital presence by transmitting their experiences from behind the bar. This action has been a way of transmitting human stories and showing the sometimes hidden face of the waiters and waitresses of the Spanish hospitality industry. Furthermore, in Spain the second stage in now underway with Bodegas Bardos as the key players.
International experience in Canada and the Dominican Republic In the same way as in Spain, the campaign has already been launched in Canada and the Dominican Republic. Through the Website https://weopenforgood.com/ bars and restaurants can join the community and get free products,
such as disinfectant wipes for customers, table tops and blackboards to show their menus, as well as digital presence and visibility thanks to the advertising campaign on social networks with celebrities and influencers.
4/2020
MEDAL TABLE 2
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During the last months we remained unstoppable at clocking up medals and excellent scores for our wines. This is the medal table at the end of summer;
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1. Hacienda López de Haro Crianza 90 points Wine Enthusiast 2. Bardos Suprema 2016 93 Peñín points 3. Bardos Reserva 2016 92 Peñín points 6
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4. Bardos Romántica Crianza 2017 91 Peñín points
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5. La Garnacha Salvaje del Moncayo 2018 91 Peñín points
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6. Matsu El Viejo 2018 91 Peñín points 7. Matsu El Recio 2018 90 Peñín points 8. Matsu El Pícaro 2019 90 Peñín points
THE VINTAE WINE FEST WILL RETURN IN FULL FLOW IN 2021
HACIENDA LÓPEZ DE HARO SAFE WINE TOURISM
After giving it much thought, we decided to postpone this year’s edition of the Vintae Wine Fest until 2021. That way, your only concern when coming to enjoy the best weekend of the year will be to have fun. We want to celebrate it by doing what we like most: embracing each other, squirting wine flawlessly from a “bota” (traditional wine container), meeting a host of new friends, kissing, toasting, dancing and taking to the streets of San Vicente for an endless party. We will return next year with fewer restrictions and in fuller flow than ever. 385 days left!
With all the safety measures and in small groups, at Hacienda López de Haro we continue to offer visits and a Wine Bar service from Tuesday to Sunday. Stay tuned for news on our social networks and on haciendalopezdeharo.com as we are designing special activities, adapted to the new measures, to be enjoyed in small, select groups and continuing to promote the charm of our area, the millenary wine tradition treasured by the Sonsierra and, of course, our wines.
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