Thursday, November 20, 2008

Less can be more

A total of 8.8% less grapes were harvested in Alicante this year compared with 2007. As a result fewer bottles of denomination of origin wine will be produced in the province.

However, denomination president Francisco Amorós says the wine will be of excellent vintage. The high quality of the grapes this year is down to the maturity they were able to reach due to favourable weather conditions. Also the average alcohol content of the wines has increased slightly this year to 13.10%.

In the previous four years there had been a continual increase in grape production and this had now levelled off. Viticulturists in different areas have seen large fluctuations. For example, in the Marina Alta area some cooperatives saw their production of moscatel grapes fall by nearly half compared with last year. The vineyards in the Vinalopó Medio area, which includes municipalities such as Hondón de las Nieves and Aspe, have also seen a reduction in their production of red wine.

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