Grape harvest down this year

This year’s grape harvest was smaller than in previous years, wine cooperative Sodap said on Saturday.

Ahead of the final date of receipt for grapes harvested this year, they said this year’s grape harvest was negatively impacted by “very high temperatures” and a “lack of moisture” in the atmosphere.

They did point out that this year they had introduced a set of regulations aimed at “ensuring the quality of our product”, including that grapes have to be delivered to them on the date they are picked and must be transported in vehicles which meet food hygiene regulations.

Additionally, they said, the grapes they receive must be free of pesticides, while grapes which were irrigated up to 20 days before they were picked were not accepted.

This year’s smaller than usual harvest comes only a year after Sodap had not received a single grape due to its large existing stockpiles.

In August last year, Sodap had six million litres of grape juice in its tanks, and as such did not take receipt of any grapes at all for the first time since 1947.

Sodap produces around two million litres of wine per year.