2018 harvest: A vintage that gives the winemakers a smile!
That's it ! The 400 winemakers from Vinovalie have just finished harvesting their 4000 hectares of vines. The harvests that started early - early September - augur a 2018 vintage of very high quality! Quantitatively, the harvest reached 267,000 hectoliters (gross), enough to fill 7,5 Olympic swimming pools!
Favorable climatic conditions
The very dry and hot summer contributed to an early maturity of the grapes and a healthy harvest. The first plots ready at the end of August, in Gaillac, gave the start of the harvest.
The dry weather of September also contributed to the intense and fast harvest in 2018 as the maturity of the grapes was rapidly rising.
Healthy grapes for quality wines
The 2018 harvest provided high quality grapes with a very wide aromatic palette.
The colored and concentrated red grapes will produce structured and balanced wines with ripe fruit aromas with degrees often greater than 13 °.
The rosé wines will be intense and fruity depending on the date of harvest and the winemaking process.
The very aromatic white grapes promise fresh, fruity, varietal and balanced wines.
The quality of the 2018 vintage will undoubtedly date in the Vinovalie vintages since its creation.
Winemakers, technicians and oenologists highly solicited
The exceptional weather conditions have led to a rush of harvest for fear that drought will affect the grapes.
Thus men have been put to the test to harvest, sort, de-stem, tread, vinify ... quickly. Nevertheless, in view of the first results, all are very satisfied with the efforts made.
On our 3 appellations
In the Gaillac region, the grape harvest began on September 3rd to finish only 1 month later, compared to 5 weeks usually. The harvest for sweet white wines will end on October 24th.
The 2018 vintage will certainly be remembered by the quality and quantity of the harvest, which reaches 127,000 hectoliters.
The winemaking, performed in very good conditions, will achieve the desired product goals on the 3 colors.
In red AOP, all the tanks reach a very great maturity as well by the rate of naturally obtained sugar as by the organoleptic maturity of the tannins!
The wines having finished the malolactic fermentation confirm all the hopes mentioned above.
In the Frontonnais, the grape harvest started on September 3rd and ended on October 17th. The harvest volume is 80 000hl, which corresponds to a high average of the winery Vinovalie de Fronton.
The end of the particularly dry summer allowed for remarkably qualitative grape harvests. The Rosés were picked early to preserve their characteristic aromatic freshness and the reds could ripen quietly to reach their optimum.
It should be noted that many red AOP have a degree close to 13% vol with intense aromas of ripe fruit.
In Cahors, the grape harvests began a little later on September 18th and ended on October 12th.
This vintage was marked by the strong drought this summer, coupled with high temperatures, which required the vine to tap into its reserves. Fortunately the water reserves (due to a very wet spring) allowed to feed the plant all summer. This hot and dry weather lasted in September and October to obtain a beautiful maturity with a perfect sanitary condition.
The hopes of a great 2018 vintage were confirmed for our winery Vinovalie de Côtes d'Olt, by the quantity of the collected volume, more than 60 000hl, but also by the superb overall quality level.
The wines will be both fruity and concentrated, revealing the varietal aromatic notes of Malbec (blackcurrant, blackberry and morello cherry) for PGIs, and great concentration and finesse of tannins on our Cahors.
