2010 HARVEST

At Bodegas Tobia, we finished the harvest on the October 26th; it was the first wine harvest in our new winery based in Cuzcurrita del Rio Tirón.

It was a very successful harvest and, on the whole, with very high quality. For all of us, facing this year's harvest in our new winery was a significant challenge. Aside from using new facilities and equipment, our new location is in an area that is limited for grape growing, in  the sub-area of the Oja and Tirón rivers in The Rioja Alta. And we faced it with great enthusiasm, hard work and renewed effort.

We can say that this harvest has been long and hard. We broke a production record, elaborating more than 1,500,000 kg, now that we have facilities to handle this quantity.

We selected grapes from more than 20 municipalities all over La Rioja, separated by more than 120 km from each other. We started to harvest the first Viura grapes in La Rioja in our old vineyards located in Rioja Baja during the second week of September, and we ended at the end of October with the last Tempranillo vineyards near our winery, two months later. The last pressing and alcoholic fermentations went on during the first two weeks of November.

The vegetative state and the health of the vines until the end of the cycle was excellent. The appearance of the grapes was impeccable, very healthy with total absence of pests and diseases. This year, the evolution of the maturing was normal, according to the traditional mean, compared with the 2009 vintage which was harvested ten days earlier.

Thinking back over the cycle of the vines, the winter was rainy all over La Rioja, which led to the excellent development of the vine’s vegetative cycle. The flowering and fruit took place with some delay in June. In the Garnacha varietal and in the higher areas this took place irregularly which provoked a lower number of clusters.

Throughout July the weather was excellent, dry with high temperatures. In August, the temperatures were more irregular with both cooler days (22-25ºC) and warmer days (33º-36ºC). At the end of the month the night temperatures were lower, very beneficial for red grapes. The vineyard remained healthy and grew well. The rain shortage in The Rioja Baja sped up the ripening process, especially in poor soils. As always, it is there, in vineyards that have matured faster than others, either because of the type soil, the orientation, or by the quantity and variety of the grapse, where we have to do a selective harvest of different plots in the vineyards.

We began the vintage on September 6th, picking the white Viura and Malvasia grapes of in the more developed vineyards. In September, the weather was excellent and we continued selectively picking white grapes as they come to their peak of maturity. On September 23th we started picking red grape varieties, starting as usual, with the Graciano variety found in the gravelly soils of The Rioja Baja.

During October the weather continued to be excellent and confirmed the good evolution of the ripening. Logically, in the vineyards with a lower number of clusters and less weight, the ripening happens faster, while it is delayed until late October in the slightly more fertile vineyards.

The new Tempranillo vineyards that we are controlling in the area around our winery, which is cultivating limit area in the Oja-Tirón region of La Rioja Alta, located in Cuzcurrita, Treviana, Herramélluri and Ochánduri evolve very satisfactory due to the reduced vigor of the stump and the gravelly soil type.

The moderate rainfall on October the 10th slowed down the harvest and benefited the drought-affected vineyards. The weather stabilized over the next few days with low temperatures at night and moderate ones during the day. We were encouraged to harvest. We finished at the end of October, coinciding with new rains.

In short, we can say that in the first harvest in our new winery in Cuzcurrita, the grape quality was excellent. The most important thing we can emphasize is the impeccable appearance and vegetative health of the vineyards, with very healthy grapes. They are the reason that we are be able to make a very aromatic wine, full of fruity and floral notes. The alcohol content of the wines afer fermentation ranged from 13.5% to 14.5%, very well balanced with good acidity and medium-high parameters of color and structure.

Technical Information

Kgr.elaborated by grapes:

	Kgr.	%
Red Grape	1.285.307	81%
White Grape	297.770	19%

Kg elaborated by varieties:

Variety	Kgr.	%
Tempranillo	1.025.602	66,5%
Garnacha	112.020	7,0%
Graciano	100.957	6,0%
Merlot	14.008	1,0%
Mazuelo	5.720	0,5%
Viura	280.500	18,0%
Malvasia	17.270	1,0%

Kg elaborated by DOC Rioja suzones:

	Kgr.	%
Rioja Alta	823.788	53,0%
Rioja Baja	507.869	33,0%
Rioja Alavesa	223.480	14%