2021 harvest began at the end of August. In most of our vineyards, grapes are in good health, so we expect an excellent harvest in terms of quality. In general, and despite a few days with very high temperatures, this year has been slightly cooler than average, except for February. Rainfall has been normal or a bit lower in all areas except Penedès, which suffers from a prolonged drought – the worst in the last 20 years.
But above all, this 2021 will be remembered for being the year in which we embraced a paradigm shift in the way we managed our vineyards with the implementation of regenerative viticulture. So we began the conversion of 500 hectares of organic vineyards towards a model that will allow us to create life in the soils and regenerate them and help mitigate climate change.
A soil with higher organic content can capture carbon through cover crops and animal management –in our case sheep–, it helps us capture and store in the soil the CO2 that is already in the atmosphere, improve water retention, delay ripening and prevent erosion. It is not an immediate process, it will possibly take between 4 and 10 years in a Mediterranean climate before consolidating the results, but we are convinced that this viticultural model will be beneficial for our vineyards, our wines and for the Earth.
Miguel Torres Maczassek
5th generation Familia Torres