The cooperative winery takes stock after the end of the largest harvest in the history of the Cooperative and DO Rueda, long and remarkable in quality
La Seca, 5 October 2022. – Bodega Cuatro Rayas closed the 2022 harvest campaign after 40 days of grape picking by its cooperative members, who started delivering them to the winery—located in La Seca—loading the first trailers with Sauvignon Blanc on 26 August, to gradually continue with the reception of the rest of varieties the winery from Valladolid uses in its brands at the loading hoppers. Besides the indigenous Verdejo—the protagonist in most of the cooperative’s single-variety wines—batches from different vine plants have arrived in Cuatro Rayas facilities during the last 40 days and nights, in the longest campaign over the past years.
The 2022 vintage, which was expected to be short, given the lack of rainfall during the last year, stands out for the quantity and quality of the picked-up grape, having a yield that reaches almost 9,000 kilos per hectare and is in excellent health condition. After a predominantly dry year—that has positively influenced the harvest in terms of organoleptic concentration, quality, and health—, the rain during the first week of September led to an increase in grapes picked in relation to the previous year’s amounts, making this campaign the largest in recent times for the cooperative winery and within DO Rueda.
The mild weather conditions during the rest of the campaign have allowed for a slow grape reception at the winery during these 40 days to get high-quality wine—except for about 200 vineyard hectares affected by hail on 29 August, which were picked promptly to avoid any risk to their health condition.
Besides, in 2022 the organic grape production has increased 30% in contrast to the last campaign, not only due to the overall yield increase but because the number of Cuatro Rayas’ winegrower members who have certified their vineyards as sustainable cultivation has also risen. Thus, the cooperative’s members align their work methods with the winery objectives, which summarises its internal philosophy under the expression ‘green & social’ to express its commitment to promote actions that benefit the natural environment and, therefore, the people who live and work in it.
THE COOPERATIVE WINERY REINFORCES ITS COMMITMENT TO GRAN VINO DE RUEDA
Along with the traditional mechanical harvest of the trellised vines that give its name to the flagship of the winery—Cuatro Rayas Vendimia Nocturna—, the cooperative reinforces its commitment to gastronomic-oriented brands under the category ‘Gran Vino de Rueda (Great Rueda Wine)’, a high-quality seal supported by this Designation of Origin, recognising the most exquisite and exclusive wines in the region.
To produce wine under this quality seal, the Departments of Vineyard and Oenology at Bodega Cuatro Rayas have carried out, for the third year in a row, a selection among the oldest vineyards owned by its members, which—based on their age, yield and soil—have been manually harvested and sorted in crates during the day and also processed by hand with specialised machines once in the winery to ensure the exceptionality of the grapes for these unique wines. Cuatro Rayas’ members vineyards yield for these brands has been between 5,600 and 6,500 kilos per hectare, meeting well above the requirements laid down by the designation of origin to label the resulting wines under this category that focuses on exclusivity and excellence.
The grapes of the selected vineyard terrains to produce ‘Gran Vino de Rueda’ have been processed individually according to their origin. Later, the must—obtained in the most delicate possible way using an inertis press—was transferred to vats of different materials (stainless steel, oak, concrete, and barrels) following the criteria of the cooperative’s winemakers, so the specific characteristics of grapes from each terrain can be enhanced. Once the fermentation and the ageing of these musts are completed, a particular coupage of the resulting wines will be carried out to produce the 2022 vintage of Cuatro Rayas’ ‘Gran Vino de Rueda’: Cuatro Rayas Longverdejo, Cuarenta Vendimias Cuvée y Amador Diez Verdejo.
