Rueda in Figures
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Rueda Despite having a glorious wine history 60 wineries. Mechanical harvesting stretching back at least a thousand years, and economies of scale give Rueda a by the 1960s Rueda was a depressed competitive cost base compared to some wine region. Advances in white wine other Spanish D.O.s. New investment has vinification, coupled with increased allowed the vineyard area to more than consumer demand for white table wine, double over the past fifteen years, which gave the region a new lease of life. By in turn has increased production and 1980 Rueda was recognised as a D.O. - the sales at both home and abroad. first to be formed in Castilla y León. Today Rueda is Spain’s leading D.O. producer of As the homeland of Verdejo, Rueda has a white wine. unique calling card. Consumers need to be further educated and convinced of the Some 1,500 farmers are engaged in wines’ quality if profitability, rather than growing grapes which are supplied to merely volumes, are to be increased. W I N E S T A T S . I N F O Rueda in Figures INTRODUCTION GEOGRAPHY Rueda has a wine making history extending back The Rueda D.O. is located within the autonomous over at least 1,000 years. As far as is known, its region of Castilla y Leon, to the south of the city vineyards have always been growing predominantly of Valladolid and the River Duero. Elevations white grapes, especially Verdejo. Its signature style, typically vary between 700-800 m with only gentle until quite recently, was of deliberately oxidised, slopes. Most of the vineyards and wineries are lightly fortified oloroso-like wines. Highly prized located within Valladolid province, but the D.O. in the 17th century courts of Madrid, Rueda wines also encompasses activity within parts of Segovia were a successful alternative to sherry. The wine and Avilla provinces. Soils consist of free-draining region prospered until the arrival of Phylloxera in alluvial sediments deposited by the River Duero and the late 19th century. Vineyards were subsequently its tributaries. replanted with grafted Palomino, but these wines were never successful and the region entered a long Climate period of decline until the 1970s. Rueda is often described as having a continental Research by Emile Peynaud and colleagues at climate, but the region is also moderated by the the University of Bordeaux led to a revolution in Atlantic. Winters are cold, but not so cold as to make understanding of the vinification of white wines. root damage in vineyards a common occurrence. These ideas were taken on board by Rioja-based Frosts and freezing fog coupled with strong winds Marqués de Riscal, who established a winery in represent more of a risk in spring. Maximum mid- Rueda with the aim of producing a fresh, unoxidised, summer temperatures usually only just exceed 30°C fruit-rich white wine. The success of this operation on average, but this may include several days with was soon being imitated by other wineries so that heat spikes. Growing Degree Days (GDD) has been by 1980 Rueda was sufficiently highly regarded for estimated at Valladolid 2 at 1,475, which is only it to be formally recognised as a Denominación de slightly higher than the estimate for Bordeaux. Origen (D.O.). Rueda is now Spain’s leading D.O. producer of white wine though in 2011-12, the average revenue for Rueda’s’ wine was €3.0/litre, compared to Rias Baixas’ average revenue of €5.7/litre1. Total annual rainfall totals only 435 mm with peaks in spring and late autumn/early winter. While older bush trained vines are dry farmed, many more recently planted vineyards rely on an element of 1 Elaboration of data in Anonymous (2013) 2 Jones et al. (2005) W I N E S T A T S . I N F O 2 Rueda in Figures Vineyard Area In 1997 the total vineyard area of Rueda stood at 5,845 ha. Fifteen years later and this amount had more than doubled in size to reach 12,932 ha. This overall growth is due to the increased plantings of white varietals. Black varietals have declined from 1,666 ha in 2003 to 690 ha in 2013. drip irrigation. Vines less than two years old can be irrigated at any time. Older vines may also be irrigated, except during April and from 1st June to 8th July. The increasing use of irrigation in Rueda has been an important factor in enabling farmers to raise yields. VITICULTURE Growers Rueda in 2012 During the 21st century the number of wine grape Vineyard area 12,853 ha growers has risen from 1,305 in 2001 to 1,521 in Number of growers 1,521 2012. The average holding per grower was 8.5 ha in Average holding/grower 8.5 ha 2012, which is high by Spanish standards. Data Source: España Miniserio de Agricultura 3 W I N E S T A T S . I N F O Rueda in Figures Vine Training GRAPES HARVESTED & CRUSHED Vines in Rueda may be bush trained or trellised on wires. In 2013 wire trained vines made up 89% Wine grape production has shown a long term increase of the total vineyard and all new plantings in the since the early 1990s, reflecting the growing size of the past five years have been on vines. This system Rueda vineyard and increases in yield. Grape production of training is particularly useful for facilitating reached a record 105.4 million kg in 2013. mechanical harvesting which is used for ca. 90% of the crop harvesting. Grape Varietals According to the D.O. Rueda regulations of 2008, four white and four black grape varietals are permitted within the appellation. In practise white varietal plantings are dominated by Verdejo and the small black varietal plantings are dominated by Tempranillo. Rueda Grape Varietals Recommended Authorised White Verdejo Sauvignon Blanc, Viura, Palomino Fino Black Tempranillo Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Garnacha Data source: Order AYG/1405/2008, D.O. Rueda WINE PRODUCTION The number of wineries in Rueda has almost doubled in the 21st century, from 31 in 2001 to a total of 59 wineries in 2012. The vast majority of wineries undertake their own bottling. Regarded as an inferior varietal, the presence of Total wine production has increased markedly Palomino Fino is tolerated but new plantings are during the 21st century as new vines have matured prohibited. Palomino’s presence has declined from and as growers have continued to make additional 840 ha in 2002 to only 140 ha in 2013. W I N E S T A T S . I N F O 4 Rueda in Figures In 2006 Rueda overtook La Mancha to become Spain’s largest white wine producing D.O. Considering that a large proportion of La Mancha’s production is sold off in bulk, Rueda can certainly lay claim to being Spain’s preeminent white wine D.O. Authorised Wine Categories in Rueda D.O. Rueda Verdejo >85% Verdejo Rueda >50% Verdejo Rueda Sauvignon >85% Sauvignon Blanc Rueda Epumoso Traditional method based on Verdejo Rueda Dorado Dry wine, min 15% abv, produced by oxidative ageing. Minimum 2 years in oak before release Rosé Still or sparkling from black grapes Red From black grapes Data source: Order AYG/1405/2008, D.O. Rueda Wine production figures are not reported by varietal, but based on what it known about the harvest only about 1% of production is red or rosé. Production volumes of epumoso and Dorado styles are tiny. SALES Volume Rueda’s sales have been growing at an impressive rate since 1990 when they totalled only 34,000 plantings. Wine yields exhibit a long term upward trend from ca. 25 hl/ha in 2000 and projected to reach ca. 35 hl/ha by 2015. 5 W I N E S T A T S . I N F O Rueda in Figures hl. Sales growth is currently showing little sign WEBSITES of levelling off in either the domestic or export markets. In 2012, domestic sales were 387,000 hl Consello Regulador, D.O. Rueda and exports totalled 88,000 hl. www.dorueda.com Exports are dominated by sales to Europe, within which the most important markets are Holland, Germany and the UK. Sales to the US and other parts of the Americas have shown only very limited growth over the past seven years or so, in stark contrast with, for example Rias Baixas. This suggests that Rueda has been making insufficient marketing efforts in the US - something now being addressed by the “Are You Ready for Rueda” campaign. REFERENCES Anonymous (2013) Datos de las Denominaciones de Origen Protegidas de Vinos (DOPs); Campaña 2011/2012. Espana Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentacion y Medio Ambiente, Madrid, 53 pp Jones, G.V., E. Duchêne, D. Tomasi, J. Yuste, O. Braslavska, H-R. Schultz, C. Martinez, S. Boso, F.Langellier, C. Perruchot, and G. Guimberteau (2005). Changes in European winegrape phenology and relationships with climate. In Proceedings for the XIVth GESCO Viticulture Congress. Vol. 1 H.R. Schulz et al. (eds.), pp. 55-61. Geisenheim, Germany W I N E S T A T S . I N F O 6.