On Tuesday July 18th, we experienced a heatwave with record temperatures in the region of Alt Empordà. The thermometers soared above 45ºC, which, along with the warm wind, increased the thermal sensation to almost 50ºC.
This caused heat strokes and sudden burns on the surface of the grapes that were beginning to ripen. The grape clusters will gradually dry out and won’t recover, leading to a decrease in this year’s production and yields in the vineyards.
The most affected varieties have been Carinyenes and Syrah, which are more sensitive to high temperatures and heatwaves…
But the vines were not the only ones to suffer; even animals like our poultry experienced the sudden death of 3 hens.
As the Maria Thun Calendar and chamomile flowers we found in the vineyards warned us, drought was coming—a year of strong heatwaves, and it would be a summer with the highest temperatures we had ever reached. Nature is indeed wise, and one only needs to observe it to understand. We had never seen so much chamomile in the vegetation cover this year.
A pattern that has repeated every 4 years since the first heatwave in 2015. In 2019, we reached a record-breaking 43ºC in June, and this year, 2023, we repeat with 45.3ºC. Worried about the upcoming harvest and all that we still have to face this August.
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Diari de Girona
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Vinyes d’Olivardots
Sommelier, Marketing, Comunicació i Enoturisme del celler Vinyes d’Olivardots, DO Empordà