As a consequence of a drought that impacts all productive itemsin a different way, Productive decline in the wine sector “is very important”but it is far from being considered something extremely seriousamong other realities because there was an adequate stock of wine in the cellarsso that the supply will not sufferIt will remain.
At the same time, the drought that has also been expressed in the sector since spring establishes that in general -there are exceptions- the quality of the grapes harvested so far in the vintage “is very good”similar even to what happens in normal rainfed climates, where good quality grapes and wines are normally achieved.
Those concepts were exposed to The Observer by the agronomist Eduardo Felix, who works as Inavi’s technical adviser.
Leonardo Carreno
The stock in warehouses is sufficient to cover internal and external demand.
Productive loss: 30%
In uruguay there are approximately 600 grape producers and about 150 winemakers, with 5,848 hectares of vineyards in production.
It is estimated, regarding the drought, that 20% of the designated area has irrigation resources.
In relation to the aforementioned productive decline, it is expected to exceed 30% in relation to a normal harvestbut what is harvested in general is of good quality, among other things due to the absence of pre-harvest diseases, such as Botrytis, which allows good ripening.
Asked about when the 2023 harvest should end, which began in some varieties at the end of January, “Given the dryness and the heat, with high luminosity, the harvest is about 10 days ahead and it will probably be finished around March 10-15”indicated the professional.
In 2022, 106 million kilos were harvested, which gave around 75 million liters.
It is considered that the annual consumption in the domestic market is about 60 million, to which are added about 5 million liters that are exported.
From last year there was an accumulated stock of around 40 million and as around 65 million will be harvested this year (and 45 million liters will be vinified) the difference is covered with the stocks from previous years.
All values mentioned are estimates.
Leonardo Carreno
The harvest, which gives rise to the new vinification, is brought forward by the drought.
Felix highlighted the value of having stocks in the wineries, based on the fact that this activity is based on field cultivation, and cannot be carried out within protective structures, therefore subject to climatic variations..
