As a consequence of the persistent drought, DO Cava has been left with 60 million bottles less than the usual 250 million in the sector. In 2023, there will be close to 252 million bottles. In the last harvest, only 213 million kilos of grapes were harvested, when the usual amount is between 290 and 320 million. This already led the plenary session of the Cava Regulatory Council to adopt last year the solution of increasing press yields to partially compensate for the very notable drop in production due to an unprecedented drought.
The Ministry of Agriculture was moved at the last minute to go from a maximum press yield of 66.4% to 70% (although only for Guarda cavas), which made it possible to obtain an additional 6 million liters. But now this measure is no longer enough, and it is feared that this next harvest another 60 million bottles will be missing due to the continued drought.
After a reserve wine fund (a guarantee provision) was approved last March, this Thursday the DO Cava unanimously agreed to a series of measures that are announced as “extraordinary and limited in time” that have lifted some controversy. These measures will only be authorized, from year to year, for the lesser aged cavas (those from Guarda).
The Ministry has been requested to authorize red varieties that are not authorized to be vinified in white, such as Merlot or Tempranillo. Years ago, the Cava DO already commissioned the Incavi of the Generalitat to study the viability of vinifying these varieties, but it was rejected for qualitative reasons. It has also been approved to increase the yield of grapes per hectare (up to 15,000 kilos for irrigated vineyards) and also the yield of the presses (now up to 74%).
Remember that in proseccos it is up to 75%. It will also be permitted to use grapes from plots located in the territory of the DO Cava that are not registered in the Registry of Wine Farms of the Regulatory Council: up to 15% of the production of each winery producing base wine. It is ensured that these measures will not be detrimental to “safeguarding quality”, and that there will be quality control and traceability will be guaranteed from the vineyard and throughout the entire production process.
The president of the Regulatory Council, Javier Pagés, states that they have agreed on “some exceptional measures in the face of an absolutely exceptional situation.” He says he wanted to be “proactive.” It seeks to “guarantee the sustainability of a very important productive sector and a territory.” He adds that “a broad consensus of the sector and its unitary and joint commitment have been revealed.”
Pagés also explained that “we work for the sustainability of an economic sector of more than 2,000 million euros”, and recalled that Rioja or Champagne already have similar mechanisms. Yesterday, the new DO Cava budget was also approved, which amounts to 5.6 million euros.