Spanish wine producer Juvé & Camps began harvesting on 27 July at its Espiells estate which is the earliest in the winery’s 105-year history.

In a statement the Corpinnat brand pinned recent high temperatures on the accelerated ripening and to avoid the hottest hours of the day, harvesting now begins at night instead of early morning.

Despite the rising temperatures, rainfall recorded since the winter has totalled 630 l/m², replenishing soil water reserves after several years of drought.

“Winter rains have restored balance to the soils and allowed the vines to reach ripeness with much greater water availability than in recent years,” said Pep Jiménez, viticulture director at Juvé & Camps. 

Juvé & Camps expects to harvest around one million kilograms of grapes from its own vineyards with an estimated average yield of 5,500 kg/ha. 

Jiménez added: “The grapes are healthy and uniform; now the challenge is to read each plot and harvest it at precisely the right moment, without letting the season’s overall earliness dictate our decisions.”

Juvé & Camps currently ranks number 26 in The World’s Most Admired Wine Brands and in April the brand announced its decision to leave the Cava DO for Corpinnat, a collection of 22 wineries in Penedès which was formed in 2018 and demands some of the strictest regulations for sparkling wines.