Mendoza, the epicenter of wine, dresses to celebrate the grape harvest

Few regional parties have become as attractive as the National harvest daywhich welcomes domestic and foreign tourists from all over the world.

In the middle of the grape harvest, joy reigns in all the vineyards and the curiosity of the visitors mixes with the worries of the winemakers and the adrenaline of agronomists and winemakers working side by side with the winemakers because March is the harvest season. In addition, many grapes have already been harvested and processed into wine, especially those used to make sparkling wines. Also many white and red varieties dedicated to young wines. The most valuable grapes, destined for the most important wineries, are still in the plants, expected for their optimum ripeness. These are days and nights long, without rest and constant watch to mitigate bad weather.

The last few years have been particularly complicated, as in 2014 and 2015, the rains and high temperatures caused different complications in different regions. In addition, 2016 was the rarest and smallest vintage of the last 30 years. Fortunately, in 2017, things started to return to normal, in quality and quantity. And with the quality of the grapes of 2018, winemakers are persuaded to obtain the best wines of their lives.

The year 2019 is going very well, with harvest forecasts very close to the average and with the expected quality of the good years. The problem this year will be another; the offer between vine growers and winemakers for the price of grapes. Due to declining sales, large wineries are unwilling to develop planned quantities. There will therefore be a lot of unharvested grapes, which will force many of them to lower their prices because of the abundance of supply.

But none of this can overshadow the holiday, as everyone involved in the wine industry work to give pleasure. Because ultimately it's wine, the pleasure in the bottle, ready to be shared and appreciated. Therefore, every year and whatever the situation, the harvest festival is celebrated in Mendoza.

A break for all growers in the middle of the whirlwind that offers the harvest. These are the crucial days that are expected all year long, during which agronomists and winegrowers walk around the farms tasting grapes to decide when to harvest. And the qualitative evolution of the Argentinian wines has only a little complicated the panorama because, although today there is more information and that the vineyards are better prepared, the viticulture of precision requires that, in in many cases, plots are harvested separately and correctly. at different times

In many cases, it is not so mathematical because of the "spots" of certain vineyards; considering the heterogeneity of soils; It is necessary to make several pbades in the same row. In addition, many growers look for different maturity points for the same grapes and harvest within the same plot at different times. These grapes arrive at the winery and are obviously made separately, so that the winemaker then decides on the final blend. Because a grape harvested earlier will give a lighter wine (less alcoholic) and more refreshing (more natural acidity). With a riper grape, you can get more convivial and less vivid wines, but with more volume and depth.

In summary, each winemaker is currently trying to produce as much wine as possible from the vineyard to have more elements in the design of the wines that will eventually be marketed. That is to say that in addition to having wines from a single strain harvested at the same time, there are many "blends" of the same variety in which different wines are combined, either because they were harvested on different days, or because their treatment methods differ. And just as a painter needs a lot of color on his palette to create a painting, an oenologist needs a lot of wine to find his art work of drinking.

Then come winter, it's time to put some wine in the barrel and do the pruning work in the vineyard, preparing the plants for the next harvest. In spring, the vines bloom and the first whites and rosés of the year arrive on the ground. And with the arrival of summer, the clusters are reborn and once again, the harvest announces, this great beginning of the virtuous cycle that everyone celebrates.

A party not to miss anything

While the official celebrations began on February 25th, the kick-off of the big celebration will take place on Saturday, March 2nd at 9:00 pm, with the blessing of fruits, in La Paz Department. There, the traditional ceremony will take place where God will be thanked for the healthy fruits obtained from the harvest and where the new wine will be offered.

Then we create the "Plow in Plow Plow", which symbolizes the man who cultivates the land, begging the Virgin of the Carrodillas for the blessing of the new fruit.

On Friday 8 (starting at 8pm), candidates for Queen of the Harvest will be officially presented at the Ángel Bustelo Auditorium. Then, the party moves in the streets of Mendoza with a new edition of the Vía Blanca.

Traditional parade of decorated and luminous carriages gathering the candidate girls representing each department of the province: Agustina Burgos (City), Romina Fernández (General Alvear), Regina Coluchi (Godoy Cruz), Lucía Lamacchia (Guaymallén), Ludmila Dacrema (Junín), Romina Platero (La Paz), Griselda Gualpa (Las Heras), Luz Mercol (Lavalle), Micaela Vissani (Lujan), Ana Belen Rodriguez Buttini (Maipu), Melina Martinez (Malargue), Aixa Caruso (Rivadavia) María Laura Micames (San Carlos), Martina Flores (San Martín), Yamila Carallol (San Rafael), Florencia Violino (Santa Rosa), Victoria Chaves (Tunuyán) and Giuliana Tumbarello (Tupungato).

Saturday morning, the carousel, colorful parade in the streets of the city, will repeat the trip of 2018. These are the same cars that transported the alleged queen the night before on the Vía Blanca, but this time escorted by gauchos to horse, with typical costumes and the traditional cart drawn by oxen.

In the evening, at the Greek Theater Frank Romero Day, will take place the main act of the National Festival of Crops 2019. A great show (televised live on public television) with folk dances, artistic performances, sound and light games. and a lot of music. There, the election and the coronation of the National Harvest Queen take place. But the festivities do not stop there, because the 10th and the 11th, the second and third nights can be lived, with the repetition of the artistic spectacle.
The price of tickets for the Central Act will be $ 500 (Malbec), $ 380 (Tempranillo), $ 200 (Cabernet) and $ 150 (Bonarda and Chardonnay). The Torrontés sector is not marketed because it is reserved for disabled people.

There is no doubt that this is one of the largest outdoor folk festivals in the world and that politics is no stranger. The event will require an investment of 120 million pesos; "a cost similar to that of the last harvest festival of justicialismo management with" Paco & Pérez as governor, four years ago "; badured the Secretary of Provincial Culture, Diego Gareca.