With 95 million kilos of grapes collected, it is the largest campaign in the 60 years of history of the Jesús del Perdón-Bodegas Yuntero Cooperative, which becomes the second with the most production in all of Spain.
The Jesús del Perdón-Bodegas Yuntero Cooperative ended last Wednesday, October 8, the grape harvesting of its members with a production of 95 million kilos of grapes, 6% more than in the previous campaign. The 2014 harvest becomes a production record in the 60-year history of the winery, which also becomes the second most productive wine cooperative in Spain.
As in the Castilian-La Mancha region as a whole, the 2014 campaign of this cooperative has been lower in production per hectare. However, the incorporation of numerous new members has increased the Cooperative's activity significantly, achieving an adequate size to optimize its costs and continue with the stage of expansion and marketing of Bodegas Yuntero wines throughout the world.
Currently, the Jesús del Perdón-Bodegas Yuntero Cooperative, based in Manzanares (Ciudad Real), has 800 Members - from up to 6 municipalities - with an area of its own vineyards of 7,000 Hectares. The current storage capacity of the winery is 85 million liters of wine.
Vintage 2014
The 2014 harvest, which began on August 6 with the harvesting of the Chardonnay variety grapes, has developed very satisfactorily. After Chardonnay, the grapes of the Moscatel variety, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Verdejo, Macabeo and finally the majority Airén were received. Regarding the red grapes, we began with the collection of the old vine Tempranillo variety and continued with Merlot, Syrah, Tempranillo, Petit Verdot and Cabernet.
Of the 95 million kilos of grapes from Bodegas Yuntero's 2014 harvest, 15 million come from organic vineyards. The Jesús del Perdón-Bodegas Yuntero Cooperative was a pioneer in Castilla-La Mancha in producing and marketing wines from organic farming in 1992, increasing its production each year until it became the most important winery in Spain in this denomination of grapes.
The quality of the grapes from the 2014 harvest has been excellent, with optimal health status throughout the campaign, achieving wines of the highest quality.
Expansion of the winery facilities
In 2014, the Jesús del Perdón-Bodegas Yuntero Cooperative has made a significant investment - more than 6 million euros - in its facilities with the aim of improving all production processes and increasing storage capacity.
With this investment, Bodegas Yuntero has launched four new unloaders in the 2014 harvest, equipped with the latest technology to achieve rapid reception and crushing of the grapes. As well as a new white grape jar, self-emptying tanks, settling tanks, pneumatic presses, and new cold equipment to control the appropriate temperatures in wine fermentations. Currently, the Cooperative has installed more than 6,000,000 refrigerators.
The expansion works have also included the installation of new stainless steel storage tanks, with the capacity to hold 20 million liters of wine which, added to the existing ones, give the winery a total storage capacity of 85 million liters. of wine.
International market
86% of Bodegas Yuntero's current production is destined for export, so that a large part of the Cooperative's commercial strategy is focused on foreign markets. Currently, Bodegas Yuntero exports its wines to 17 countries around the world, and has its own sales team in Europe, Asia and America.
The quality of Bodegas Yuntero wines has been recognized nationally and internationally by obtaining first prizes in various prestigious competitions such as Vinalies Internationales, Berliner Wein Trophy, Bacchus, Baco, Challenge International du Vin and Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, among others. .
Graphic album of the 2014 harvest at Bodegas Yuntero.