A month after the last entry of grapes into the winery, and after the initial fermentation period, it is already possible to say: this year has been very good for the Cooperativa de Gandesa. Although 2020 has been a particularly bad year for the whole state due to the appearance of the mildew fungus, which has lost up to 40% of the harvest in some areas, the Cooperative has produced 30% more grapes than last season, to 1,560,000 kilos of grapes.
While it is true that the usual treatments for the appearance of this fungus have tripled, Gandesa's own dry winds, garbinada and cerc, have played a key role in the fight against mildew, as they have dried up. grapes and vines neutralizing the effect of this fungus. Added to this is the exceptional amount of rain in the spring, after the severe drought that the region suffered in 2019, which has led to an increase in the amount of grapes. After the tastings after the alcoholic fermentations, it has been verified that the quality of the product is better than expected, taking into account that these pests usually affect the tastes, aromas or quality. On this occasion, there was no affectation.
The Cooperative's grape-producing members, about 110, own about 400 hectares of vineyards, most of them old vineyards, over 25 years old. There are a good number of vineyards between 20 and 30 years old, and some up to 50 and 60 years old. The old vineyards, the hallmark of the Cooperative, have a very low and very careful production. It should be borne in mind that 90% of the Cooperative’s production is harvested by hand and that is why the grapes are selected on the farms, so that a high quality product is obtained with an optimal presentation. The extracted must has grade, is very concentrated, and this gives a great complexity to the resulting wines. Besides, the big variability of floors and heights of the games of term of Gandesa, that move between the 300 and the 500 meters on the level of the sea, allow a big range of product between which choose and select. The selection begins many weeks before the harvest, as the winery carries out a careful control of each member's farm. Every type of wine and every use finds a perfect blend in the Cooperative.
In the 2020 harvest, 55% of white grapes arrived at the Cooperative, of which 54% were white Grenache, 43% Macabeo and the remaining 3%, Muscat. Some 5,000 kilos of macabeu from vineyards over 50 years old, grapes specially selected for the production of high-end wine, the Purity, have also entered the winery. 45% of the grapes that entered the Cooperative were black, of which 50% were black Grenache, 22% Carignan. About 2,300 kilos of Morenillo, an autochthonous variety from the DO Terra Alta and about 5,000 kilos of Carignan were harvested from vineyards over 50 years old, for the production of Puresa Samsó wine, which like all those in the Puresa family, is a monovarietal wine, aged for twelve months in French oak barrels and aged for at least two years in the bottle.