2022 Harvest – Vlassides Vineyards

The 2022 harvest will be remembered mainly for the very high acidity and low pH presented in the vineyard by almost all international and local grape varieties, white and red, with the sole exception of Xynisteri, which will remain in our memory for its amazing year. But, let’s analyze more thoroughly the factors that determined the harvest of the year 2022.

The total amount of rainfall in our area for the period of October 2021 – September 2022, was approximately 795mm of rain. The month with the most rainfall was December 2021 (317mm of rain), followed by January 2022 (254mm of rain), both months accounting for over 70% of the total rainfall. The last rainfall took place on March 25th, 2022. This resulted in intense abiotic stress during the ripening period due to the lack of water from the end of March. At the same time, this caused the almost excellent health of the plants, due to the absence of favorable conditions for the development of fungal infections.

The winter of 2022 was mildly cold with the average minimum and maximum temperatures being lower than in 2021, throughout the vegetative period. This was a fact that also justified the partial delay of ripening of the winery’s international and indigenous varieties.

The phenological stages in the 2022 harvest were structured as follows:

• Expansion – first 10 days of April
• Flowering – second 10-day period of May
• Veraison – mid-July
• Harvest – beginning of August to mid-October

The low temperatures of July and August of 2022, resulted in slow technological ripening for our white varieties. The white wines of Vlassides Winery for the 2022 harvest are characterized by relatively low alcohol levels, high acidity, low pH and aromatic typicality of each variety, especially for Sauvignon blanc and Assyrtiko.

For Xynisteri, it was a super productive year and this was probably due to the ideal climatic conditions that prevailed during the flowering period. Nevertheless, this variety continues to surprise us with its multifaceted character, depending on the abiotic conditions (soil, climate, altitude, direction, etc.), the biotic environment and the adapted human activities around the vineyard. The expression in aromas and  taste of the same variety in different sub-regions in Kilani, often differs noticeably and this gives us extra motive to experiment in the winemaking process every year. This is what we did this year as well.

In the red varieties, the low temperatures at the end of August and September, mainly during the evening hours, had a significant impact on the phenolic ripening of Yiannoudi, Agiorgitiko, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot varieties. Having excellent quality in raw materials, all that remained to be done was to properly manage the extractions. The winery’s red wines for the 2022 vintage are characterized by a rich phenolic load, voluminous and oily mouthfeel. A big percentage of the 2022 red wines are already in French oak barrels and will remain for maturation for at least 12 months.