Its impact on wine

“The misfortunes never come alone,” says the saying. August 2025 threatens to demonstrate in Ourense to what extent that is true. The province has been besieged by the flames, which have calcined thousands of hectaresforced to Evacuate neighbors and razed Farms Now the region faces however another challenge that threatens to hit one of its most emblematic industries: the wine. In fact there is already Who is speaking There are “completely razed” vineyards.

They are the sequelae of fire.

Ourense, in flames. The province of Ourense is not the only one that has been dealing with the flames for days, but its case is especially serious. There have registered the forest megaincendios of Queixa Chandrexa or that of Larouco, which some already point out like THE GAIN IN HISTORY from Galicia, with some 20,000 ha calcined. In general the wave of fires that the community supports for two weeks has burned more than 70,000 hamore than The surface from the city of Madrid.

A sector in suspense. Although the fires have already razed homes and some farms Livestock From the province, there is a specific sector that follows the progress of the flames with special attention: The wine. Ourense has a secular winery tradition and hosts four different denominations (DO), that of Monterrei, Ribeiro, Valdeorras and Ribeira Sacrashared the latter with Lugo. This wine muscle in turn generates millions of euros and hundreds of jobs.

According to The data That it manages the interprofessional of the wine of Spain Oive, there are vineyards in 60 of the 92 municipalities of Ourense, which in turn hosts one more than one third (33.7%) of the entire vinícola surface of Galicia. Only Pontevedra and Ourense add up to 82.5% of the vineyard area of the region and almost 87% of broth production. Now those responsible see how The heat wave It comes accompanied by a fire succession that reminds of those of 2022.

The Invoice of Fire. To better understand how ourensanos winemakers live the progress of the flames comes to see reading The statements that left a few days ago in The country Ernesto Rodríguez, Bodeguero de la Do Monterrei and owner of the brands Father 1934 and Crego and Mongaguillo. It is not so much for the flames to directly reach the strains as the effect of their proximity.

“I have seen completely razed vineyards. It is not that the strain burns, but the heat devours everything: it burns the leaves, the vegetation, and the grape dies,” He recounts Rodríguez. “When the heat approaches 50 m the grape is cooked, as if you put the fire. And if they are young vineyards, the damage is incalculable because you have to start.” From do Valdeorras Remember That the phenomenon even has a name, ‘araz’, “an excess of heat that interrupts the flow of saliva and dry the grape before maturation.”

Have you affected the flames? The country Precise That the fires that have affected municipalities such as Oimbra, Laza or Verín have damaged two important varieties of the region, the Godello and Mencía. In some parishes, such as Ace Chás or Rosal, in addition to chestnuts, robes, olive trees and pasture areas have also burned vineyards.

From the Valdeorras Regulatory Council they remembered a few days ago that the flames ended up crossing from the neighboring regions and entered for Larouco. Although it is early to know how the vineyards will affect the fire, there is a revealing fact: in 65.2% of the municipalities From Ourense there are planted vineyards.

A delicate moment. The fire wave has caught the sector also at a particularly sensitive time: almost At the doors of the harvest. At the beginning of the month the regulatory advice of the four of Ourense trusted that the decrease in temperatures and the return of the rains favor the grape collection campaign, marked this year by the shortage of water of the summer.

By then The region He slipped That, due to the delay in maturation due to water stress, the harvest could be delayed until the end of August or the beginning of next month. Now to drought, the cannula or the effect of mildew About strains add a new concern, even greater: forest fires.

Images | Wikipedia, Ministry of Defense (X)

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