What is vidueño?

Hello! The last bunches of grapes are being harvested in this area of Montilla-Moriles and although the Pedro Ximénez variety predominates in these lands, there are many others that are usually harvested before and after, today I want to talk about some that are harvested at the end of the harvest. , “la vidueño”, or rather, what do we mean when we say “la vidueño”?

What do we understand by vidueño?

Although vidueño generally refers to the vine plant, here in these lands of Montilla, when we say vidueño, we are referring to a set of grape varieties that, as a general rule and due to their late ripening, are harvested at the end of the campaign, just after the Pedro Ximénez harvest is finished.

In this area, we understand that everything that is not Pedro Ximénez and is not a recognized variety, becomes part of the Vidueño grape and in this way, is marked on a ticket when the grades are collected at the winery.

The Vidueño grape is separated from the Pedro Ximénez, so that the flavor of the latter is not affected by the Vidueño grape because it has quite a few differences.

What varieties become part of the vidueño?

Vidueño is made up of such well-known varieties as Airen, Malvar, Palomino Fino and Riesling.

All of these varieties to a greater or lesser extent have in common a great resistance to high temperatures and drought.

In addition, they are also varieties with a high production in kilos per hectare in exchange for a fairly low beaumé degree compared to what Pedro Ximénez can obtain, although this depends a lot on the land in which they are planted.

These varieties are much less delicate than Pedro Ximénez and adapt easily to almost any type of soil.

Why is vidueño planted in this area of Montilla-Moriles?

Although the star variety in this area is the Pedro Ximénez, the Vidueño or rather, the different varieties that become part of it, have their place in these lands due to the aforementioned qualities.

Greater resistance to high temperatures and adaptation to almost any type of terrain make most of them the ideal variety if the land is not suitable for planting Pedro Ximénez.

They have also been widely used in vineyard replacement due to their great power of adaptation and their low need for resources.

When I talk about replacing vineyards, I mean replacing plants that, for various reasons (diseases, tillage, weather conditions, etc.), are eliminated from the plot.

I can affirm from my own experience that a vidueño variety, more specifically the Palomino Fino, will have fewer problems growing among already established and considerably aged vines than a Pedro Ximénez.

The increase in sales of young wine a few years ago also led to the introduction of this type of variety in these lands, although now what is most in demand is sweet wine.

This would be the definition that, according to my impression, the so-called vidueño has here, something somewhat curious that I wanted to show to all the readers of this blog.

I hope you liked the article and I would like to know if there is any curiosity similar to this in your area. Greetings and until next time!

By Rafael Espejo.