Because of the rain in the spring this year , the Alicante wine producers are expecting a bumper crop of grapes .
The Medio Vinalopo area has its own official designation of origin ( DO ) and its regulatory board has forecast that the quality will be excellent .
The board has very strict methods for protecting the quality of the local grapes .
It takes about 10,000 people over a month to cover the best bunches of grapes withspecial paper bags until they are mature and ready for harvesting .
Two varieties of grapes are harvested , one in September and one nearer to Christmas .The latter is called the ” aledo ” and is traditionally drunk on New Years Eve in Spain.
The Vinalopo DO incluses Agost , Aspe , Hondon de las Nieves , Hondon de las Frailes , Monforte del Cid Novelda and La Romana .
