The wineries of the Designation of Origin produced a total of 263.70 million litres. This is the average rating of the wines that passed a stricit approval process applied to 3.973 samples, which were taken directly from the wineries´ tanks by Control Board personnel. The last grapes of the D.O.Ca. Rioja 2013 harvest were picked on 8 November and the Control Board officially closed the most delayed harvest in recent history. It was also one of the smallest , with a total of 368,42 million kg of grapes. This is slightly more than the 355 million kg of grapes of the 2012 vintage but much lower than the current production potemtial of the D.O.Ca. Rioja. It was a difficult year for grape producers. The 2013 vintage growing cycle had weather patterns that were quite different to those of previous years. Heavy spring rains and low temperatures delayed the growing season and resulted in uneven ripening.