2009 Port Harvest info

[Roy Hersh]

I have heard from several in Porto/Douro about the harvest which is now underway or in some places in the Douro ... just getting started.

I am sure we'll have more reports, but here are snippets of conversations from the past 24 hours:

"Harvest has begun in the Douro and it is looking very good so far."
Christian Seely


"The harvest is already going full speed. Too early, too much sun, too much heat but so far so good."
Dirk Niepoort

Please feel free to share ... especially if you are in the Port trade!

[Adrian Bridge]

2009 Harvest - The Fladgate Partnership

The 2009 Port harvest is now underway. This will be a complicated year in many ways as the total beneficio has been cut by 11% in line with a reduction in sales in 2008.

In July we were anticipating a smaller harvest as there are less bunches than normal. However, with the hot August and no rain, the yields are falling. This is placing pressure as farmers wish to pick before the grapes shrivel too much. Yields in some areas of Barca D'Alva are down 40%.

The harvest has started in a similar way to 2006. About two weeks into that year the rain fell and swelled production so it is hard to say how the year will pan out. The last few days have seen cooler temperatures and we are due fog tomorrow.

All the grape varieties have produced less bunches this year. The older vines always produce less but great quality and this year should be no exception.

We opened our Nogueira winery (LBVs) on Monday with grapes from Barca D'Alva. We are seeing high potential alcohol levels at 16 or 17 Beaume even though the grapes are not fully ripe. At Roeda we have started production of Pink and White.

We expect to open Quinta De Vargellas, foot treading our first grapes on 10th September. Our traditional wineries around Pinhão should start the following week.

We will keep you posted.

Adrian Bridge

[Symington Family]

Hello Roy,

I have just this evening returned from an extensive trip round our Douro vineyards with my cousin Charles. His right index finger and thumb are stained dark red from testing the skins of the grapes. This will be a challenging year for us. In the Vilarica valley, where we have 146 hectares of mature (average 30 years old) vineyards, the rainfall has been very low, so we started picking there on Monday (31st). The fruit is looking good, although it is clear that more rain would have been good. It is worth noting that in 2007 we measured exactly 50% less than the average rainfall through the year at our weather station at Bomfim. In 2008, we had about 27% less than the average. This year, to the end of July we were again well down on the average (281 mm compared to a normal 376 mm). So we have had three abnormally dry years. 2007 of course benefited by having a very wet 2006 and nicely spaced rain in June, hence the great wines made in that year. It is also worth noting that my local village, Sao Cristovao in the Pinhao valley, has been without water for weeks and has been supplied by the Bombeiros (fire brigade) tanker from Sabrosa with water. My father's well has given out at his vineyard at Alvito and he is 'borrowing' water from my bore hole which still gives plenty of water (I hope). Vale de Mendiz, opposite my vineyard, was also out of water as from last week. At Vesuvio and Senhora de Ribeira we have had no rain since May. So we have been regularly watering the new vineyard at Vesuvio (planted in March) and our team was back in the vineyard yesterday afternoon with the water tank behind the tractor when I was there, so that we keep the young Touriga Nacional alive (an expensive exercise...). Today Charles fixed the picking dates following weeks of maturation studies and the extensive visits of the last few days. So we expect to start at Vesuvio, Senhora de Ribeira, Telhada and Vale Coelho on Monday 7th. Roriz will start on the 8th where my oldest son (5th generation Symington) will be working his second Douro harvest, having worked at Malvedos in 2002. Malvedos and Tua will almost certainly start on the 10th and Bomfim on the 17th. As usual, Cavadinha, with its fresher and higher vineyards will start on about the 18th, when I will also pick my own 13 hectares of vineyard. Of course all this depends on the weather, but we have no rain forecast for the next two weeks. I spent much of August in the Douro and it was mild for the first 8 to 10 days, the normal heat only came mid-month, just as well. The fruit is in good condition, although it would be better if the tannins were riper. As long as we get the picking right, we will have some good wines. Touriga Franca looks particularly good as it copes well with these dry conditions, Charles is very confident about these grapes in particular. The Douro has always been about making Port and wine in challenging conditions, this year will be no different.
Best wishes,
Paul Symington

[Frederick Blais]

Great report Paul, thanks for taking the time! Was fires a big concern this year in the Douro with such dry weather?

[Eric Menchen]

Yes, thanks to both Adrian and Paul for the reports.

[Symington Family]

Hello Frederick,

Fires have been a bad problem only over the last few days. Earlier in July and August we were much better off than previous years. The worst was this last weekend, saturday and sunday, were you could see several big fires burning all around the Douro, with a big one on the Marao above Mesao Frio and another near Amarante on the Port side of the Marao. But thankfully vineyards do not burn (if they are in good shape), but it is certainly sad to see the natural scrub and woods burn. Much of these fires are caused by lack of care, some may be deliberate.

Paul

[Andy Velebil]

Adrian and Paul,

Thank you both for the harvest update.

I do hope none of the fires are threatening any homes, structures, or people? Would smoke from the fires cause any issues with the harvest that is now getting underway?

[Symington Family]

Hi Andy,
Things are quite well organised here with the voluntary fire brigades. The weekend fires are out now. They were nothing like you had in California and nowhere near the best vineyards, but some fires were close to houses and villages. Not comfortable for them.
Paul

[Ronald Wortel]

Adrian and Paul, thank you so much for taking the time to post your reports here. It is very much appreciated!

It looks like the fires aren't as bad as in 2005? That's good to hear. Looking forward to reading more reports during the rest of harvest.

[Andy Velebil]

Paul,
Very glad to hear no one was seriously injured and that the fires are out. Thank you for letting us know.

[Tom Archer]

It's great to get feedback from the front line during harvest. The reports of heat and drought remind me of 2005 - I wonder if the wines will be similar?

Tom

[Roy Hersh]

How about an update from those in the Douro on the front lines or front vines in the vineyard, or Porto, but getting the reports?

[Michael M.]

Great information. Thanks a lot to Adrian and Paul. Continuation would be very much appreciated.

[Roy Hersh]

Stay tuned to this thread. As of this morning, I've reached out to the Port trade to see if they would provide us with updates over the next month. It will be interesting to see if they will be able to find time during this very busy season, to drop in and lay out some details of the current weather, phenolic ripeness levels of the grapes, how musts are behaving in lagares etc. The more they share, the more we learn, the more we enjoy the nectar ... that is Port wine.

[Roy Hersh]

The first response came from Kay Bouchard of Quinta do Tedo (co-owner) and she sent this by email instead of posting here:

Now listen, Vincent, I and kids returned from our summer in the habitual travels from Italy to Portugal to California to France to Italy, and when we landed in France, after a friendly call with our winemaker Jorge Alves, we came to know that the harvest was to start (for a certain parcel) already on August 31, a whopping 2 to 3 weeks ahead of schedule. WHY? After a week of 40 C/105 F temperatures with a very dry and strong wind, the vines are super stressed and some are ready to be picked! And to think that we had been at Quinta do Tedo in July and we had rain and “cool” weather (35 C/90-95 F) as we had never seen before!
So, harvest is underway and I will ask Vincent how are the conditions and get back to you, OK?

[dirk niepoort]

No apparent logic in maturation process this year, although some north facing/cooler vineyards show faster maturation than some riper areas, that doesn´t happen always. Some fruit is quite ripe with a high amount of sugar but also concentrated and with good acidity, and some other vineyards show big quantaty of rasins but they are not ripe yet. Yields are low and colors of the wine are incredible dark. We've started with the Douro wine still in August and the first lagar for Port was filled yesterday in Vale de Mendiz.... from now on everything can happen!!!

Luis Seabra

[Andy Velebil]

Dirk / Luis,

Thank you for the report, it is very much appreciated. It is also very educational to see how different parts of the same Quinta are maturing.

I know it is still early, but how do the grapes look for making dry wines this year?

[oscarquevedo]

I can't remember a so warm Summer in the Douro. The weather remains hot with temperatures slightly over 100º F (38º C) at midday which make it impossible to stay outside. Now imagine if you had to pick up the grapes The nights have been cooling off but still warmer than usual for September time.

After a period of quick ripening during the last weeks of August and first week of September (specially with high concentration of sugar), the ripening speed is now slowing down. The sugar of the grapes is accumulating much slower now while the tannins are accumulating faster.

I think it will be a better harvest for Port Wine than for still wines.

[Andy Velebil]

Oscar,
Thanks for the update.

Do you know if other producers have started to pick in the Baixo Corga? I know that tends to get picked later, so I was just wondering if the heat has caused picking times there to start earlier as well.

[oscarquevedo]

I'm not sure about Baixo-Corgo but I would say some have already started. But during next week we'll see a lot people starting the harvest in the vineyards close to the Douro.