2017 Harvest report

[Thomas V]

It is that time a year... well actually as some has noted the harvest in the Douro started unusually early this year. I have seen pictures on Quinta de la Rosa's facebook page that they started picking on the 19th of August

Starting the vintage very early with Bandeiras ... no rain for months so picking early

Also Quinta do Tedo posted a picture today of their lagars filled with delicious must and grapes.

What are you hearing out of the valley? Any nuggets, titbits, insider info or are you currently in the Douro..... Wondering how the grapes are doing and if there is an outlook for great ports being made from the 2017 vintage.

[Jasper A.]

I heard some producers run/ran in to trouble because their staff are still on vacation, and not available to harvest this early

[Roy Hersh]

Picking of Port grapes will begin next week and it is Douro wine grapes currently being harvested, whites first of course. Heading over there soon (and through early Oct.) and expect to see the end of the harvest whilst there, but looking to try more 2015s and some early examples of 2016 VPs too.

[Thomas V]

Picking of Port grapes will begin next week and it is Douro wine grapes currently being harvested, whites first of course. Heading over there soon (and through early Oct.) and expect to see the end of the harvest whilst there, but looking to try more 2015s and some early examples of 2016 VPs too.

I do not know if these grapes are for DOC or port at Quinta do Tedo, but I am pretty sure they are reds. The picture was posted yesterday.

Will be great to hear what rumblings you pick up from your contacts while there and you first impressions of the 2016 vintage. Maybe you even get to taste some still warm 2017 juice?

[Tom Archer]

I've not booked anything yet, but was toying with the idea of being out around the 18th - 20th for a few days. Now thinking I need to pull that back a week if I'm going to see any serious grapes coming in..

[Roy Hersh]

Not everyone is already deeply into their harvest. The DM from Rozes told me they are going to start at the beginning of next week.

As for reds, in the Douro Superior, (typically a hotter sub-region of the Douro) there is action in the fields picking reds right now at several properties, but a Cima Corgo producer we all now, small/independent, explained yesterday that their family's 2016 is getting better and better.

Looking forward to treading grapes at a couple of properties soon enough. Lots of fun ahead.

[Roy Hersh]

Another producer, who was willing to comment, said they have picked all white Douro grapes and have started white Port grapes and will begin red Douro any day now, but the phenolics are not there yet in order to pick red Port grapes.

[Roy Hersh]

Another friend and I were on the phone just now and I inquired about the harvest. She is a senior manager at Sogevinus. They have a bunch of different Douro properties. It has been brutally hot and still no rain, in ... forever. They have been taking in white grapes for Douro for the past two weeks, initially for Douro DOC and then White Ports. Red grapes begin on Tuesday at their Douro Superior property Quinta do Arnozelo, which is situated on the south bank of the Douro River, between São João da Pesqueira and Vila Nova de Foz Côa, but down river at S. Luiz, they began picking reds today and may begin red Port grapes next week.

[Roy Hersh]

Straight from the Douro, an update from our friend Frederick Blais who is working at Napoles again this year:


The harvest started 12 days earlier than last year at Napoles with the Pinot and Bastardo as usual, then 6 days later we started full force with 50 tons of grapes. This normally happens 1 week into the harvest. Today on the 31st of August, I believe we have done more than 70% of the harvest for dry wines.

As you probably know, there was no rain during the summer, not much during the winter either, hot spring led to early ripening and veraison. By August, the veraison was completed everywhere beside some high elevated vineyards. This resulting in sugar content coming from concentration of sugar by dehydration instead of natural photosynthesis bringing it. Acidity is dropping extremely fast too. For example, the Pinot last year harvested around the 20th had 2,9 ph. This year it is at 3,5 and got harvested 10 days earlier.

The first grapes to get in were showing great complexity, small berries, thick skins, high acidity. I tasted the berries for Batuta and it was crazy good. But they'll have to be gentle, the color this year is crazy dark! As you mentionned in your email, this is definitively a year for Port. Rarely it happens, but Napoles is opening its door to make Port and help Vale de Mendiz in making more this year.

Now about the rain... as usual it is tricky. Between late Saturday and Wednesday, there was definitively rain in the Douro. Some area near Regua got the roads closed because of the heavy rain. The A24 between Regua and Vila Real got massive amounts, report of people driving at 20km/h! It seems to me the North shore of the Douro got most of it, from Napoles I could see the lightning hitting the peeks of the mountains across the river. Region of Pombal, Poreis and Sabrosa got a lot. While at Napoles, we received a few drops for 30 secs, probably from Wind blowing heavily.

What does that mean for wines, as usual, some region got it and others got nothing. At Napoles, on the sorting table I clearly see that some berries have swallowed a lot of water, they are big and dilluted. Not much rot or cracked berries have been seen which is a good sign for those waiting to make Port. Hopefully these dilluted high acidic berries can bring balance to other wines that are overripened. And hopefully, because of the highly shriveled berries, the rain will do just good and will not be too much so they can recover and harvest in a couple of weeks high quality grapes for Port production.

I've seen quite a few fires in the Douro, but most got under control within the 48 hours timeline. One night was quite intense, I could see the sky with red amber color showing the intensity of the flames that were probably 20km away.

[Luc Gauthier]

Fred , you paint a very good picture

[Andy Velebil]

Thanks for the recap Fred!

[Roy Hersh]

I was speaking to the winemaker at Noval earlier today. He mentioned that surprisingly the grapes are doing very well and have resisted the no rain and overly hot day. He believes there will be some outstanding wines made from 2017. He also stated that at Quinta da Romaneira in the Roncao Valley, the harvest started on September 22nd last year. This year, it will be over by the 8th or 9th of September.

Pretty crazy!

[Tom Archer]

Roy - did you mean 2017?

[Thomas V]

Quinta do Noval started harvesting touriga franca yesterday

There is also a harvest report up on the Symington blog
http://blog.symington.com/earliest-star ... ng-memory/

[Stewart T.]

Yes, Tom I appreciate you finding that typo and alerting me to it. It has now been edited.

[Stewart T.]

An interesting early harvest report from the Symington's:

http://blog.symington.com/earliest-star ... ng-memory/

[Andy Velebil]

An interesting early harvest report from the Symington's:

http://blog.symington.com/earliest-star ... ng-memory/

This part really caught my eye...wow

It is likely that the Douro Superior letter ‘A’ areas will produce 40% below average and that the Cima Corgo letter ‘A’ some 25% below average. The letter ‘B’ and ‘C’ areas and the Baixo Corgo are likely to have a normal or above average size vintage, it being likely that overall the region will have an average to just below average size vintage. What gives us some pause for thought is the fact that the yield of Kg to litres is very low, some 20% below-average.

[Thomas V]

Another harvest report from the Douro

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2017/ ... the-douro/

[Andy Velebil]

Another harvest report from the Douro

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2017/ ... the-douro/

Make sure to read Adrian Bridges reply at the bottom. I'd say he scolded Mr. Prats quite good. Seems Mr. Prats needs a Douro history lesson.

[Thomas V]

Another harvest report from the Douro

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2017/ ... the-douro/

Make sure to read Adrian Bridges reply at the bottom. I'd say he scolded Mr. Prats quite good. Seems Mr. Prats needs a Douro history lesson.

You are referring to the irrigation part where Adrian Bridges shoots down Mr. Prats suggestion about using the river?

I actually thought that irrigation wasn't permitted in the Douro, but I guess I was mistaken.