How goes the season?

Tom Archer · Post by **Tom Archer** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 3:18 pm

Writers like Mayson give detailed accounts of the weather and development of the vines and grapes in past years, which makes interesting reading.

But there is no information source that I can find that gives reports on what is happening right now, other than for big stories like the recent hail storm.

Is there anyone in the Douro who can be our correspondent, and post regular bulletins for us here?

Tom

Frederick Blais · Post by **Frederick Blais** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 9:03 pm

One of the main problem is that if you are not in the Douro it is hard to get this information. If you are in the Douro, you are probably working for a port company and you don't want any information to leak that could give a wrong view or a non profitable view of how the growing season is going.

I've tried with a few producers in the past years and they where just sistematically all ignoring these related questions.

Is there any independant person that could have direct knowledge about the everyday weather in the Douro and the impact on the vineyards, I doubt it.

Tom Archer · Post by **Tom Archer** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:35 pm

you are probably working for a port company and you don't want any information to leak that could give a wrong view or a non profitable view of how the growing season is going

There is nothing commercially sensitive about this - good and bad years happen, and the shippers don't seem to mind writers like Mayson reading and reporting their past vintage reports.

Indeed, if they tried to cultivate the image that every vintage was 'the best ever' - their credibility would plummet, and genuinely good years would be met with skepticism

Widening knowledge, awareness and interest can only be good for the industry.

- There must be someone out there...

Tom

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 2:03 pm

Indeed, if they tried to cultivate the image that every vintage was 'the best ever' - their credibility would plummet, and genuinely good years would be met with skepticism

But this is NOT what happens in the Douro compared to other regions where everything is great until AFTER the harvest and independent reports are leaked. I have a couple of friends who work as vineyard managers who provide me with real time information.

I will ask if they wouldn't mind it being reported here. In the past, when sharing this type of knowledge, they HAVE asked me to keep it "off the record" so it has not been typed here.