A gliimpse into the upcoming Port harvest 2015

[Roy Hersh]

Interesting comparison, but the winters were very different, imo. http://www.decanter.com/wine-news/hopes ... m_campaign

Your thoughts?

[Tom Archer]

It seems a bit premature to be making comparisons with previous years, but interesting that David G has chosen to draw a comparison with 2011 rather than an iconic vintage from the past.

IIRC correctly, he went on record to compare 2011 with 1820!

[Jasper A.]

Interesting comparison, but the winters were very different, imo. http://www.decanter.com/wine-news/hopes ... m_campaign

Your thoughts?

We had a grape at Bomfim, and it was already getting sweet.
That was also confirmd at Crasto, when they mentioned that harvest starts in about 2 weeks.
But you never know, rain can spoil a lot. We had a little rain 3 days ago, but not a lot.
But what i saw en heard, people are sayng this can be a good year.

Another 2011 will be great

[Tom Archer]

Frustrating for the growers, a forecast for some much needed rain keeps getting put back..

Showers are now forecast by the IPMA for the 10th, with a forecast for some thundery rain on the 13th and 14th

[Andy Velebil]

Frustrating for the growers, a forecast for some much needed rain keeps getting put back..

Showers are now forecast by the IPMA for the 10th, with a forecast for some thundery rain on the 13th and 14th

If rain does come lets hope the winds kick up and dry things off after. Mold right now would be a bad thing.

[Tom Archer]

Mold right now would be a bad thing.

Agree, although with thundery conditions I worry more about the 'wrong sort of rain' - damaging deluges - or hail..

[Tom Archer]

And today's rain is.. cancelled - again!

The forecast for storms later in the week has also evaporated..

[Andy Velebil]

And today's rain is.. cancelled - again!

The forecast for storms later in the week has also evaporated..

I guess no rain is better than hail

[Roy Hersh]

And in addition to the wind (as mentioned) after some rain, to dry the grapes; it does no good unless the sun comes back out and finishes ripening the grapes that have been restored by the precipitation.

Getting the proper ripeness level for both table wines and Port is critical to the overall success.

A long stretch of warm sunny days and cool nights would greatly improve chances compared to a really hot finish to the growing season, which can happen on occasion.

To this point, things are looking pretty good. Let's hope for the best!

[Andy Velebil]

Appears the harvest has started. Looks like Niepoort has started bringing in some grapes, for table wines I would presume???

[Jasper A.]

Appears the harvest has started. Looks like Niepoort has started bringing in some grapes, for table wines I would presume???

I think so. But i won't suprise me that the harvest for port will start in about a week also.

[Roy Hersh]

Yes, the table grapes are invariably picked earlier as I know you are aware. From a couple of sources, the optimism is about as high as it was in 2014. Now it will take a bit of luck to see things reach fruition. I am looking forward to spending a few weeks there later during the Port harvest and end of the table grape picking.

[Jasper A.]

Harvest also started at Quinta do Vallado. Check there Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quintadovallado

[Andy Velebil]

Quevedo also posted some harvest info.

http://quevedoportwine.com/

.......Before we turned on the engine of the pick up truck that drove us to the fields, we knew that this year at the 10th of August we would find grapes with higher content of sugar than any of the previous years. Despite the cold and wet Winter, Spring arrived earlier and brought plenty of warm weather. And that means that vines started the new production cycle a few days before its normal timing. March’s bud break happened before and since then green shooting and new grapes growth has been consistent, as there was no cold temperatures to slow down the cycle.

The results for the pollen counting that took place during flowering showed higher than average production. We were expecting about 20% more of grapes to be harvested from our vineyards. However, the very dry Spring and Summer dropped this forecast because, due to the lack of water in the soil, berries are not as big as in other years. They are actually, quite small. So, this harvest we may have more berries but they are certainly smaller resulting in what we expect to be a similar vintage to the average in terms of quantity.

In terms of quality, things are showing very good. There are no deceases, berries are small which will bring concentration and tannins. In terms of colour, the pigmentation is still low, so we will need to wait several days to see how easily the skin will release the colour to the wine, and this is a critical point to achieve the best quality – Vintage Year – in 2015.

In terms of acidity, the cold nights have been helping to keep the figures at acceptable levels, freshness of the grapes has not been affected by the hot weather.

We don’t know yet when start the harvest. But by looking at the sugar level and day we started in the previous year, we can say that it shall be in early September:
•2007 10.49%, September 19th
•2009 11.86%, September 14th
•2010 10.05%, September 18th
•2011 12.07%, September 12th
•2012 9.13%, September 28th
•2013 10.9%, September 23rd
•2014 11.2%, September 8th
•2015 12.38%, ?

This being said, when we returned home after the visit to Quinta Vale d’Agodinho there were shy smiles on our faces. The picture is quite fine, but we still have in mind that the odds of the two previous harvests were changed during the harvest by several days of intense rain. And this year it can happen the same. But if it doesn’t, then start finding some room in your cellar, you will want to stock up on this vintage’s Port!

[Jasper A.]

Intresting read. Hoping for a good harvest with no rain

[Roy Hersh]

Quinta do Crasto began this week too.

One of the producers we are going to visit during the Port Harvest Tour has warned that we may arrive and have no grapes to tread on. So far, that has happened only once before, since 2005.

[Tom Archer]

Note that the only other year when Oscar's reading topped 12 at this stage was 2011, which is no bad comparison!

There are a few showers around in the Douro at the moment - hopefully enough to stop those small berries raisining..

[Andy Velebil]

There are a number of things to consider when looking at grapes and it's important that people understand all of it. You can have sugar levels where you want them but not have the correct color or other phenological things in the grapes not mature enough or in the right amount. It becomes hard to explain but 2013 (IIRC) was a year where that happened. On the outside the grapes looked great, but the odd weather didn't produce even phonological ripeness and while there was some nice Ports made lots never reached the optimum levels to make a very good Port.

Now that's not always a bad thing, as a producer needs these lesser year to help stock up on supplies for their lower level wines. The down side is your best grapes, which are now not so great anymore, just cost you a lot to produce and are going to end up in a low cost bottle. But that is farming...I mean wine making.

[Tom Archer]

On the outside the grapes looked great, but the odd weather didn't produce even phonological ripeness

And yet..

The debate still goes on between those who theorised that picking varietal blocks at the point of optimal ripeness should deliver the best possible port, and those who point to the fact that field mixes with their inevitable combination of ripe, overripe and under ripe grapes still seem to deliver better results.

I don't think 2013 was that bad a year, and the few I've tried don't disappoint. However, the two year gap since 2011 and the unlucky thirteen thing meant it was never going to be championed as a great vintage.

Sometimes though, first impressions mislead - any guesses as to the year Michael Symington is writing about here?

" Colour, flavour and ‘nose’ of the finest musts was good and with cool fermentations promises well for the best wines which will certainly be very well balanced. Throughout the Douro grapes were healthy with no traces of podre (rot)… very sound wines have been made and some could well prove to be very good indeed. "

[Andy Velebil]

" Colour, flavour and ‘nose’ of the finest musts was good and with cool fermentations promises well for the best wines which will certainly be very well balanced. Throughout the Douro grapes were healthy with no traces of podre (rot)… very sound wines have been made and some could well prove to be very good indeed. "

1974???