White wine grape harvesting is far along. Whites for Port, mostly, not yet. Reds have begun, but it's still early and not everywhere. For Ports: phenolics are not there yet.

Prolonged heat in July and August caused minuscule raisining, (to date) but some browning of leaves and need for some rain. Prayers were answered the last Mon. - Thurs. of Aug. with two and up to four consecutive days of steady precipitation in the 3 sub-regions (varying slightly by location). Fortunately it only helped.

The first week of September was quite warm with temperatures hovering in the upper 30°C. and into the low 40°C. range. Very dry with some wind encountered at a few of the Quintas visited. Nights remained quite warm, compared to most years, where the diurnal temp. variation is far broader.

Early on, 2026 conditions were not looking so good. But there is optimism, not that this will be another 2024 or 2025, yet the potential is still quite good. Obviously, it is way too early for any kind of prognostication. But if temps hold for a few more weeks, and some cooler nights prevail, we could have long hang times, excellent phenolic ripeness and healthy bunches overall.

It should be noted this was one of the earliest beginnings to a Douro harvest, ever. For some, the earliest. Others, not so much. A follow up report, after our Port Harvest Tour 2, later in September.