Last days of harvest in the Douro valley – 2011, put it on the list

I would like to give you an update about what is going in the Douro valley. The weather has been pretty good, clear and with plenty of sunshine, meaning that the grapes are very healthy and clean. We are now finishing harvest in the vineyards around the winery. Today it rained a bit, for the first time in more than three weeks, but nothing really serious. We estimate that around 35.000 kg are left in our vines, ready for picking.

In terms of quantity, we faced a strong drop of around 25% in the total volume of Port Wine being produced. The good news is that the grapes are in great conditions, rising the expectation of a great harvest. 2011, a vintage to put on the list. But we talk again in 10 years.

A note about the photo. One of these Saturdays, we were opening a fermentation tank to make Port. On the bottom of the tank there is a kind of stopper, 1metre wide, through which all skins are removed. Guess what, I opened too much the stopper and had a full-body wine shower. Do not see this as a free peeling, but actually as a very expensive mistake, in which we lost some hundreds liters of wine.

Back soon,

Oscar