EN (versão PT aqui)
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Quinta do Bom Retiro, Torto river Valley.
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"2023 was a very intense harvest. The climatic conditions during the year allowed the vines to reach harvest with sufficient resources to ensure the correct grape maturation. We started harvesting on the 23rd of August with the white wines and on the 24th of August with the reds. The grapes for Port wine began to arrive on the 1st of September. At first, the harvest began with very hot and stable weather at the end of August, but during the month of September, we had periods of inetnse rain that caused difficulties in more sensitive and fragile vines. The cutting pace was adapted depending on climatic instabilaties. We finished the entry of grapes on 29th September. On balance, I am very excited about the potential of the wines this year, especially those harvested before the second wave of heavier precipitation."
Ricardo Pinto Nunes, Churchill´s Winemaker & Production Director.
"Initially expectations were promising, but during the first weeks we faced a major challenge: abundant rain. The green leafhopper (a vineyard pest) for the first time appeared in our vineyards next to the Douro river, Quinta vale d'Agodinho and Alegria. Still, without ever giving up, we managed to produce wines that leave beautiful memories, albeit in smaller quantities.
(On October 12nd) We recently finished the harvest, a few days ago, and we still have some presses and tanks with fermentations going on. It was a very challenging harvest, in which once again the best vineyards were those located at the highest altitudes, perhaps not so much those at the top of the mountain, at 700 meters, but perhaps those at an altitude of 400/500 meters, these vineyards were not so affected by the rain or by the green leafhopper, which is a small fly that begins to eat the vine leaves, which happened at the beginning of July and at a certain point stopped the ripening process ate the vineyards located at low altitude in the Upper Douro and towards the Cima Corgo area and then all the way up to Tua.
It is also interesting to see that climate change is also changing the way we are making wine in the Douro. I think thos trend will continue, we will increasingly have the best wines coming from vineyards at higher altitudes, and we can feel it at the winery.
At the beginning of the harvest I hoped for the best and because of the rain at the middle of the harvest I was a little concerned, but now that we have all the grapes picked I think we have several batches with a lot of quality but we need to be very selective with what we produced."
Óscar Quevedo, Quevedo Wines producer (text from an audio version)
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Torto river valley, EN222 road.
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After an extremely dry and hot year cycle - 2022 was the driest
hydrological year since 1931 - the September rain, although in greater quantity than
normal, was still insufficient to increase surface or underground water
availability because the soils were extraordinarily dry.
At the beginning of autumn, the anxiety among Douro winegrowers is well expressed
in the words of António Magalhães, Viticulture Director at the Fladgate
Partnership: “Last year we went through an absolutely arid year, unthinkably
arid, the grapes, the vines protected themselves from this dryness to the point of exhaustion, it was absolutely
necessary to have an autumn and winter with rain, but we lived in this anguish
for a long time, and we had the best autumn and winter we could have after
the year 22, last autumn and winter was a happy moment.”.
The much-needed rain, essential for the region's agriculture, finally
arrives from the 10th of October onwards, then in greater quantities throughout
the Douro, from the 19th until the end of October and also during November, which was also a rainy month, with intense precipitation. Temperatures in October and November were above average
values (between 2,5ºC to 4ºC higher).
In any case, there was a worsening of the meteorological drought situation
across the country (32,2% of the territory in a severe drought situation) and
the Douro region in a moderate drought situation.
Autumn sets in, the vineyards change colors, the green gradually
disappears and the landscape is dressed in beautiful Autumn colors, temperatures drop and
the vines get ready for winter.
The rain returned to the entire wine region in December 5th, resulting in a
situation of meteorological instability with persistent and heavy rain
accompanied by thunderstorms. It was recorded
that on December 14th, the Douro river bed rose by around 2 meters to
the usual level at this time of year.
Flood. Precipitation data recorded on
December 13th: Cambres (35,8mm) – Pinhão (35mm) – Vilariça (29mm) – Canelas
(39mm). The flood forecast led to the
activation of the flood plan in the Douro river basin. The flow of the Douro river and its tributaries has
increased significantly. According to
the Portuguese Environment Agency, the Autumn rains once again filled the
water reserves, some to the limit, as was the case in the Douro basin.
Winter
The beginning of Winter was also rainy and since mid-December temperatures
have been above average (between 3ºC to 4ºC) throughout the region. Then, in the last days of the year and the beginning of the new year, the
entire northern region was most affected by bad weather, storms and a lot of
intense rain, as a result of the passage of a cold front with strong activity,
temperatures remained well above average at the
end of December.
In the vineyards, the period is now one of rest and recovery for the next
season. Many of the annual pruning activities
continue and take place during the month of January, in a long, laborious and
important task to which the pruning teams are dedicated, for the balance
between vegetative and productive functions and the future of the quantity and
quality of the vine production.
From mid-January onwards, temperatures drop below average values (less 3ºC to
4ºC), it snows in Serra do Marão and Serra do Alvão. On January 22nd, very low temperatures were recorded in
the districts of Vila Real and Viseu, as a result of a cold mass of cold and dry
air. Dry weather and very cold winter days,
with blue skies and sun, minimum temperatures very close to zero or
even negative in some areas of the region (the record of minimum temperatures
on 24Jan.: Cambres, -1ºC – Adorigo, -1,6ºC – Pinhão, -0,5ºC – Soutelo do Douro, -0,5ºC – Vilariça, -4,3ºC –
Canelas, -0,4ºC, on 31 Jan., - 2,0 in Adorigo, on 5Feb. and -3,8ºC in the Vilariça valley).
In the great Douro landscapes, the typical January cold covers the
vineyards with a white blanket caused by frost. Until the first week of
February, the weather remains dry and with low temperatures throughout the region,
then in the mid-February, temperatures begin to rise to the average values for
this time of year, with higher maximum temperatures that remind us of Spring.
Nevertheless, Autumn and Winter were very rainy seasons, in contrast
to the last winter which was very dry. With days of winter sun, on the 7th of
February and throughout the month, the first news arrives of the “crying of
the vine” or the lacrima vitis, the natural phenomenon that marks
the end of the vine's vegetative rest and that consists of the sap flow in the plant that accumulates at the
ends, reaching the winter pruning cuts and marking the beginning of a new
vine vegetative cycle announcing the end of winter.
In February and March, the landscapes of the Upper Douro, in the Vila
Nova de Foz Côa district, are covered in pink and white with almond trees in
bloom. Dry weather and low temperatures in March, with minimum temperatures
reaching negative records in many places (for example, -3,6ºC in Vilariça on
28Feb and 3Mar), followed by some rain and temperatures rising to average
values.
The vines begin to emerge, coming out of their long winter sleep and come
to life, the bud break phase begins (the news of the first shoots on
17Mar, in Canelas, in Baixo Corgo sub-region – 19Mar., at Quinta Seara D' Orders, 21Mar. in Quinta da Roêda and on 22Mar., in
Quinta do Noval and Quinta da Manoella, in the Pinhão river valley, 23Mar., in
Quinta da Romaneira and on 25 Mar. in Quinta da Gricha). With an increase in average temperature and more daily
hours of sunlight, the buds left by pruning increase in size and then a green
tip appears, the first shoots and small leaves are recognizable. There are more precocious grape varieties in which bud
break occurs earlier and others that bud break later.
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Grape reception at Van Zellers & Co. winery.
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Spring
Nature follows its course with a new cycle and a dry start to Spring (with
only some rain on the 24th of March) and temperatures increasing above average
values throughout the wine-growing region (by 2ºC to 3ºC). From the moment the vine buds, it usually takes 6 months
until the next harvest.
The Douro spring days, between the end of March and the beginning of April
were sunny and with hot weather, average and maximum temperatures increasing
and higher than average values (on the 28th March, in Pinhão it was recorded a
maximun temperature of 28,5ºC and a
minimum temperature of 7,2ºC). Despite the rainy winter, the month of April was
hot and dry with very little rain, which meant that 80% of the national
territory reached a drought situation and in the Douro the situation also
evolved into a weak to moderate drought, according to with IPMA (The Portuguese Institute for Sea and
Atmosphere) data.
In the vineyards, at the end of April, the leaves develop quickly and take
on their definitive appearance and the shoots change their initial pinkish color
to green tones, the first flower buds appear and the appearance and separations of the grape bunch. The vine flowering begins
during the month of May, on the 10th of May at Quinta do Crasto separate flower
buds can be observed and in some cases, in the Upper Douro it is already
possible to observe flowering in most grape varieties, which in the case of Touriga Francesa is further ahead. It is an important and sensitive vine cycle phase,
in which climate conditions have a direct influence, for example, if it rains,
pollen is carried away from the stamens and flowers which, without pollination
and fertilization, result in fruit not appearing what will affect production.
The vines are beautiful and grow at a good pace, the first
non-individualized bunches appear, which eventually separate and determine the
birth (each vine branch holds 1 to 4 bunches). In May, temperatures were
high and above average values (e.g.: on May 23, Pinhão recorded a maximum
temperature of 29,6ºC, as well as Soutelo do Douro and Canelas, 30,2ºC).
At the end of May, from the 28th to the 31st, imponderable weather
conditions appeared, the weather became uncertain and dangerous with the
occurrence of violent rains, hail storms, thunderstorms and strong winds, which
in a short time caused extensive damage in some areas of the Douro (in the districts of Alijó, Murça and Carrazeda de Ansiães). The intensity of the hailstorm left marks on hundreds of
hectares of vineyards and olive groves. Winegrowers try to minimize losses (phytopharmaceutical treatments) and
save the vines and there was talk of losses of thousands of euros.
At the beginning of June, with strange weather patterns, the clusters begin to form, a warm spring was followed by a rain storm and the threat of hail and
a rainy end of May. Despite the conditions at the end of May, in mainland
Portugal, the month of May was the eighth hottest since 1931 and most of the
Douro region was in a moderate drought situation.
Changes continue in the vineyards, between May and June, after flowering, the initial
phase of the grape bunch growth takes place, the result of flower
pollination and fruit set that now gives rise to grape berries.
On the 12th of June in Murça, Freixo de Numão, Mêda and Vila Nova de Foz,
records of damage caused by inclement rain and hail, which is one of
agriculture's worst enemies, destroyed many of this year's production and
compromised next year's (the vines' canes were badly damaged – treatments with
calcium for faster healing were necessary to the affected vines). The damage
caused to the vineyards was considered catastrophic by the wine sector of the
municipalities, which is the main source of income of this territory in the Upper Douro sub-region. These are storms that, in addition to destroying the
grapes and vines, also cause the collapse of vineyard terraces and support
walls that are difficult to repair. In the past, these storms normally occurred
every few years, but currently they can happen several times in the same year. As a result, there was an enormous
incidence and pressure of diseases such as powdery mildew and downy mildew that
were very difficult to control and which required several preventive
phytosanitary treatments.
There was also an unusual occurrence, a large attack by the green
leafhopper, as rarely seen in the region with such intensity. It is a vineyard
pest, an insect that destroys the vine's leaves and its photosynthetic capacity
at a fundamental moment in its development cycle, causing damage and production
losses (weakening of the plant, difficulty in ripening the branches and
affecting the quality of production).
Despite all the events described, the rain that fell allowed the vines water
stress to be alleviated and normalized.
Summer
The grapes begin to color. All over the region, the first news of the veraison
arrival, especially the earliest Touriga Francesa grape variety.
A very hot summer start, with temperatures high and above average (e.g. maximum temperatures recorded, 24Jun. in Pinhão, 38,2ºC and 39,1ºC in
Vilariça), the hot and dry weather continued, the temperatures quite above
average values (between 4ºC to 5ºC) at the beginning of July and high maximum
temperatures.
Worldwide, the month of June 2023 was the hottest on record, one more
indication of rapid changes in climate.
July is a month of changes in the vineyards, which is commonly known as the
month of the veraison, the grapes begin to change color, ripen and
accumulate reserves. The vines are beginning to show the various shades of the
color of the grape berries and the harvest is expected to arrive earlier than
expected.
The 2023 harvest production forecast released on 12th of July by ADVID
(Association for the Development of Viticulture in the Douro Region) - which
mainly considers the flowering potential based on the method of pollen
collected at this stage in the three Douro sub-regions and does not take into
account all the factors that may occur after this phase that could change this forecast, such as storms or vine diseases - it pointed to an increase
of 10% compared to last year.
In mid-July we had “full grape bunches, healthy berries with good
development conditions”.
End of July and beginning of August: dry weather and temperatures in
accordance to average records, to monitor the grape ripening, the first
maturation tests are carried out, with the collection of grapes in the
vineyards or several vineyard parcels and the objective is to determine
parameters such as weight, probable alcohol, acidity and pH values.
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Quinta da Gricha lagar (Churchill's).
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The harvest
It's
time for the routine to tour the vineyards and evaluate the grapes maturation
process.
Until
mid-August, always dry weather and very hot days, average temperatures close to
30ºC and maximum temperatures above 40ºC (e.g.: on the 22nd August, 45,4ºC
in Adorigo and 44,4ºC in Pinhão), then at the end of the month temperatures
dropped to values closer to the average records for this time of year.
The harvest in the Douro demarcated wine region generally lasts
approximately 6 weeks to harvest the 42,000 hectares of vineyard and around 20,000 people are involved in this work.
It was a very early harvest
which in general started in mid- August, in some cases it was anticipated two
weeks compared to the previous year.
On
the Ramos Pinto quintas, on the 3rd of August, the harvest had already
begun, with the white Viosinho grape variety being the first to enter the winery.
At Quinta do Vallado, the white Moscatel Galego grapes are always the
first to be harvested, this year on the 8th of August. At Quinta de
Ventozelo the harvest began on the 9th of August.
On
August 12, the first phase of the harvest at Vieira de Sousa, with the
Tinta Francisca and Rufete varieties. At Quinta do Vale Meão, on August
13, the Rabigato grapes from the “Janeanes” vineyard were harvested. Quinta
do Crasto began harvesting white grapes of vineyards at higher altitude on
the 15th. Adega de Favaios
began harvesting Moscatel Galego and Moscatel Roxo on the 16th of August and
then followed the remaining white grape varieties. Quinta do Noval
began harvesting Viosinho and Gouveio white grape varieties on the 17th of
August. On August 18th, Quinta de la Rosa started harvesting white
grapes from the highest areas of Quinta das Lamelas. On the same day, at Kranemann,
the early variety Bastardo grapes were harvested, around two weeks earlier than
last year. Van Zellers & Co.
began harvesting white grape varieties on the 23rd of August and concluded this
first phase on the 30th, the vines produced a large quantity of good
quality grapes.
Harvest
startet: 22Aug, at Quinta de Cottas, in Alijó – 23Aug., in Vallegre
and in Ervedosa do Douro, Churchill's and Quinta do Pessegueiro –
25Aug., at Quinta dos Lagares, in the Pinhão valley – 28Aug., harvest of
the Tinta roriz red grape variety, at Quinta do Têdo – 30Aug. at Quinta
do Cume and Duorum, in Vila Nova de Foz Côa, harvesting Códega do
Larinho and Rabigato white grape varieties. On
the 5th of September the harvest began at Quinta do Panascal, a quinta owned
by Fonseca Guimaraens (The Fladgate Partnership) in the Távora river valley, which ended on the 4th of
October.
The weather
was very hot at the beginning of the harvest followed by milder temperatures. In
general, white grapes arrived at the wineries in perfect conditions and
there was greater production, the musts were rich and intense. The year's
good potential for white wines was unquestionable.
Then,
in the middle of the harvest, from the 2nd and 3rd of September, there was a
period of weather instability that began throughout the northern region of the
country, with the irregular occurrence of heavy rain, thunderstorms and hail. Localized
phenomena occurred and intermittent rain and hail, which affected the beginning
and generally the entire planning and course of the red grape harvest, which turned
out to be intermittent with frequent stops and starts.
It
ended up being a long harvest, that had started with very good prospects and ended
up seriously affected by this period of weather instability.
In general, the harvest was finished
at the end of September, and now all the attention and actions turn to the
incessant work in the cellars…
General
comments
When
the harvest began, the forecast was for an excellent year throughout the wine
region, until the scattered and aggressive rains that appeared at the end of
the white grape harvest and beginning of September and then throughout the
month, dramatically changed this scenario.
The
harvest period can be divided into two very distinct moments:
the grapes harvested before weather instability and rain, which included all the
grapes for white wines, sparkling wines and some red wines. In a second phase,
the grapes that were destined for the best Port wines and the superior quality
DOC Douro red wines were those most affected by the rains.
There
was a high production, well beyond the 10% initially predicted and the problem intensified
with the harvest. Many winegrowers tried to sell their grapes to private
operators, but without success and the possible solution was to send the grapes
to cooperative wineries which, with the excess of grapes received daily, were
at the limit of their capacity, compromising logistics and storage capacity (at
the Vila Real winery, on September 28th the harvest was suspended due to an
excess of grapes received) – in some cases the grapes received represented 50%
more than the average in recent years.
To
address this problem, several measures were proposed, one of which, defended by
the associations representing the Douro and Port wine production sector, would
be a government intervention so that it would be a distillation, transforming
the totality of this year's wine surplus into brandy that would be sold to the
industry. It was also proposed for next year, to introduce the harvest contract,
signed between winegrowers and private operators, in order to avoid scenarios
like the one that happened this year - the winegrower, when delivering the
grapes, must know from the outset the quantity the operator will want and what
price he will pay, not waiting for the accounts to be finalized to define the
final price – these proposals were sent to the Ministry of Agriculture.
Text and photos ©Hugo Sousa Machado
Previous harvest reports:
Douro 2023 harvest: the producer's review
The Douro general harvest report 2022
Douro 2022 harvest, a first hand testimony
Douro wine region, the 2021 general harvest report
Douro, the 2021 harvest, a first hand testimony
Douro, the 2020 harvest general report
Douro, the 2020 harvest: a testimony
Douro, the 2019 harvest report
Douro, the 2018 harvest report
Douro, the 2017 harvest report
Douro, the 2016 harvest report
Douro, the 2015 harvest report
Douro, the 2014 harvest report
