Last year Quinta do Tedo decided to replant 3.23 hectares of different traditional Port varieties to include Touriga Nacional 43%, Touriga Franca (43%) and Sousão (14%). This particular parcel, Frente da Quinta, will be fully replanted and relandscaped with terraces, including some stone wall terraces.
The 1st reason for this, in contrast to my second blog about replanting 1 vine at a time (see Kay’s Blog September 2009), is that this very old parcel had a very low % of surviving plants. The 2nd reason is due to the last 2 to 3 years of very hot summer heat and the replanting of the vines, one at a time, as we have done before did not survive the summer heat with the soil that was too compact.
Remember our soil is schist; we were unable to have enough water infiltration to replenish the water table that is essential during the summer time, as explained in my previous blog (see Kay’s Blog August 2008).
As you can see in the photos, without damaging existing walls, we are using large equipment to deeply work the soil and to mechanically take the excessive large stones that will be used for other walls below.
A big project!
~Kay Bouchard