Midway through the harvest Vincent shared with me his opinion: “we started with a new moon and very good grape ripening with enough sugar and also natural acidity. A good quantity but not too much juice that will make for more concentration for our Portos and Douro DOCs. Good weather conditions that allowed for minimal treatment in the vineyards. We had a small condition of rain just to stop the harvest for 1 day – to let the winemaking and vineyard teams rest. The coming rains will not hurt the olives, that had started to shrink, and we will have a good crop. The quality grapes, young and growing team and weather make for a good ambiance at the Quinta. “
According to winemaker/general manager Jorge Alves “The grapes are aesthetically perfect. The touriga nacional berries are small, bluish in color, almost black, showing a classic year concentration; Tannins are soft showing a muscular structure; old vineyards continue to show their resilience against climate change. They resist, produce even less but the quality is outstanding; Tinta Roriz and Touriga Franca are more generous, showing elegance, silky textures and high gravity structures. The tannins are very ripe, the angularity has given way to fuzziness and to the persistence.
The 2019 wines are promising, complex, with deep structure and high precision."
4th harvest to have Italian Alberto back with us at Tedo.
Our mascots overseeing the harvest.
As I add finishing touches to the blog 29 September we finished picking grapes 21 September the harvest still chugs on for many small grape growers, who have the weekend to pick grapes. The weather has been spectacular for most of September – sunny warm days except for 1 big day of rain.
The Tedo and Douro rivers – what splendid weather!
Hard to imagine that we have another terrific year in the making. Historically Vintage years are declared 2 or 3 years times a decade. For the first time in decades 2016 and 2017 were declared Vintage years back to back. Rather controversial for the Port world and serious Port aficionados. Does that dilute the status given to a Vintage Port?
Cheers! Kay
The leader calls out “um…dois…três…quatro…”! Line formation - back and forth in the open lagar, for the best extraction and color from the pressed grapes by foot treading.