Synopsis: Harvest 2011, our 16th harvest. Another record winter rainfall. Record tropical heat in May. Record early start to harvest. Superlative summer and harvest weather. Harvest quantity – up. Harvest quality – above average.

For the second year running, we had an abnormally wet winter. From October 2010 to September 2011 there was an over abundant 1650 mm of annual rainfall, just short of last year’s record 1750 mm, nearly 4 times the average, and once again filling our damns to overflowing.

This year for the first time, the largest portion of our white grapes come from our new Alentejan coastal vineyards which we started planting in 2008, near Vila Nova de Milfontes, 4km from the Atlantic Ocean. It’s exciting for us to see the impact that the cooler Alentejan coastal climate has had on these white varieties.  It is easy to see the coastal climate reflected  in the good flavors, acid and freshness of the white juices now fermenting away in the winery.

The 2011 summer growing season has been warm, but luckily without any great heat spikes, which can shut down the vines, and stop grape maturation. If this moderate, warm weather continues for the next weeks, 2011 vintage could turn out to be an excellent one!  Quantity as well as quality looks to be better than recent vintages.

For our red grapes, we are still awaiting further aromatic and phenolic ripeness before we start to harvest. We predict the red grape harvest to start by end of August, or more or less at the same time as during previous years.

Our winery crew are freshly back from their long summer breaks with revitalized energy, doubled in numbers with the temporary addition of winery interns in anticipation of the long, back-breaking shifts associated with vintage.  While they are eagerly awaiting for the red grapes to be picked and arrive at the winery, there is still plenty of preparation to be done in the winery, and lots of tanks to be cleaned!

Synopsis: Our 15th harvest. The 2009/ 2010 growing season experienced new record-breaking climatic extremes, both in winter rainfall and summer heat. A difficult growing season and harvest due to delayed ripening. Fine harvest weather. Harvest quantity – up. Harvest quality – good, not excellent.

From October 2009 to September 2010 we received an astonishing 1750 mm of rain, nearly 4 times the average, the wettest winter since 1870. All dams, including the nearby mammoth Alqueva, were replenished to overflowing.

Winter and spring were not only wet but also cold, and heralded a delayed growing season, with the vineyard running up to 2 weeks behind schedule. The high level of humidity made weed control a bigger challenge than usual, as well as controlling canopy vigor in the areas with deep soil. The conditions were also ideal for mildew, necessitating extra vigilance. A difficult growing season in many ways.

The inclement weather effected flowering in May, causing poor fruit set in some varieties, resulting in uneven ripened bunches, especially in the Syrah, many which were eventually to be left un-harvested.

On the 30th May the mercury hit 37ºC, the first of a series of summer heatwaves. June, July and August were the hottest on record for 79 years, with average temperatures more than +2ºC over normal. For more than 50 out of 90 days temperatures were over 35ºC, including 12 days when temperatures exceeded 40ºC. There was also a record number of 11 tropical nights, when minimum temperatures stayed over 20ºC. As could be expected, the high temperatures caused the vines to shut down, with some varieties more affected than others (i.e. Aragonez worse, Syrah best)

Harvest started at Cortes de Cima on 11 August for our increasingly large white grape area (25 ha) with Verdelho, followed on 27 August by Viognier and Semillon. Harvest for the reds got off to a slow start with Trincadeira on 30 August. With the exception of a few inclement days, harvest weather was close to perfect with sunshine and warm weather, giving us the leeway to leave the grapes hanging on the vines for the further ripening, which the too hot summer weather had postponed. The majority of our red grapes were harvested between 21 September and 7 October, a very compacted and difficult schedule for the vineyard and winery crews.

Trincadeira stood up well to the high temperatures, and produced good fruit, as well as Petit Verdot and Syrah. Aragonez did not recover fully from its habitual shutdown under the high heat.

Vintage 2010 is a good year, for most varieties equal to 2009, but not as excellent as 2008. Generally, the best fruit from vintage 2010 came from the grapes which were harvested latest, where the grapes could achieve a higher phenolic ripeness.

At the peak, the harvest workforce topped at 70 workers, 50% portuguese and 50% eastern europeans and lasted 9 arduous weeks, finishing on 14 October. The total 2010 Harvest quantity was 1,397,534 kg up 35 % from last year. 1,270,272 kg red varieties and 127,262 kg white varieties.

Our winery crew are freshly back from their long summer breaks with revitalized energy, doubled in numbers with the temporary addition of winery interns in anticipation of the long, back-breaking shifts associated with vintage. Moseying around the winery, they are impatient for the real action to start. Listlessly they long for the winery to fill with the familiar smells of musts and grape pomace, the non-stop hum of pumps gently pumping over the musts, the buzz of presses extracting the last juices…

The talk in the local Vidigueira cafés, confirms the same story for most grapegrowers here in the Baixo Alentejo – an early jump-start to harvest, followed by the current lull, while waiting for further ripeness. Only the vineyards which have not been carefully irrigated during the double whammy of summer heat spells in July and August, and whose vines have suffered from stress, loss of leaf canopy and premature ripening, are left with no choice but to rush to harvest inferior quality fruit with low phenolic ripeness.

The 2010 vintage at this point in time, is looking complicated. The unusual cold wet winter precipitated a late growing season, with the vineyard running 1 – 2 weeks behind schedule. The poor weather during flowering has resulted in poor fruit set and uneven ripening in some varieties, like Syrah. The hot weather in July and August, with record-setting temperatures up to +3ºC over average, caused varieties like Aragonez to shutdown, and subsequent delayed ripening. Quantity wise, the abundance of fruit bunches bodes a large harvest, if the weather continues dry and warm during the month of September, giving us ample time to bring in the fruit only when it reaches it’s optimal ripeness. So wish us luck with the weather… and let the Vintage commence!