To pick or not to pick? That is the question!

The 2009 Harvest in Portugal got off to a surprise jumpstart in early August, two  weeks earlier than usual, and catching most winegrowers with their picking shears down.  Beach holidays had to be terminated early, as grape pickers and winemakers rushed back to the hot Alentejo to start Vindima.

August 11th  was a record-breaking start of harvest date at Cortes de Cima, when we started picking Viognier and Verdelho.  August 20th we harvested our first red wine grapes, Trincadeira and Syrah,  followed by Alicante Bouschet and Aragonez (Tempranillo).  The established hierarchy of ripening order determined by variety and vineyard location, has been to our surprise, quite unpredictable so far this year.

The long 3 month summer ripening season after flowering in May, has been for the most part steady, warm and dry, with warm days and cool evenings, but occasionally interrupted by brief spurts of high temperatures.  It was just such a shock heatwave in early August which preceded this sudden quick ripening, catching most grapegrowers napping (and on the beach).

In this rush to harvest, fearful of high sugar levels, phenolic ripeness is the real key to the optimal picking time.  Those grapegrowers who have the nerve to hold back, are rewarded with higher levels of phenolic ripeness, and less green unripe tannins (methoxypyrazine) in the final wine.  Hans of course,  is in this later school of ‘no panic’ and our harvest is proceeding at a slow tempo, with each vineyard parcel and each row of vines, carefully analyzed for phenolic ripeness before proceeding to pick. (Phenolic ripeness refers to the changes in the tannins that occur in grape skins, seeds and stems. Sugar ripeness refers to the breakdown of acids and accumulation of sugars. – Jamie Goode)

Without judicial drip irrigation during the growing season, this is impossible. The vines must of course be healthy, with vine leaves which are still functioning,  carrying on their photosynthesis job. The grapegrowers who haven’t got this right, are in a big rush to get the grapes into the winery before they shrivel to raisins!

Our prognosis for our 14th harvest is for lower quantity than last year, and a good quality, especially for Syrah and Aragonez.  But as the Portuguese saying goes, “Até ao lavar dos cestos é vindima”  - “only when the buckets have been washed is the harvest over” – which we expect will be before the end of September this year.