Vintage 2022

[uncle tom]

I picked up a snippet in the Telegraph that reported that Pinhao in Portugal saw the mercury hit 47C on July 14th.

Now, IIRC, there is more than one place called Pinhao in Portugal, but assuming it is 'our' Pinhao, could this be a harbinger of a potentially good vintage?

- Or is the heat a bit too extreme - and perhaps a bit early..?

Anyone have any correspondence from the front line?

[JacobH]

I’m pretty sure that it was Pinhão in the Douro: the Symingtons put something online about it. They suggested that it was the hottest temperature recorded in Portugal, although I have heard a few other candidates for that rather dubious record.

It sounds much too hot much too early for me for a classic vintage but I hope I am wrong. I was also interested that it was there rather than the Douro Superior.

[MigSU]

I picked up a snippet in the Telegraph that reported that Pinhao in Portugal saw the mercury hit 47C on July 14th.

Now, IIRC, there is more than one place called Pinhao in Portugal, but assuming it is 'our' Pinhao, could this be a harbinger of a potentially good vintage?

- Or is the heat a bit too extreme - and perhaps a bit early..?

Anyone have any correspondence from the front line?

Yup, it was Pinhão in the Douro. A new record temperature in Portugal.

In my opinion the grapes will be unbalanced, phenolic maturation will not keep up with sugar maturation.

[JacobH]

I think Tom has mentioned in the past that there aren’t many publicly-available weather stations in the Douro. I think the only ones used to be in Régua and Villa Real, although there seem to be more, now. I did wonder if the reason it was hottest in Pinhão was because it was actually the hottest place or whether it might have been even hotter elsewhere but just not recorded. I usually assume that it is much hotter in, say, Foz Côa.

[Glenn E.]

Personal weather stations can be relatively inexpensive - there are ones that work with the Ambient Weather network as low as $150. I'm a little surprised that there aren't more of those available, but it appears that their network only has a single station in the Porto area.

Having a small network of those in Vila Nova de Foz Coa, Sao Joao de Pesqueira, Pinhao, and maybe a few other places would be super useful!

[JacobH]

I agree. Also, I’m sure that many producers will have weather stations on their properties. I’d have thought you’d want quite a sophisticated one if you are managing a big quinta. It is a pity that even snapshot data isn’t available.

[Alex Bridgeman]

I saw today on FaceBook that Niepoort have started to bring in their Pinot Noir into Napoles.

[Alex Bridgeman]

And a couple of days ago Ramos Pinto reported viosinho grapes were being brought into the winery at Bons Ares.

[JacobH]

Any idea how this compares to “normal”? I feel like every year is the earliest-ever at the moment...

[MigSU]

It's very early.

[DRT]

Having discussed climatic conditions and the effect on the harvest with a number of Port producers every year for almost two decades I suspect that 2022 will be generally described as "a difficult year where we made some very nice wines"

[Glenn E.]

Having discussed climatic conditions and the effect on the harvest with a number of Port producers every year for almost two decades I suspect that 2022 will be generally described as "a difficult year where we made some very nice wines"

Translation: not going to be declared, but we don't want to say it sucked because we still want to sell you our product.

[MigSU]

Having discussed climatic conditions and the effect on the harvest with a number of Port producers every year for almost two decades I suspect that 2022 will be generally described as "a difficult year where we made some very nice wines"

Translation: not going to be declared, but we don't want to say it sucked because we still want to sell you our product.

It's almost impossible to make bad Port these days, unless you really want to. One can always grade it on a curve, and there one will find 'great' years and 'bad' years, but the 'bad' ones are still really good in 'real' terms, it's just that the 'great' ones are...well, great.
I have no doubt that 2022 will produce really good wines...on an absolute scale. But relative to other - great - years, it'll be below par (in my opinion; things can still change - like with some unexpected rainfall in August).

[Andy Velebil]

My understanding is it has been very dry and a sustained heat (aka: very hot) this year. Not a great combo for grapes so early in the ripening cycle, generally speaking. Hopefully permanent damage hasn't already happened and some rain comes that refreshes things and the harvest turns out well. Keeping fingers crossed.

[MigSU]

Absolutely. It's always hot in the Douro summer, but I don't remember it being so hot for so long. We've had temperatures in the high 30s (ºC) for, what, two months, now?
Summer nights also used to be cool (sometimes even downright cold), but this year they haven't been so cool, which is also bad for the ripening cycle.

[uncle tom]

"a difficult year where we made some very nice wines"

- Difficult usually meaning poor yields or erratic ripening, rather than rubbish quality

It's almost impossible to make bad Port these days, unless you really want to.

There's been quite a seismic change on that front. We've not had a really problematic vintage since '93. Prior to that, rubbish years happened around twice a decade.

[Glenn E.]

It's almost impossible to make bad Port these days, unless you really want to.

There's been quite a seismic change on that front. We've not had a really problematic vintage since '93. Prior to that, rubbish years happened around twice a decade.

Wasn't either 2001 or 2002 pretty bad? Not as bad as '93 for sure, but still pretty poor.

[uncle tom]

Wasn't either 2001 or 2002 pretty bad? Not as bad as '93 for sure, but still pretty poor.

I've little personal experience of 2002 so far, but the notes from others are good. Every 2001 I've tried has been very solid, and I know one significant producer who argues with passion that it should have been declared in preference to 2000.

[Andy Velebil]

It's almost impossible to make bad Port these days, unless you really want to.

There's been quite a seismic change on that front. We've not had a really problematic vintage since '93. Prior to that, rubbish years happened around twice a decade.

Wasn't either 2001 or 2002 pretty bad? Not as bad as '93 for sure, but still pretty poor.

2001 was better than 2002. The later wasn't so good. I don't recall Noval or Vesuvio releasing a 2002 if that helps put it in perspective.

[Glenn E.]

It's almost impossible to make bad Port these days, unless you really want to.

There's been quite a seismic change on that front. We've not had a really problematic vintage since '93. Prior to that, rubbish years happened around twice a decade.

Wasn't either 2001 or 2002 pretty bad? Not as bad as '93 for sure, but still pretty poor.

2001 was better than 2002. The later wasn't so good. I don't recall Noval or Vesuvio releasing a 2002 if that helps put it in perspective.

Ah yes, the Vesuvio test. An excellent data point!

[Alex Bridgeman]

Although Vesuvio didn't declare in 2002, there were others who did - like Cavadinha, Noval Silval, Roeda and Vargellas.

[Alex Bridgeman]

I’ve just seen a post by Vallado that they have started picking their white grapes.

[Alex Bridgeman]

And now Ramos Pinto are picking their white grapes at Ervamoira.

[JacobH]

I think the last seriously challenging years where no or almost no VP was made were 2002, 1993, 1981, 1973 & 1971. As Tom says, about once a decade (although I bet modern winemaking and a willingness to declare small quantities might have helped some of those). 1993 was a wash-out. I think 2002 was badly impacted by late rain. Does anyone know what happened in those other years? I’m wondering if it is always too much rain (or too late) that really kills off the ability to make VP?

[Glenn E.]

1973 was the industrial alcohol scandal.

[JacobH]

Croft has reported on social media they have started the harvest at Quinta da Roêda today.

[MigSU]

I report that I starded harvesting yesterday

[JacobH]

I report that I starded harvesting yesterday

How does that compare to recent years?

Churchill’s say they have started at Quinta da Gricha so I presume we are in full swing in the Douro now.

[MigSU]

I report that I starded harvesting yesterday

How does that compare to recent years?

Churchill’s say they have started at Quinta da Gricha so I presume we are in full swing in the Douro now.

I've never started this early. Even considering that for the first time I'll be supplying grapes to a sparkling wine producer (and therefore started the harvest a week earlier), I was expecting to start next Monday anyway, which is still earlier that I've ever started.

[Andy Velebil]

I report that I starded harvesting yesterday

How does that compare to recent years?

Churchill’s say they have started at Quinta da Gricha so I presume we are in full swing in the Douro now.

I've never started this early. Even considering that for the first time I'll be supplying grapes to a sparkling wine producer (and therefore started the harvest a week earlier), I was expecting to start next Monday anyway, which is still earlier that I've ever started.

What parts of the Douro have faired better than others? Generally speaking that is.

[MigSU]

What parts of the Douro have faired better than others? Generally speaking that is.

Generally speaking: higher altitudes. Also north-facing slopes (even though this year's problem is more the lack of rain than the heat itself, the latter compounds the former).
Hotter, lower altitude places might have the concentration, but the balance is way off. It doesn't matter that you've reached 14% probable alcohol in the grapes if your phenolic maturation is nowhere near completion.

[Andy Velebil]

Thanks.

[MigSU]

Dispite the heat, sugar content hasn't been that high, in general. Just goes to show grapes need more than just heat - they need water, even in semi-arid places like the Douro, where they're used to low precipitation.

2022 won't be a great vintage year.

[JacobH]

I asked Churchill’s on twitter about their start date and they said this, which essentially repeats Miguel: “At Churchill’s the starting date for this year’s harvest is similar to 2017. We have faced severe drought during our 2021-2022 viticultural year, meaning that the vineyards are under an intense hydric stress at this stage.”

[JacobH]

There have been reports of quite bad storms in Portugal which have blown in across the Atlantic. I’m not sure how much it has been raining in the Douro since the harvest got underway but storms might make what sounds like a difficult year even worse...

[MigSU]

There have been reports of quite bad storms in Portugal which have blown in across the Atlantic. I’m not sure how much it has been raining in the Douro since the harvest got underway but storms might make what sounds like a difficult year even worse...

Monday and yesterday saw quite a bit of rain.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Johnny Graham did a Zoom call on Tuesday from Gricha with members of the Port Club when he spoke about the rain. He had paused the harvest for a few days to allow the grapes to process the water and recover their balance. He didn’t seem too worried about the rain since it was not expected to be more than a day or two.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Adrian Bridge and David Guimaraens provided an update on the 2022 harvest from Quinta da Roeda earlier today, 21st September 2022.

• Harvesting has been running for a little more than 3 weeks; TFP is about 75% complete with around 10 days to go.
• Extreme conditions have been experienced this viticultural year, from the dormancy period (Nov 21 – Feb 22) with a very dry winter; 78mm of rain at Roeda compared to average of 340mm. The winter was drier than 2005, which was the previous driest winter during David Guimaraens’s winemaking career with TFP. 75mm of rain fell in March (which was unusually wet) which greatly helped the vines. Budburst was late on 20th March (average 15th) reflecting the vines already moving into a protective cycle. Spring was relatively normal, with flowering on the 16th of May but rainfall during the Spring was much less than normal. The lack of water caused a reduction of vegetal growth with the vines conserving water by limiting the production of shoots and leaves.
• The protective cycle exhibited by the vines this year has followed a similar pattern to that seen in previous very dry years – such as 1942, 1943 and 1948 (and also in the 1850s) – where greatly reduced vigour and the impact on grapes (see later) was recorded. Lack of water has meant very healthy grapes with little disease and very little spraying required.
• Pintura (veraison) occurred late in 2022 with successive heat waves from the first week of June (>40C), normally not experienced until the last week of June. July was extremely hot (an average daily temperature of 28.4C with a peak of 46.5C in Pinhao and relative humidty of 6.5%). The vines were clearly under strain with basal leaves yellowing. August was also very dry and very hot.
• Vines have managed water conservation not only through limiting vegetal growth but also by producing very small berries, with very thick skins and in very small bunches. This has led to a small harvest. The grapes are thick skinned having grown and matured throughout a consistently hot year, in contrast to the grapes from 2020 which were more raisined by the heat of the summer and autumn.
• Havesting started at Vargellas on 2nd September, in the Pinhao Valley properties on the 9th of September. 5mm of rain fell on the 6th and 30mm on 13-14th. The latter rainfall refreshed the wines nicely.
• Fruit quality depends massively on the vineyard. Some grapes have had difficulty in ripening but the Baixa Corgo vineyards have performed remarkably well, as has the Pinhao Valley (which still has vines to harvest, and where the quality is looking very good). The feeling is that the Baixo Corgo will produce top quality wines (Ruby Reserve, LBV etc.) this year, unlike most years when Baixo Corgo grapes are used for volume wines.
• It normally takes about 750kg to make a pipe of Port but with the thicker skins this year it’s taking 800kg. Pips are very ripe, brown and toasty providing ripe tannins.
• 2022 is a year in which the grapes have a lower level of acidity, which is not a problem for Port production.
• TFP did not use the winery at Panascal. They have continued to invest in more robotic treaders – treading by foot for the first cut and using robotics for the extraction.
• TFP Purchased an apartment in Pinhao this summer to use as accommodation for staff working in the Vintage House. Population of Pinhao is around 650 people, of whom only about 50% are working age. Staff for the wine and hospitality industries often need to come from outside the Douro Valley and generates the need to have somewhere for them to stay. The difficulty of obtaining labour for the vineyards and wineries was one of Baron Forrester’s complaints - not much has changed!
• There are some concerns about the ability of the vineyards to cope in 2023 if there is another dry winter but if the water needed falls in the Valley, the dry 2022 will mean fewer bugs next year due to the limited vegetal growth.
• Tinta Amarela has struggled to cope in the more arid vineyards; Roriz has performed astonishingly well. Generally no varieties have struggled too much other than Tinta Amarela.
• 23.5% of total Port sales by volume but just under 50% by value are represented by Quality Ports (reserve and above). Adrian expects Quality Port sales to be more than 50% by value for the first time in 2022.
• TFP has no plans at present to build stocks to be able to produce White Port with Indication of Age. TFP's focus has been, and will continue to be, on ruby Ports aged in bottle or barrel.
• The last 2-3 years, with COVID and the ageing population, has caused some changes in ownership of vineyards and family properties. Sometimes this has also included a family looking to sell on some family reserve wines. TFP has been fortunate to have been able to acquire some of these where the wines have been of the right quality. These wines have been added to the company's reserves, as have wines being set aside from annual production, to support the growing demand for sales of Tawnies with Indication of Age. TFP doesn't anticipate any difficulty in maintaining sales of Tawny Ports, including the recently launched 50yo (circa $250 in North America, EUR 200 in Europe and £200 in the UK).

David's summary was that 2022 has been a challenging year taking a winemaker out of their comfort zone, but also providing the raw materials to make great Port if you look in the right place.

[MigSU]

Mostly aligns with what I saw throughout the year. I find their analysis on the optimistic side, but that's to be expected (they can't exactly come out and say "2022 ports will be subpar, don't buy any").

As a sidenote: I think it's time the IVDP started giving vineyards on the south bank higher scores than those on the north bank (all else being equal). What was once an advantage - higher solar exposure - is now a liability. But there are too many vested interests on the north bank for that to happen.

[JacobH]

Adrian Bridge and David Guimaraens provided an update on the 2022 harvest from Quinta da Roeda earlier today, 21st September 2022.

This is extremely interesting. Thank you.

Not really a vintage 2022 point but I am surprised about that TFP has no plans for aging white Ports. I wonder if they either are aging some with no immediate plans for release or will end up buying up existing stocks in 20 years if demand for older whites and colheitas continues to increase?

[uncle tom]

Interesting report on the vintage - likening it to '48 is a bit of a tease - I wonder if there will be a limited number of very good VPs made? Which, curiously, also happened in 1922..