Winter drought coming home to roost..

[uncle tom]

Massive fires are being reported in Madeira and the Algarve, and the fire risk rating for the Douro is now mostly on 'maximo'

However, I've not seen any news reports of serious fires there yet. Whilst fires rarely do much damage to vineyards, I do recall smoke haze once being cited as a reason for a poor vintage..

However, first words on the prospects for this year's vintage are sounding cautiously bullish in terms of quality, although quantity may be poor..