ThePortForum.com

Accuweather are cheating - look at that forecast - it's not Pinhao but the one for Vila Real..

Tom

well at last, heavy thunderstorm today during 1,5 hours. It is not welcome at the moment. The vines will absorb a lot of water because it has not receive any for a long time. Some berries will break and will increase the chance of rot in the next few days.

So far for red wines it was looking to be a very good year at Niepoort but I don´t know yet how still will influence the high altitude site not harvested yet.

Apparently some pretty heavy weather in the Douro at the moment. Telephone and internet contact with Sabrosa has been impossible yesterday and today. Doesn't sound good. Maybe Fred can give an update on the damage...

The Vila Real forecast for today and the week is quite benign.

Further afield, storm Ingrid is no longer considered worthy of comment by the Hurricane Center, with no further systems that are worthy of a name.

This leaves open the possibility of a good but very late vintage.

We need Fred to go have a look at some Touriga Nacional vines tomorrow, to see if they've been spoilt by the rain - if they were sufficiently behind in their development, they may yet turn out OK - although in a normal year, heavy rain in September is usually bad news.

Tom

What's the latest from the front line Fred?

Tom

Tom, I did not ask for more details since I came back. When I left the Douro on the 18th there was some isolated showers happening in different region of the Douro. The 19th was very warm in Porto

Since then I don't know a thing that happened. I know these guys are very busy and I am too getting back into normal life. Still as soon as I have 2 mins to get my eyes off my computer screen, I think about going to Portugal and work over there

Thanks to Derek for looking after my English, I should be able to publish my full harvest details within a couple of days. I just need to sort my pictures to remove the repetitive ones and upload them.

Does anyone know if Noval are repeating last year's exercise of running daily reports on the vintage? I can't access the Noval website from this laptop and don't usually get the time to take a peek when I am at home.

If they are giving us the updates on weather, harvest, vintage etc., could someone send me the direct link to the story page please.

Thanks,

Alex

It's the 2006 story still on the website. I hadn't seen this before, thanks for bringing it to my attention!

Most of the guys I talked to are not too happy with the conditions in 2007. Although some say, that it wasnt that bad etc. and had some marketing phrases on, I dont think its worth watching out for this vintage too strongly although its a 7-year like 77 and 97...

Jorge Borges from Passadouro told me, that he is pretty happy with his harvest. I tried a sample from the lagar after treading (yes, I washed my feet (after that)), but Im not experienced enough with a very early cask or even lagar sample to really say anything about is. Although trying I definitely couldnt get out the taste of my feet. Lucky us.

Alex: Noval is not doing this. I have access to the press area and I think they did this last time, because that press-guy was there for 14 days and he actually did it.

Axel P wrote:
Alex: Noval is not doing this. I have access to the press area and I think they did this last time, because that press-guy was there for 14 days and he actually did it.

I've met David who did the report on Noval last year. He is now preparing something with the Douro boys. It is going to be on his new website. I'll let you know when it is going to be released, it is at the project phase at the moment.

Well tropical storm Jerry was a very short lived affair, which was well north and will probably give the Uk a little rain in a week or so.

Now we have Karen - currently gathering strength, and threatening Bermuda. If it continues to develop and then swings across the Atlantic, it might bring a soggy end to the european vintage - somewhere around October 10th.

Otherwise, the current harvest weather looks reasonably benign.

Tom

What a difference a day brings..

An Atlantic front is now forecast to form into a depression later this week, with the centre projected to hit the Douro fair and square.

First rain is expected Saturday night, with showers and significant winds projected for five days..

This type of projection has a habit of changing significantly day by day..

..but if any growers are lurking out there who havn't yet picked their best grapes - you've probably only got four days to get them in!

Tom

All in all, it looks like a pretty tricky vintage, where much depends on the good skills and gut feeling of the wine makers.

uncle tom wrote:
First rain is expected Saturday night, with showers and significant winds projected for five days..

This type of projection has a habit of changing significantly day by day..

Tom

Tom,
Keep leting us know how it looks, as I arrive in Oporto on Sunday morning with Derek. I guess rain slickers are in order.

Got some news today from Qta do Napoles. So far the quality is excellent, the favorable weather is improving the quality and they are really excited.

Lets hope it will stay stable!

Not much change to the forecast since yesterday - this link says it all..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/coast/pressure/#no_url

Tom

There's little cheer on the weather front - indeed while the forecast a few days ago held out the prospect of last minute picking today, it now appears to be raining in the Douro.

Some severe rain looks likely tomorrow, with a possibility of hail thrown in... There may be some respite on Monday before the rain returns on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The standing of the vintage looks likely to hinge on what has been picked to date..

Tom

I will be at Quinta fr Napoles on Monday and Tuesday, hopefully blackberry enabled, and will yet to post some live updates.

Derek

Derek,

Are you going over to the Douro? I didn't know. You should have said!

Alan

What's the score Derek - the forecast is not excusing Monday now, and what appears to be the remains of Karen now looks set to hit Iberia next weekend...

Amounts of rain do not look mega though - showers rather than drenchings - I'm not sure how serious this is..

Be interesting to hear from producers who are not in the 'every year a vintage' camp..

Tom

When I arrived yesterday we crossed over the hills èn route to Oporto and flew through a huge rain storm. The runway had about an inch of standing water on it and from the look of the skys on the way in the Douro must have had the same storm.

The rest of the day was warm and sunny in Oporto.

Today was very nice in Oporto. Some patchy cloud but mostly sun. I'm on the train now and the sky ahead looks promising.

Ill update you later today, GPRS signal permitting.

I'm now in the douro and it is a beautiful sunny day. Life is sometimes just too good to put into words

Derek ,
I'll have you know that I'm salivating on my peanut butter as I writte these words .
By the way ,
Have you been able to break wind as of yet ??

I am now looking out of my bedroom window (breaking wind) at a magnificant view of the Douro glistening in the morning sunshine. This is a truely beautiful plave to be.

No sign of rain and looking good for another wonderful day.

Derek

But have they had rain??

Tom

They have now

I spoke to someone today who told me they haven't had much rain at all up to this weekend. We had sunshine today until about 4pm and now its chuckng it down. From what I have seen 90%+ of the harvest is in. 2 winemakers at different quintas have told me that 07 will be very good for Douro red and possibly VP, although not a chance of a classic year.

Derek

So 2007 is likely to be hit an' miss for VP's .
Does this mean we'll see more LBV's and Tawnies and the occasional SQ ?

Every vintage gets hyped up in the early days - 1975 was initially presented as a stellar vintage - not just 'declared' - the truth emerged much later.

Those producers who aim to produce vintages every year are not going to give a level take at the moment - unless their position is so dire they have nothing to lose..

I'm going to make a broad guess right now - a few respectable SQVP's will emerge, but one or two notable players in the 'every time a coconut' league will call a bye.

The year might escape being damned as the worst of the decade to date - but then again, it might not...

Tom

uncle tom wrote:but one or two notable players in the 'every time a coconut' league will call a bye.

Unless I’ve greatly misunderstood the phrase, the ‘every time a coconut’ crowd are more likely to declare?

Unless I’ve greatly misunderstood the phrase, the ‘every time a coconut’ crowd are more likely to declare?

Yes - some quinta's that produce VP in all but the worst years might decide that they need to give '07 a miss..

Tom

Got some words today from a winemaker for a big company that has some holdings in the Douro Superior.

He said that the harvest is of very good quality so far, especially with the colors, he never saw deep colors like this before from the Douro.

Nobody is going to say it's a bad year because they have to sell their wines

Simon Lisle wrote:Nobody is going to say it's a bad year because they have to sell their wines

A simple statement...but very true.

Just got back from the Douro yesterday. I spoke to many producers and almost all said they got their best grapes in before the rain hit. It really only rained the one day last week and all the prodicers said one day of rain is no big deal. The biggest issue was those who didn't spray for odium earlier this year. One producer told me his crop was horible this year becuase of the odium

Everyone was quite optmistic about this years vintage. And it was interesting to hear almost all producers, big and small, state this was one of the best years for weather the Douro has seen in many many years...not to hot, not to cold, and just the right amount of rain (so long as you sprayed for Odium). Last year there was no where near that amount of unanimous verdict about the harvest. Time will tell, but I think there will be some good juice from this harvest.

I also agree with Fred, everyone was very excited about the color. All the lagars and under 2 weeks old samples I saw were some of the darkest colors I've ever seen.

This press release from the Symington's on 21st Sept (published on infoportwine) is very interesting, as their reports tend to stand the test of time. Note the bit that I have underlined - the weather did not hold out for as long as they had wanted...

“Symington Family Estates has started to harvest grapes at its Quintas in Portugal’s Douro Valley. The vintage started at the family’s key properties in the Douro on the 20th of September. This is significantly later than usual due to mild weather conditions that permitted a longer, more even maturation cycle.

Brief showers fell on the evening of the 16th and morning of the 17th of September, bringing heavy rain and localized thunderstorms, but otherwise picking weather has been ideal in the Douro, with clear blue skies and cool evenings.

Although yields are lower than in past years, the fruit is in excellent condition, benefiting greatly from the three weeks leading up to the start of the vintage, when warm dry weather provided perfect ripening conditions.
The musts being produced are showing very good colour, aromas and concentration with optimal sugar levels. The family is pleased with the good start and is hopeful that if the fair weather continues for the next 10 to 14 days, some exceptionally fine wines will be made this year.†

From the choice of words in the last line, I would judge that as the harvest began, the possibility of a declaration was still on the table.

- I wonder if it still is?

Tom

Presumably the vintage is all but over by now. When can we expect to see vintage reports from the major producers?

Derek

It's still early days, but I'm getting the impression that while the quality of the harvest as a whole may be well below par, some of the producers, wanting a vintage this year, have been able to nurture their best vines (mainly through diligent spraying) and harvest the grapes in good condition before the rain came.

But my instincts tell me that it is unlikely that all the big names will have achieved this.

Thinking hypothetically, there could be some scope for commercial point scoring - unless '08 proves such a stellar year that no-one is bothered about '07..

Tom

Tom,

Please don't get that impression about the 2007 vintage as a whole being below par. Almost every producer I spoke to said it was one of the best years in terms of the weather and grape quality. Yes, there were some smaller producers who didn't spray to prevent mold, but from whom I spoke to they were the minority. Most producers sprayed and got their best grapes in early and were very optimistic about 2007 being a very good year. Of course, on the record, they won't say anything yet as its still to early to declare. But I will wager that there will be a lot of declared vintages in '07.

Everyone said overall the weather was as perfect as you could get. Not to hot and not too cold, with a touch of rain, something not seen in the Douro for a long long time. Of course it will be at least a year or so before anyone offically declares.

Everyone said overall the weather was as perfect as you could get

The smaller independant producers - those who aspire to produce a vintage every year - have some history for bullish overstatement - so I'm trying to make sense of the more objective information...

Aside from the oidium and mildew that has clearly damaged the less diligently managed vines this year, what gives me the most doubt about the quality overall is the combination of a late start, an early conclusion, and modest temperatures in between.

While some quintas may have managed to pick perfectly ripe grapes just in time, others will probably have had to face the choice of picking grapes that were not fully ripe, or ripe but over-watered.

- Has there been a press release from Taylor Fladgate yet?

Tom

I've heard some positive stories from different winemakers as well. They were very happy with the quality.

One small producer I spoke to, who lost his crop becuase he didn't spray, even said it was a great year weather wise...he just made a mistake by not spraying.

There is a hype about port that the weather has to be very hot and dry to stress the vines. Well, this is not really true as I've found out the past couple of years. This year, being quite mild, actually allowed the grapes to ripen at an even level, producing some very balanced berries. I know producers like to hype things, but even last year there were producers who said it was not a good year for them...that was not the case this year.

And all said the one day of rain on 3 October (in the middle of harvest) was not big deal and doesn't hurt a thing.

Just to elaborate on Andy's saying on vine's stress for the quality of Port.

Stress and heat is good for vines in the Douro for a few reasons :

• Concentrate the flavors
  Reduce the crop
  Force the vines to develop deeper roots system

You don't want excessive heat and stress but at the right moment, it can be very useful.

Yes 2007 did not have too much heat and stress, while some have succeeded to produce exceptionnal wines and Port, mainly in my opinion due to old vineyards that have low yields. I've withness many over crop vineyards with dilluted berries that would have given better quality if that stress and heat factor had come as it use.