Another generous harvest in the Douro?

The new vegetative cycle for the vines is at full steam. After pruning the vines during the Winter, at a time that vines show very little activity, with Spring comes bud break and flowering to the vineyards, bringing new green fresh colors to the Douro, while hiding the brown color of stones and soil.

This year’s shoots surprised me by the high number of bunches they have. This means that should the weather help during flowering, we will have another generous harvest. The photo shows a vine randomly chosen  in the vineyard right in front of our winery. There is plenty of bunches. In general, only around 60% to 80% of the berries will be fertilized, and consequently became a grape. Slow wind and warm weather (around 25º C) are the best conditions for flowers’ fecundation.

Oscar