Portugal 2022 : a very sunny vintage

Portugal was not spared the impact of the heatwave and water shortage.

The winegrowing season began with a warm, dry winter, then continued with a spring that brought a significant amount of rain (130mm in
March and April), which was to be the only rainfall. This was followed by a dry and extremely hot summer (with temperatures exceeding 40° or even 42°C).

Portugal in general experienced one of the driest years in recent decades, with the total rainfall barely reaching 180mm. The high temperatures in May, July and August had a considerable impact on the vine’s vegetative cycle, on the ripening of the grapes, especially in the Douro Superior, and on the harvest size: the smaller grapes had a negative impact on the juice yield.

However, with a delay of only one week at the late bud swell stage in the region, the flowering will take place in mid-May: a normal period on the average of the last years. The harvest did not look as if it would be particularly early.

Thanks to the sunny conditions, there was no pressure of cryptogamic diseases over the season, apart from the threat of powdery mildew in
some areas. As the season advanced, the lack of water had a major impact on the harvests, with a 20% drop in yield on average throughout
the Douro and up to 40% in the Douro Superior.

Harvesting began with the whites on 25 August, followed by the Laranjeiras vineyard in Douro Superior on 29 August. At the end of
August, some rain arrived which got the vine growing again and eventually enabled the grapes to ripen well.

In the winery, the whites from the granite soils and especially the old vines are looking very well balanced, having suffered little from the
heatwave. When it comes to the reds, it was the mid-September rains that made all the difference, giving us a more uniform maturity and ripe
tannins. The Touriga Nacional revealed its aromatic potential and was well structured. So there was no need to rush this year!

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