Portuguese wines : a fine and elegant 2020 vintage

A fine, elegant vintage

Despite a rainy start to the winter towards the end of 2019, January and February 2020 reversed the trend, with a water shortage compared to the averages of the last 20 years and higher temperatures for the period. Already at the green tip stage, growth was two weeks ahead of what we have seen over the past 6 years. However, a rainy spring brought wide variations in temperature, especially in May, when temperatures exceeded normal averages by 3-7ºC.

With abundant rainfall and a mild spring, mildew appeared at the beginning of April, with secondary contamination on bunches, thus reducing the potential of the harvest. But the rains did bring very rapid growth, leading to powdery mildew attacks that continued until ripening.

Fortunately, at the beginning of July, with the return of hotter, drier weather, cryptogrammic pressure fell. By August, temperatures exceeded 40ºC on several days. Even with higher cumulative rainfall than in 2019 (400mm in total), and systematically higher temperatures than usual, some plots in the Upper Douro underwent hydric stress.

The harvest began at the end of August – just a few days early – and was completed by mid-September. Even though the damage caused by mildew and oidium (powdery mildew) resulted in overall yield losses of 35% in the Douro, the grapes on the Cima Corgo showed beautiful maturity, without hydric stress, and moderate alcohol levels. The wines are complex, without excess, with more balanced tannins. The Rabigatos have made the most of the relative coolness of September to produce wines with good tension.

2020 will be a winemaker vintage in Portugal. Where we had to find ways of adjusting to less mild weather conditions than usual. However, this vintage led us to finer and more elegant wines than those we have become used to in hotter, drier years.

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