Hi! I'm Luize from @diariodebordolm and first I want to say that I was very happy with the blog's invitation to tell a little about my experience in the harvest in Portugal.
The harvest season has no fixed date, it depends a lot on the weather of the year, but it always takes place between August and September. This year I learned that in Alentejo it already started in mid-August, now following in September. My experience in the Douro River Valley harvest was in September 2018. There I learned that it was a year with a very good rainy season for the development of the grapes and that the harvest would be prosperous and with great wines!
The vintages are extremely busy, it was very difficult to get a date at the time of my trip and few farms were still available. I'm used to traveling without any itinerary, so I had to fit the harvest into the available dates. Because of that, all my “planning” had already started in Brazil.
Tip #1 – Traveling without a script is liberating! You enjoy and enjoy the places much more, as you have no commitment to schedules and itineraries. You live the city without haste! But sometimes it takes a little planning… 😉
Returning to the harvest… With the contact of the farms – research done on the internet – I called all of them until I got one available with vacancies, in my case it was Quinta da Pacheca , in the region of Lamego.
Tip #2 – From Brazil, it was much more practical and cheaper to make calls to Portugal with the Skype mobile app. The call is of excellent quality and I paid something around R$ 0.38 cents a minute.
From telephone contact to arrival on Thursday, the service provided by Pacheca's team is excellent! Everyone is very attentive and loves us Brazilians! I harvested with a group of Brazilians, Portuguese and English. Carla, who guided us in this experience, is a very fun person, which made everything even more special.
Upon arrival, we already received the uniform and hat for harvesting, as well as the bucket for the grapes, the scissors and cutting instructions. All ready and tidy, we got to know a little about the structure of the farm, presses and fermentation barrels and went to breakfast! A table set outdoors, in the landscape of Quinta da Pacheca, with lots of wine and grilled sardines for us to work in the fields!
After “breakfast” we went to the land where the grapes would be harvested and for me it was the coolest part of the harvest! I even complained that it was a short time and we could have stayed longer… the sun was very strong, but we had a hat and everything was fine! Harvesting the grapes with your own hands, cutting it in the foot, seeing the size of the bunches is very pleasurable! We can also try the grape straight from the vineyard! They are so sweet!
Tip #3 – In the Douro I also learned that we can eat the grapes in the vineyard itself, but only eat the grapes that are currently in the shade. The grape that is in the Sun will give you belly pain!
Some Pacheca employees were there, talked to us, told us about the vineyard's routine throughout the year, the pruning and fertilization, and gave many tips on how we should harvest at that time.
We loaded all our production from the buckets onto the truck and headed back to Quinta da Pacheca. There we were already being expected by a trio with typical Portuguese music and a very friendly singer to brighten our steps! But before entering the winery, we get a pair of shorts to wear without ruining our clothes and we wash our feet to step on! This is very important… 😁
This is another delicious moment of the harvest: the treading of grapes! What a wonderful feeling!!! It was from that moment onwards that we had the explanation that wines with the Douro name are produced by foot treading, as the foot is soft and light enough not to crush the grape seed, which leaves a bitter taste in the wine. We were dancing, singing and stomping the grapes for a long time and it was really fun and relaxing! The smell of the grape must is strong and intense in the environment and it is also possible to see the must being separated from the bagaceira in the presses. I didn't step on grapes long enough to turn my nails purple, but it was long enough for me to have smooth skin on my legs for about 3 days!! It's really delicious!!!
After that we went to lunch, which once again was washed down with a lot of wine from Quinta da Pacheca, delicious food and a landscape to behold! I confess that I liked the sardines for breakfast even more, but this is a personal taste… At the end of the meal, we still had the tasting of 3 Port wines produced by the farm. I need to say here how charming Pacheca's environments are! The gardens and lounges are very well designed and decorated. It's really worth knowing and registering this moment, the photos are beautiful!
After lunch, we go on to discover other farms in the Douro: Quinta do Vallado , Quinta do Pôpa and Quinta das Carvalhas. At Quinta do Vallado I learned a little more about the schist soil and the importance of olive trees separating the varieties from the grapes. The guided tour of Quinta das Carvalhas is incredibly beautiful, there are landscapes you will never imagine to see across the valley and at the end there are Port wine tastings. At Quinta do Pôpa I only really got to know them, because they really weren't available at all, but the atmosphere and decoration there conquers you quickly!
Tip #4 – even if the Quinta is no longer available to do the entire harvesting process, it's really worth booking a visit, because the environments are always beautiful, schedule a tasting or just visit the wine shop! There will always be a nice surprise there!
I hope you enjoyed these tips! And there?! Are you ready to go to a vintage?
Be sure to check my instagram: @diariodebordolm 😊
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