Charles Symington from Symington Family Estates, member of Primum Familiae Vini, the leading Wine Families in the World (Marchesi Antinori, Château Mouton Rothschild, Joseph Drouhin, Egon Müller Scharzhof, Famille Hugel, Champagne Pol Roger, Famille Perrin, Tenuta San Guido, Torres and Vega-Sicilia), and his cousins are optimistic about the prospects for the vintage now getting underway in the Douro.
Whilst the vineyards have experienced one of the driest seasons for many years, two factors have combined to pave the way for a potentially outstanding year. First, although this year’s maturation period has been simultaneously the hottest and driest of the last 36 years, soil water reserves have proven to be sufficient to sustain the vines because the abundant rainfall at the start of the viticultural year has made a crucial difference. Second, the month of August has been unseasonably cool, with below-average day and nighttime temperatures and this has been a real boon for the vines. Charles Symington points out that whilst it is easy to focus on the rainfall aspect of the equation, at this stage of the maturation cycle, air temperature is equally as important for the vines’ ability to produce perfectly matured grapes, with the ideal balance between sugar and acidity. Another tangible quality indicator is the very good condition of the Touriga Franca, one of the Douro’s latest ripening varieties and one of the most dependable quality barometers for any harvest in the Douro. When the Touriga Franca delivers its full potential, this is more often than not the harbinger of a Vintage year — that was true of the great 2011 and 2007 Vintages and many of the preceding classic Vintages of the twentieth century.
Significantly, bunches and berries are small (not just on the Touriga Franca but also on the Touriga Nacional and other varieties) promising structured and concentrated wines. Final stages of ripening are taking place under ideal temperate conditions. The Port harvest at the Symington family’s quintas is scheduled to start from September 7th, around a week earlier than last year. Grapes for Douro DOC wines have already been coming into the wineries for some days now. The family are hoping for benign weather conditions and the current weather forecasts point in that direction. A very good year for both Port and Douro DOC wines is a real prospect at this early stage, although a great deal depends on the weather over the next few weeks.
