Vinter og snø i Dao Portugal - Quinta dos Roques
Postet av: Vibeke Dalseg
Fjellene i Dao og Douro er dekket med snø, og dette har selvfølgelig ført til store problemer på veiene. Men for vinprodusentene er ikke dette noe uvanlig, og vinstokkene klarer seg fint bade med ekstrem varme og kulde. Jeg har fremdeles kontakt med mine gode venner blant vinprodusentene i Portugal, og får jevnlig rapport fra dem. Rapporten for året 2008 fra Luis Lourenco på Quinta dos Roques har jeg valgt å ikke oversette og regner med at det går greitt for de fleste:
This year the winter in the Dao region was less rainy but warmer than usual especially in January and February with a few very cold days in end of March with frost hitting the new shoots mainly of Touriga Nacional which is the first to burst.
The beginning of Spring was very rainy especially in May, with 20 days of rain, precisely when the vines were in full flowering period, which caused a poor fruit set.
June was very warm and dry. July and August stable but less warm than we would expect from a Portuguese Summer. This was very good in terms of maturation, allowing the berries to develop the sugar content, colour and tannins in a very smooth way, giving very healthy and well balanced grapes with good alcohol and acidity contents and round tannins.
Harvest began on September 22 with the Bastardo red grape and Bical white grape, and we finished on October 17 with the Touriga Nacional grape.
From mid September and specially in October we had a very good harvest weather with sunny but not very hot days, providing us with the best conditions we could have asked for, because given the small quantity of grapes we had, at least the quality smiled on us.
In the winery we realized that juice yields were much lower than usual thus leading to an even smaller harvest.
The white wines are very flavourful, fresh and well balanced; the red wines have very good concentration, smooth and elegant tannins and very deep colours.
The best wines are, as usual, in the reds the Touriga Nacional, the Jaen and an astonishing Tinta Roriz ... and in the whites the Malvasia Fina and Encruzado.
GOD JUL til alle lesere
Tom Marthinsen
20.des.2008 kl.00:29
Tom
Vibeke Dalseg
20.des.2008 kl.12:14