Happy New Year!

Oscar Quevedo

This fog started at the beginning of this week and is expected to disappear this week-end. I would like it doesn’t, it’s so beautiful and increases the diversity of landscape one can enjoy here.

I hope you like!

Oscar Quevedo

This year the harvest started on the 8th of September, which was not really early when compared with last years’ dates. But as this year the ripening was quite irregular, indeed an atypical year, we decided to start the harvest with lower sugar content. As we had posted at that time, we started in Douro Superior - Quinta das Olgas with Bé of between 12,6º and 13,4º. Quinta da Alegria finished a couple of days after, on the 13th of September and 3 days later we started to harvest in Quinta Vale D’Agodinho. At that time the Bé of this vineyard was similar to those of the previous vineyards.

After we had finished the harvest in Quinta Vale D’Agodinho we stopped for 10 days. We restarted on October 6th in the vineyards located at around 620 meters above the sea level, close to S. João da Pesqueira. Also these vineyards suffered from the low temperatures of the Summer, which did not allow very high sugar concentration, Grapes arrived at the winery with around Bé of 12,0º and 12,5º. Well, the good part is that we got wines with very fruity flavours, low pH and high total acidity. In spite of all ripening difficulties, the color obtained was quite good.

We had decided to harvest the Quinta da Trovisca after all our vineyard have been harvested. This vineyard is located at around 550 meters above the sea level and as a classification of B by the IVDP. Leaving it to the end of the harvest, this is mid October is a quite risky decision because an abundant rain previous to the harvest could had harmed the grapes. In Quinta da Trovisca we have all the grapes divided by varietal (which is not traditional in Douro) - touriga nacional, touriga franca, tinta roriz and sousão. And it came up to be a good decision to leave it to mid October. We got a very good color and an unique flavour, not yet smelt during all this vintage.

Thus, I can say it was a log harvest but it was not a worn out vintage. The breaks in the reception of grapes left us some time to work on other stuff. And we can say that the quality was good. However we have to wait for the evolution of the wines to figure out if they turn up excellent.

Now is time to reflect, to reorganize and come back to the routine. The Christmas is coming and as the tradition says, in the Christmas Eve we must all have a bottle of Port to celebrate the birth of Jesus. It is time to send our bottles to those who want to celebrate with Quevedo!

Come back soon,

Claúdia Quevedo

Quinta das Olgas - old vines

Five days later than in 2007, we have started harvesting in Quinta da Alegria and Quinta das Olgas, in the regions of Cima-Corgo and Douro Superior. The yield has been higher compared to last years’ production and our estimate for the other vineyards is a productivity of almost 3.5 tns/hectare.

The Bé is 13.8º in Quinta da Alegria and 13.4º in Quinta das Olgas, lower than last year due not only to the higher yield but also to the rain of the last week. Yesterday we started harvesting the younger vines of Quinta das Olgas and we got a Bé. of 12.9º in the Touriga Nacional varietal. 

The weather is quite uncertain and rain is expected for Thurdsay. If this forecast doesn’t come true, we should finish the harvest of these two vineyards on September 11th.

Cheers,

Óscar Quevedo

Color Changing in Quinta Vale D'Agodinho

Hello, I am Cláudia Quevedo and I want to talk to you about the color change of the grapes. This phase is a beautiful moment for both, vines and farmers. The vineyards become all coloured- from the green of the leaves to the blackish of the grapes- and farmers feel closer the hustle and bustle of the harvest. Therefore, all the preparations must be done so that when the magic moment arrives, all is ready.

Here in  the Quevedo vines, the color change arrived a couple of weeks ago to the following vineyards: Vale D’Agodinho, Alegria and Olgas. Quinta da Trovisca, which is a little bit higher than the others is starting to get colour, especially the castes Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional. The Tinta Roriz is a little bit delayed and the Sousão, which is always late, starts to show its first coloured berries.

Regarding the upper vineyards, close to the winery in S. João da Pesqueira, the colour change it is starting to show up.

This year, in general the maturation process is a little bit delayed. Our prevision is to start the harvest the first days of September, depending on the temperatures in the vineyards near the Douro river. Anyway, we will start this week to check the maturation levels of the berries, that will end with the harvest.

In the winery we are already preparing the equipment for the great moment: now we are washing and disinfecting the cubes, vats, tanks, pumps, mix pumps, the crusher, de-stemmer, press, filters, etc. Everything must shine and work perfectly for the harvest so next week we are going to check every single machine in the winery.

While we are getting everything ready to receive the little princesses of the Douro, the vines are also preparing themselves to give excellent wines. For now, the weather is on our side and we hope it stays like this until the great moment.

Cláudia Quevedo

Quinta Sra do Rosário

The highest of the Quevedo vineyards is located 2,130 feet high and is also the oldest and most respectable quinta planted 40 years ago.

Because of its locations, the wines of this field are always the last to be pruned and harvested.

Therefore form Quinta da Senhora do Rosário we obtain red fruity, concentrated and fresh wines.

Old Vine

The vineyards span over 250 acres throughout the regions of Cima-Corgo and Douro Superior. The soil of the region is comprised of schist stone which is as genuine as the wine it produces.

The climate is exceptional due to, on the one hand, the singular geography and disposition of the vines and on the other hand, the surrounding climates –Mediterranean and Atlantic climates are combined harmoniously thus creating a suitable climatic site for growing grape.

The soil of the region is comprised of schist stone which is as genuine as the wine it produces, divided in small terroirs with different physical and chemical qualities between them; thus each terroir has a unique and defined personality. This abundance of climatic influences and different soils define prolonged stages in the vine growth cycle. The growth will be complex and delicate, key to the potential quality of the wines in this area.