2011 harvest

This was one of the most extraordinary harvests in the Douro Valley in memory. After a wet winter, mainly in December, spring brought heatwaves and dryness, giving vine maturation a major impulse in April and May. But these harsher months turned into a cooler and drier summer that ensured the end of maturation finished more calmly and more aligned with the normal harvest dates. A new rise in temperatures in late August and early September was essential to end the viticultural year with the ideal concentration of musts. Not even the intense downpour in early September disturbed the sanitary state and quality of the grapes this year which were exceptional. The musts were dark in colour and remarkably balanced with a marked acidity and a structured body. It was the prelude to one of the best harvests the Douro Valley has ever seen, both for port wine and Douro wines with protected designation of origin.