Harvest Report 2022: Portugal

• 2022 was one of the hottest and driest years on record (since 1931), and harvest was the earliest ever for some Port Houses
• Rainfall was 50-61% below average and temperatures were at record highs in several months. The Upper Douro saw temperatures above 34°C for 28 days - 11 of which with temperatures above 40°C
• Adaptability of the vines, winemaking, and an early harvest means ripe profiles with low acidity and moderate alcohol
• Overall volume is 20% down in Douro

Quinta de La Rosa

The two halves' harvest

“Winter was relatively dry and warm, so the water table was still low coming into spring. We had good budding and flowering, and yields looked promising. But the summer heatwaves hit us badly," says Sophia Bergqvist, owner of Quinta de la Rosa. Wave after wave of hot weather arrived with cooler patches in between and temperatures were the highest ever; even the vineyards that were irrigated, suffered. This challenging build up to harvest resulted in an extreme uneven ripening in the vineyards with grapes ranging from very ripe to green.

“The 2022 ‘Vindima’ could be characterised as a harvest of two halves,” she explains. “The first being hot and intense with a focus on picking quickly and flexibly, trying to work alongside the heat. The second half was less intense, following rain in mid-September.”

What to expect from the 2022 vintage? “White wines were in general pretty good, albeit with slightly lower acidity than is customary thanks to the heat. Usually, the high temperatures experienced in 2022 would have meant wines with high alcohols, however, due to the challenges faced by ripening, the wines came out on the fresher and lighter side. The wines came out surprisingly balanced and expressive on both counts. However, due to the lower concentration, it will be a better year for Estate Red and lighter styles, rather than Reserva and Ports, which will see far lower volumes.”

Quinta do Vallado

One of the hottest and driest vintages of the past century

2022 was one of the hottest and driest years on record – since 1931. A winter, with very low   precipitation levels, was followed by an anomalous spring, with very high temperatures and continued lower than average precipitation. May and July were the hottest months on record in mainland Portugal and the very dry and hot weather continued through August and September. 

The harvest was long and uneven, with significant production losses in the drier areas with poor soils and good production in the cooler areas of the Douro, such as Baixo-Corgo, where Quinta do Vallado is located. The harvest started on 11 August in Régua with the Moscatel parcels and on 22 August in the Upper Douro with the reds. It was a very long vintage, with the last grape variety to be picked being Sousão on 28 September.

As for the quality and quantity, heterogeneity on one hand, and the incredible resilience and adaptability of the vines on the other, marked the 2022 harvest. Overall, there were no phytosanitary problems or generalised scald phenomena; the climatic conditions led to musts with low acidity and moderate alcohol content. 

There was a drop in production of approximately 30% in the Upper Douro, but in Régua (Baixo Corgo), production was quite good, registering an average drop of 13% in relation to 2021 (which was a great year), but remaining precisely at the same average as the last four years. In Régua, Moscatel and other white grape varieties such as Gouveio produced well above average.

The old vines, resilient and very adaptable, had, however, a general decrease in production, in a very ‘intelligent’ process of adaptation to the severe climatic conditions of the year. They are expected to produce great wines!