Some Portuguese regions see volumes surge, bringing the country back in line with its five year average
Portuguese producers in some regions such as Beira Interior, the Douro and the Dão have reported a recovery in volumes, bringing the country in line with its five year average following low yields in 2018, and an increase in quality levels.
“In 2018 we had heavy bouts of hail and frost in early winter, and very hot temperatures in the early summer, but 2019 is more of a ‘normal’ year with wine of good quality with an average 13.5% abv for still wines,” Manuel Belo, manager at Beira Serra Vinhos told Harpers.
Meanwhile, Portugal’s governmental Instituto Da Vinha E Do Vinho (IVV) claims that wine production in Beira Interior has increased by 57% compared to 2018, hitting over 255,000Hl (hectolitres), markedly higher volumes than the average of 210,00Hl produced during the last five vintages.
After two years of low yields, Portugal’s biggest wine production area, Douro e Porto has seen volumes bounce back by a third, to over 1.6m hl, while quality levels have also improved.
“Freshness and liveliness, in contrast to the concentration of recent years are hallmarks of the 2019 wines,” said Rob Symington, associate director at Symington Estates.
Portugal’s total wine production for the 2019 vintage will increase by 7% to 6.48 million Hl according to the IVV, putting the country back in line with its average of the past five years.
However, this is despite the fact that the Algarve and the Alentejo both saw volumes decline by 18% and 9% respectively due to a lack of rain over the past two years.
Volumes and quality levels may have returned to “normality” in several regions, but climate change continues to be the new normal. “In the Douro, the 2017 vintage was the earliest vintage ever made but the 2018 vintage was the latest ever made,” said producer António Maçanita, who makes wine in the Douro, in Alentejo and the Azores.“2018 was for the Azores the driest year of the past 120 years, but 2019 was the wettest year in 30 years! It doesn’t all add up. We don’t know yet the full impact of climate change."