The summer heatwave that caused a sharp decline in grape production in several regions of the country has not affected the Algarve in the same way, with local producers optimistic that this year’s harvest will be a bumper one.
Last year’s harvest was up 50% on 2016 but this record should be smashed, with the president of the Algarve Wine Commission saying there is no reason why the Algarve should not be producing more than 2 million litres a year.
The 2018 harvest will be nearer 1.7 million of litres, still a new record but not that much higher than 2016 when the total was 1.6 million litres.
These figures may not mean much to the wine buyer, but remember, in 2010 the region’s producers managed to bottle only 500,000 liters.
Obsessed with volume, the Wine Commission’s Carlos Gracias said that, "the producers' choice has been to produce quality wine rather than quantity, in a clear decision to produce so-called ‘quinta’ wines."
Whatever the struggle between the commission’s desire for volume and the producers’ thrust for quality, its nearly harvest time and oenophiles will be looking forward to producers’ opinions of their harvests and the chances of some vintage production.
