The balance of the harvests of 2017

It was announced on November 21 by the Institute of Douro and Port Wines (IVDP) the balance of the harvests of 2017, in the Demarcated Region of Douro and based in Peso da Régua.

In fact, in the Demarcated Region of the Douro (RDD) there are generalized increases in production compared to 2016, which eventually fall within the average of the last 10 years.

In this year of 2017 the climatic conditions were not favorable to this activity, in a way that forced to anticipate the harvests as there was no memory and caused a deviation in the results of the harvest in relation to the forecasts.

In fact, an increase of 25% for this year was estimated at the beginning of the summer, but it was only a 5% increase. Nevertheless, it is hoped that the year 2017 will be a year of wines of excellent quality by the alcohol content and the concentration of the verified fruit.

Looking at the production data, the total production value for the year 2017 in the Douro Demarcated Region is 253,9 thousand barrels, which, in addition to the Designations of Origin (DO) of the Porto and Douro Region (including Moscatel and Espumante), the Geographical Indication (GI) Duriense and the Wine without DO/GI, translates into an increase of 5% compared to 2016, which is the third lowest year of the last decade.

However, this year's result is slightly below the average of the last ten years, which is 259,2 thousand barrels, with the highest wine production in 2010 being 298,7 thousand barrels.

The production of Port Wine in 2017 represents 58% of the total value and is above the average of the last decade that is 136,300 barrels, corresponding to 53% of the total wine production in the RDD.

TheInstitute of Douro and Port Wines (IVDP) stands out as a public institute, which is part of the Ministry of Agriculture and the mission of this institute is to certify, control, protect and promote the designations of origin Porto and Douro and geographical indication Duriense in Portugal and the rest of the world.