Lifting grapes

Time to lift the grapes from the sand! This is maybe the most important practice at Colares vineyards. Today our producer at Fontanelas - Colares - decided it was time to lift the bunches from the sand.

The grapes should be lifted after they are big enough to mature and before they begin to get Botrytis. These vineyards are 900m from the Atlantic coast and the wind coming from the North is cold enough to stop the bunch maturation. Not even the palisades of cane are sufficient to protect the grapes from the cold so they must stay lying on the ground to pick its heat. When the bunches are at risk because of the humidity brought by frequent morning fogs, they must be lifted.

All this makes this wine region unique. But the bunches are not safe yet. As the acidity drops and the sugar inside the berries rise, these grapes get the attention of the surrounding Fauna. The Common Blackbird is the most easily seen. In some vineyards the yields can drop 20-30% only because of these attacks.

Nothing in Colares is easy, not even the wines...