Harvest 2025 officially ended last Tuesday, September 30th, with Tinto Cão, the latest ripening of the 20+ local varieties we grow in our Quinta do Tedo estate vineyards.
Our last grapes are in, our 4 lagares are scrubbed down, and our new Portos and Douro DOC wines are between finishing primary or malolactic fermentation and starting their aging process in inox and used and new oak vessels of varying sizes.
While it’s still too early to say, what harvest 2025 did not provide in quantity (Douro producers experienced 30-50% lower yields than average due to rainy and windy conditions at flowering, and significant disease pressure throughout the growing season), it provided in quality fruit, admirable team work and beautiful memories with new and familiar faces.
Our annual Harvest Experience with Kay Bouchard and Winemaker for a Day With Vincent Bouchard have steadily grown in popularity since their launch in 2021. As they essentially distill the essence of harvest into two full day programs, we’ll let these “postcards”, captured by our Team Tedo, Social Media Guru Sara Carrulo, and participant David Flin speak for harvest, for themselves.
Grape picking is for all ages, and can be quite meditative in the fresh morning with a magical Douro Valley backdrop.
A walk through our certified organic estate vineyards and olive orchards to refuel in good company, with sopa de cebola (onion soup) and pataniscas de bacalhau (codfish fritters).
Vincent, 9th generation Bouchard Pere & Fils, below the old vine art structure in our underground gallery, demonstrates how to pull single-harvest Colheita Ports from barrel with a wine thief, followed by blending our 10 and 20 Year Tawny Ports.
Viticulture Manager Angelo Ribeiro shares his wealth of knowledge and experience on how to identify grape varieties by their leaves and clusters, and when they are mature to harvest.
Our permanent Team Tedo, reinforced with 2 interns each year, ushers our grapes from vineyard to lagar to press with utmost attention to fruit quality.
Lunch on our Bouchard Family’s private panoramic terrace, accompanied by our estate Portos and Douro DOC wines, includes fresh salad, local cheese and charcuterie, house-marinated olives and estate jams, and Kay’s iconic bacalhau casserole and flourless chocolate cake.
To keep things fun, we wrap up Port blending with a DIY label design workshop and professional wine spitting contest.
A memorable Douro Valley harvest cannot end without purple feet! Kay demonstrates how to use a wooden macaco to break up the fermentation cap before foot-treading our lagares, accompanied by a glass of Vintage Porto and live folkloric music.
If you’d like to participate in our authentic, dynamic, delicious, educational and fun harvest immersions with the owners Kay and Vincent Bouchard, plan your next Douro visit around September 2026 and contact info@quintadotedo.com to reserve your spot!
~ Odile & Kay Bouchard