Vendanges 2023 en 23 photos !

Vendanges 2023 en 23 photos, parce que les photos valent mille mots et c'est que fin vendanges que nous reprenons notre souffle et célébrons notre 32e (depuis 1992 !) élaboration d'un nouveau millésime de grands vins de Porto et de Douro DOC avec notre incroyable équipe à Quinta do Tedo !

Des tons Tawny et Ruby au coucher du soleil. Le calme avant la tempête. 3, 2, 1... on vendange !

Que ferions-nous sans les mains agiles de nos chers voisins du village qui nous aident à récolter nos raisins chaque année ?

Merci à notre Équipe d'Adega, pour votre compétence, votre engagement et vos souris infatigables - il faut beaucoup de Super Bock minis pour faire un grand Porto !

Sentier en velours rouge - pieds marchant dans un moût semblable à une confiture de mûres. N'oubliez pas : pieds violets = Porto prometteur !

Chef d'Équipe Adélaïde nous tient bien nourris pendant les vendanges, notamment avec ses fameuses fritas (beignets recouverts de sucre à la cannelle).

Créations gastronomiques avec la récolte de notre jardin et nos arbres fruitiers - figues farcies au fromage de chèvre et aux noix, salade de tomates cœur de bœuf aux herbes et l'huile d'olive extra vierge de notre domaine, et pêches de vignes, crème anglaise et cookies au sésame, bien sûr avec un verre de Tawny !

Moments capturés de nos annuelles Expériences de Vendange et Oenologue Pour Un Jour, animées par les propriétaires Kay et Vincent Bouchard.

En dégustant notre Vintage 2017 nous foulons à pied notre vendange 2023... serait-elle une autre année Vintage ? Nous le saurons au printemps 2025, après avoir envoyé nos nouveaux échantillons de Porto à l'IVDP pour approbation.

Trois vues de Quinta do Tedo - les vagues de chaleur et les orages ont ajouté du stress aux vendanges 2023, mais nous avons choisi les moments justes pour vendanger et nous avons admiré comment les couleurs vibrantes de l'été se détachent sur un fond parfois gris-orageux.

Notre t-shirt original des vendanges cette année avec notre mascotte oiseau charismatique : "Vindimas 2023, à la façon Tedo !"

~ Kay & Odile Bouchard

Harvest 2023 in 23 photos!

Harvest 2023 in 23 photos, because photos are worth a thousand words, and post-harvest is when we catch our breath and reminisce on our now 32nd (since 1992!) elaboration of yet another batch of great Portos and Douro DOC wines with our incredible team at Quinta do Tedo!

Tawny and Ruby hues as the sun goes down. The calm before the storm. 3, 2, 1… harvest!

What would we do without the dexterous hands of our dear village neighbors who help us harvest Tedo’s fruit each year?

Thank you, Adega Team, for your tireless competence, commitment and smiles - it takes a lot of Super Bock minis to make great Porto!

Red velvet walking trail - foot treading through blackberry-jam-like must. Remember, purple feet = promising Port!

Team Cook Adelaide keeps us well-fed during harvest, especially with her famous fritas (cinnamon-sugar covered beignets).

Gastronomic creations with the summer bounty from our garden and fruit trees - goat cheese and walnut stuffed figs, oxheart tomato salad with herbs and our estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and vineyard peaches, creme anglaise and sesame cookies, of course with a glass of Tawny!

Glimpses from our annual Harvest Experience and Winemaker for a Day experiences led by owners Kay and Vincent Bouchard.

Sipping our Vintage 2017 while foot-treading 2023… could this be another Vintage year? We’ll find out in Spring 2025, after sending our new Porto samples to the IVDP for approval.

Three perspectives of Tedo - summer heat waves and rain storms added stress to harvest 2023, but we chose the right days to pick and admired how summers’ vibrant colors pop with an occasional stormy-gray backdrop.

This year’s original harvest t-shirt ft. our charismatic Tedo bird logo: “Vindimas 2023, the Tedo way!”

~ Kay & Odile Bouchard

Harvest 2014

Annual harvest foot treading at Quinta do Tedo.

Patches of rainfall interrupting gorgeous days of Douro sun add challenges to a harvest that started ahead of usual 5 September harvest date and ended later on 26 September.  Even though the Douro region remains within the 30-yr average of both precipitation and temperature, slightly cooler July and August resulted in grapes ripening later than in the past several years.  The quality looks very good. This year the landscape has remained greener and no one has heard about the terrible Portuguese wildfires that normally plague the hills during the very hot and dry summer months!

Inexhaustible and dedicated Alvaro.

Son Joe and Peter McElearney (childhood friend from Napa Valley) both worked harvest, super hard-working cellar rats.

Cracking smiles even in the rain!

20 yr-old daughter Odile and I opened doors during the harvest period to a 15-seat “Bistro O.K.” (Bistro Odile and Kay !) under a pergola overlooking our scenic Tedo river.  What better way to spend the day after a tour of our property and a tasting of our ports, Douro DOC red wines and olive oil.  The Portuguese/Californian/French fusion cuisine (what would you expect ?!) was a novidade for the quinta and our guests were thrilled to dine sur place while the harvest was underway.  Perhaps to offer as well next year ?

University friend Arianna working at Bistro O.K., here together with tour guide Monia.

Fantastic view of Tedo while pairing food to our Porto and wine.

Harvest’s last day is always touching, when according to Douro tradition,  the harvest crew, cook, and other workers gather for a little party- with homemade cinnamon-sugar dusted fritas, orange cake bolo and savory meat bolas enjoyed  together with, of course, a glass of Quinta do Tedo Porto.  The workers prepare a song recounting the harvest and offer a bouquet of flowers to the owners and Vincent and I sing back to them, and in turn, offer a tip !  What a wonderful tradition for all.

Cook Adelaide offering bouquet, a Douro tradition.

Vincent and I returning their song with our song to thank them for their hard work.

Long live harvest 2014 (with Italian friends Silvia Lastri and Ricardo Soldani).

Cumprimentos!

Why foot treading?

A dear friend Francoise asked me the above, so here we go with an answer…. Since sweet port is made from partial fermentation, to save the residual sugar that comes from our grapes, the maceration that puts the juice in contact with the grape’s skin (that obtain flavor, tannins and color) is reduced to 3 or 4 days.  In this short lapse of time we need to extract as much as we can from the skin.  This is why we foot tread.   The foot treading is very soft, like a massage for the grapes; 4 hours a day with an equivalent of 1 worker per 650 kgs/1430 lbs of grapes in an open tank called a lagare.  The feet of the workers are obviously clean and disinfected, no need to worry!  Foot treading disintegrates gently all the skin and liberates all the above mentioned components of the skin.  During foot treading the foot activity does not extract only from the grape’s skin, but also from the matured brown grape pits, by rolling under the feet, that liberates a very thin skin around the pits, called by my husband “pellicule”, that is very rich in aromas and soft tannins.

Get the beat

Disco line dancing

Mechanical foot treading, on the other hand, if not properly adjusted, which is often the case, will aggressively break the pits, releasing the pit’s oil and green vegetable-like drying astringency, that will be bad for the port’s flavor.  Today none of the mechanical foot treaders can do a better job than what has been used for centuries; workers treading back and forth, sometimes to the accompaniment of an accordionist, sometimes playing games and taking a swig of port from a big carafe to pass the time away, and during this time gently extracting the components that make a world class port, as is the case at Quinta do Tedo.  Not only is our prestigious Vintage made this way, but all of our ports, due to the small dimension of our quinta and thanks to the number of workers and visitors that volunteer to foot tread.  If you have never tried, it is an unforgettable good time, let us know if you would like to come for a harvest and help out!

Somewhat serious

Let's Party!

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