For producers, to harvest the grapes is far from an easy task, it is necessary to wait for the right moment to do it and only then do it well.

The grape harvest, one of the few fruit harvests that has its own name, “Vindima”, it does not have a fixed date. It can sometimes be earlier or later than expected. The harvest period depends on several factors, including the geographical area and weather conditions. At Quinta da Raza, the monitoring of the maturation begins arround mid-August and the harvest normally takes place between the end of August and the beginning of October, as soon as the grapes reach the ideal point of maturation for the harvest. This occurs when the balance between sugar and acids is perfect and to get there, you have to analyse, taste and observe!

Harvesting isn't complicated, but the first two days are the hardest, you have to "warm up" your muscles and it's during this period that the rare abandonments usually occur. From the third day onwards, you're in good shape to make it all the way to the finish.

At Quinta da Raza, the grapes are still harvested by hand and the process takes around four weeks to complete. Varieties with a shorter vegetative cycle are the first to be harvested, including Gouveio, Padeiro and Trajadura. On the other hand, Azal and Espadeiro, which have a longer cycle, are usually left until last.

In the Quinta da Raza winery, the team is also reinforced and when the day is over for the harvesters, it's still half over for the winemakers. Pressing, decanting, racking and fermentation all have to be done at the right time because the final quality of the wine demands it. We usually work until the next day but, fortunately, a spirit of camaraderie and responsibility prevails, because we all know that in this activity we only have one opportunity a year to do things right.

The aroma of fermentation can be felt in the cellar and expectations are enormous. The quality of the grapes has been excellent and, if the weather helps, a year of excellent quality and quantity is expected. It's well known that "until the baskets are washed, it's still harvest time", so let's wait until the end and work with just one goal in mind: to produce good wines with the excellent grapes that Quinta da Raza's terroir provides.

Here's to good wines!