An Algarve Grape Harvest
As a wine lover, I have always wanted to learn more about the process of making wine. What are the steps that go into it? How hard is the whole process of making wine? Could I own a winery?
Wine tours are great for learning about fermentation, bottling, and storing the wine. But the grapes and the grape harvest is one of the best experiences for a true wine lover. There are harvest tours in the Douro Valley that I have on my bucket list. But when an opportunity came up to help with the harvest at a small local organic winery in the Algarve, it was an easy decision.
First a little background in Portuguese wine. Wine origins in Portugal date back to the Romans. Most people think of Port when they think of Portuguese wine but Port didn’t become popular until the British came along and entered a trade agreement with Portugal around 1750. Fun fact-the Douro Valley which is the home of Port had it first appellation almost 200 years before France! That was pretty surprising to me and it was also surprising that there were vineyards throughout the country very early on in Portugal. The industry struggled until the 1980 when Portugal became a member of the EU. Then the government began investing more heavily in the wine industry. Today, Portugal exports 954 million dollars of wine ranking eighth in exports in the world. For a country one-fourth the size of California, that is pretty impressive.
The very small organic winery for the harvest was Monte da Casteleja. The winemaker, Guillaume Leraux, is the son of French father and Algarvian mother. He inherited the farm where the winery now stands from his grandfather. He was interested in wine. He spent his life perfecting his craft, and returned to his grandfather’s land to renovate it into his vineyard. The first wine was produced in 2004 and the winery has had several awards in its young history. You can learn more about Guillaume here www.montecastelja.com.
On the day of the harvest, I didn’t know what to expect. I knew going in that this was a very small winery and that the harvest was being done by a group of volunteers plus the small staff. Today many larger wineries harvest using machines but Monte da Casteleja still handpicks the grapes and uses the foot stomping technique to smash them.
The group of 25 volunteers were mostly “Silver” volunteers like me - retirees and expats living in the area. The grape harvest began very early on a Sunday. We were actually given two dates that it could be depending on the readiness of the grapes. At 8:15 AM in the morning, we all gathered around Guillaume for our work instructions. We were handed work gloves, clippers, and black buckets for our harvest and sent to the fields. One person on each side of the row harvested straight down to the end of the row being careful not to cut the vines and then repeat!
The first hour harvesting was really quite pleasant as the sun was shining and a soft breeze kept us cool in the Algarve sun. I felt as though there was nothing I couldn’t do. Two hours in I realized that harvesting is hard work as my lower back screamed from the non-stop bending that I was not used to. Just then someone brought music and started playing it. The beat picked up the pace considerably and seemed to give everyone renewed energy.
After three hours, we completed the first field and moved to the next. After five hours of picking we completed the harvest and ascended from the fields to the lovely shaded patio set for our lunch hosted by the owner and staff. It was a welcome sight for tired bodies.
The next two hours we feasted on local fare paired with wines from Monte de Casteleja. Each course of lunch was accompanied by a recent vintage of the same grapes that we just picked. Guillaume brought each bottle to the tables and explained the wine to us as he poured it into our glasses. We graciously drank up, shared our stories and took in the beautiful vista before us.
With full stomachs and lots of wine, our achy backs seemed calmed as we waited and rested for the next steps or shall I say the stomps of the grapes. Some took nap time in the fields on blankets hoping to restore their energy while others were deep in conversation with each other. The sense of community in this place was energized by the work we accomplished and shared. Most of us as mentioned were retirees and expats living nearby but there were also small business owners from the Netherlands, a local London businessman, and two local goat farmers who produced the cheese we had at lunch adding interesting conversation and life perspectives.
At the 5 o’clock hour we were called for the next phase- the grape stomping. It’s hard to imagine actually doing this. I wondered if you feet turned blue and were stained forever. My imagination was running quite wild. It is actually very simple and very manual.
The grapes are places through a sorter that removes most of the stems and then the grapes are transferred to a giant barrel about half full with grapes. After washing feet and legs, four or five people step into the barrel and literally stomp on them to smash them down. Truth be told it takes 3 to 4 hours of stomping to get the grapes ready to start the fermentation process. Portugal is one of the only countries that still does grape stomping. The volunteers started dwindling after the first hour leaving the staff to complete the last hours of stomping.
So what do I think? The harvest was one of the best experiences I have had in Portugal during my stay. I recommend putting it on your bucket list of things to do on your September visit to Portugal.
There are several “Harvest Experience Tours” available from 35 euros at smaller wineries to 85 euros at Quinta das Carvalhas in the Douro Valley. You can also volunteer next year at Monte da Casteleja!