Old vines in the Douro: the heritage, the commitment

Old vines in Valença.

We’re delighted to welcome our first Portuguese winery member to the Old Vine Conference community: Van Zellers & Co.
Francisca van Zeller, 15th generation of this pioneering winemaking family explains how old vines are a fabric of the viticultural heritage not only of Van Zellers & Co. but of the Douro as a whole.

Words by Francisca van Zeller:

Preserving and protecting the diversity of Portuguese wine heritage, a vast array of grape varieties totalling 342 throughout the national territory, is fundamental to ensure that Portuguese wines are distinctive. In the Douro, this wealth is found in the old vineyards, where it is common to find 10 or more grape varieties in a single plot. Nourishing and preserving these old vines is the way to protect the natural cultural heritage that makes this region unique.

The great advantage of an old vineyard is fundamentally its ability to produce fruit with excellent concentration that gives rise to high quality wines with a better balance between acidity and tannins, giving them better structure and greater complexity.

Over the years, these vineyards have adapted to the climate, and have suffered shocks and fluctuations in temperature, rain fall, strong winds and natural disasters such as hail or fires. They resisted pests and adapted to the hands of the different farmers who pruned or harvested them. All these processes created greater resilience in these plants.

As viticulturalists, our biggest task is to balance the environment and ensure that ecosystems proliferate, so that the vineyard can also flourish and bear its best fruit. We believe in regenerative viticulture, which focuses on the soil, and ancient practices. We increase the biodiversity of wild plants that grow around our vineyards, thus improving soil nutrients, water retention in the soil, porosity, and soil respiration, which also helps in the sequestration of CO2 in the soil. Through careful observation of the vineyard and studies of soil nutrients, we work more on prevention than on reaction, and thus, we reduce the use of herbicides and pesticides.

As winemakers in the Douro, we know that today we have a multitude of grape varieties, some more studied than others, some more forgotten, others more publicised, which, together, or as a field blend, produce wines that are unrepeatable and where the terroir and the grape varieties come together. They are what we consider a melody full of harmony. This heritage, based on diversity, is a source of pride for those who dedicate themselves to this work that respects the past and the teachings we received, and is a responsibility in the work we do to preserve them to deliver something better than we received.

To read more about Van Zellers & Co.’s work with old vines in the Douro visit their OVC member profile and their website: vanzellersandco.com.

Written by: Francisca van Zeller