Veronique
Apr 27, 2012

Dear LuizYou are right to point out slope orientation and alduitte as ways to overcome excessive heat (although we do not have vineyards at 3,000 feet) but irrigation in the Douro is not an answer. Any irrigation will not help the heat problem. What is happening is that people are pushing to plant further up the valley where vineyards have never existed it is cheaper to farm an irrigated dessert. However, the only source of water is the Douro River. This is mis-named. Since the mid 1970s we have had the Douro Lakes' five dams block the tiny flow that we have. Time passes and people forget that the Douro River was a trickle in the Summer. It now looks like a big body of water but any extraction will create havoc with marine life. Vineyard irrigation in the Douro Valley will create an environmental disaster all in the name of profit and human greed. Do not be mis-led.Kind regards, Adrian