According to the president of the Algarve Wine Commission, Sara Silva, until June, the expectations of her around 50 producers were for “growth” after “a record year” in 2021, but high temperatures and lack of rain hampered the growth of grapes and the prospects for this year's harvest are between 1,000,000 and 1,200,000 litres.

“What we have found, effectively, is that there will be a drop in production of around 20%”, she said, explaining that “the fact that there is no precipitation” forces producers to “start irrigation more and more in advance” and the “high temperatures, especially in July, caused some vines to scorch”.

The chairman of the Board of Directors of the Algarve Wine Commission clarified that, although “there were not many”, of the vineyards affected by scorching, many ended up suffering “water stress” and “the berries did not develop in the best way, compromising the expected profitability”.