Wine as a Tradition

Portugal is located on the North Atlantic coast but it is Mediterranean in tradition and climate. It is one of the most important European wine producers.
A lot of Portuguese wines are exported and their quality is internationally known, like for example Port wine. In Autumn people pick the grapes. In districts like Douro hundreds of people are hired to pick grapes in every field and slope. However, all over the country producers of small fields grow their vines and when the grapes are ripe they bring their family and friends together and everybody goes into the fields to pick grapes.
Nowadays this tradition is no longer as it used to be but in some places, like in Minho, in the North region of the country, there are still people keeping up the custom.
Mainly old people have containers and other instruments to prepare the wine. After people have picked the grapes, they are put in something like a special container and there they will ferment or, if there are many grapes, men and women crush them with their feet. The result is wine for all the family and friends for one year.
Will this tradition disappear? Will young people keep up the costume? I really don’t think so.

A woman picking grapes

A family vineyard