Production follows a protocol of sustainable agriculture and yield is controlled and quality improved by hard pruning, removal of secondary shoots, and bunch thinning. At optimum maturity the grapes are handpicked in small boxes permitting the quality-control steps of bunch selection in the vineyard and on the sorting table. Grapes develop and mature in the hot and dry Mediterranean climate of the southern Portuguese plateau. The cool nights serve to retain the acidity. Soils are infertile rocky schists, producing naturally low yields of concentrated, healthy fruit.