A tasting with new houses

The first tasting in the new season at The Vintage Port Club was an introduction in more than one way. First of all the club could welcome some new members and guests. Secondly it was a broad tasting with both tawny with age, LBV, Single Quinta Vintage and Vintage. And finally it was a sort of introduction to some new or minor producers, that we don’t see that often in the Club. Some of them are among the many new producers, that saw the light after the law was changed in 1986 and it was allowed to produce and ship port directly from the Douro.

The producers were:

Churchill’s: A young port firm, but with a long history. It was founded in 1991 by Johnny Graham, who came from Cockburn. But more important he is from the Graham Family, who sold their company to The Symington’s in 1970. Of course the new owners did not want any of the family members to produce port under that name anymore. Instead the new company chose the name Churchill’s which was the family name of Johnny’s wife. Churchill’s are gaining reputation for their vintage port. We tried Churchill’s Quinta da Gricha Vintage 2003, Churchill’s Vintage 2000 and 10 years tawny.

Quinta de Ventozelo: A quinta in Cima Corgo that used to sell their grapes to some of the big producers. But in 1999 the new owner was more ambitious and started producing table wine and ports themselves. We tried LBV 2007 and Vintage 2003.

Quinta do Portal: Founded in 1989 by the Branco family. They are producing table wine, ports and muscatel – and that with a growing reputation. The first vintage was declared in 1995, and from 1999 the quality was inclining under winemaker Paulo Coutinho. We tried Vintage 2003, Vintage 2000, 10 years tawny and 20 years tawny.

Quinta de Gaivosa: Founded by the family Alves de Sousa. The quinta used to sell their grapes to Ferreira and Borges, but around 1991 they started to produce their own wine under their own label. Today the company is run by father and son, Domingos and Tiago Alves de Sousa. We tried the Alves de Sousa Vintage 2009, Gaivosa Vintage 2003 and 10 years tawny.

Hutcheson: An old house between all the youngsters. Hutcheson was founded back in 1881 by Thomas Page Hutcheson and Alexander Davidson Taylor. In 1927 it was sold to Barros and followed that company into the big Sogevinus group in 2006. In Denmark Hutcheson is best known for their good colheitas, but they do produce vintage port as well. We included a bottle of older vintage in this tasting, the Vintage 1970.

Here are just a few notes followed by the result of the voting among the participants:

Hutcheson 1970 was light and mature; brown as a tawny but still with life and acid. Not a powerful wine, but tasty and well balanced. Cherry and other red berries and a bit pepper in the end.

Portal did well both among the tawnies and the vintages. 2003 was dark and with a lot of fruit. 2000 with plums and more sweetness. Both were spicy and with a good, long tail. The 10 years tawny was a bit shy in the nose, but with a fine taste of almonds and dates. 20 years a bit more spicy, darker notes and some caramel.

Alves de Sousa Vintage 2009 was very young, inky and with lot of fresh fruit and tannins for a longer life. Some pepper in the tail. The younger one, the Gaivosa 2003 was more drinkable and had some orange and mint in the nose. Good fruit and well bodied. The 10 years tawny from Gaivosa was the odd man of the evening. Unclear, with a nose full of orange peal, citrus and some yoghurt. Different, but surprisingly tasty with all its freshness and sweetness.

Churchill´s was the disappointment of the evening. I have tried their vintages from 1982 until 2007 before and found them very powerful and promising on the long term. But this evening they unfortunately did not perform well due to a couple of bad bottles.

Ventozelo 2003 had plums in the nose and at taste of dark berries with a lot of pepper too. The LBV was fruity and drinkable.

 

The votes of the evening were:

1. Hutcheson Vintage 1970: 68 points

2. Portal 20 years tawny: 29 points

3. Portal 10 years tawny: 20 points

4. Portal Vintage 2003 and Portal Vintage 2000: both 12 points

6. Gaivosa Vintage 2003: 10 points

7. Gaivosa Vintage 2009: 3 points

8. Ventozelo Vintage 2003 and Gaivosa 10 years tawny: both 2 points

Not that surprising with the 1970 as a clear winner. Obvious Portal was well received as well. And of course the young vintages had a hard night among the older wines. 

Visit to lodges in Vila Nova de Gaia

During my visit in Porto in June with fellow board members of The Vintage Port Club we visited some port lodges as well. First we went to Graham’s, then Barão de Vilar, Sogevinus (at Cálems lodge), Noval and finally Ramos Pinto.

Among the many port tasted, I will mention some highlights.

Gustavo Devesas served the new range of tawny from Graham’s. They are all very soft, smooth and drinkable. At first I thought that the gap between the 20 and the 30 years was too small, but after a while the 30 years Tawny gained a lot with its fresh orange and almonds and nice acid to balance the sweetness. After that we had two splendid Colheitas: The 1969 and the 1952 – the latter made for Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee. Sweet, but with good acid to balance.

Among the new Vintage 2011 from the Symington’s, we tasted Warre’s, Dows, Cockburn, Graham’s, Graham’s The Stone Terraces, Quinta do Vesuvio and Quinta do Vesuvio Capela. A good flight among the many vintages declared from the already praised year. Warre’s was deep purple, with a lot of cherries and blackberries and ripe tannins. Graham’s more sweet, rich and fruity and very promising. Graham’s The Stone Terraces is made from two schist stone-terraced vineyards at Quinta dos Malvedos. The result is a rich, fruity, concentrated and vinous port, powerful and with some mint. Vesuvio was dark and very powerful too with both acid and strong tannins. You can find some of the same in Capela, but the addition of Sousão and a bit Alicante Bouschet makes it different to. More heavy and tight, but fresh at the same time, spicy and with pepper in a long finish.

At Barão de Vilar Mariana Rocha Ferreira and Álvaro van Zeller served a broad range of their fine Colheitas – from 2005 and back to 1939. The highlights were: 1982, well balance with brown sugar, almonds and chocolate. 1962, powerful with a long tail full of pepper. 1963, dark and powerful with a lot of fruit and a splendid acid to make a great balance. 1934, surprisingly dark, a nice burned taste with some liquorice. The last two were poured directly from the cask. Barão de Vilar sure proved their quality, when it comes to Coheitas in the more Portuguese and rustic style compared to Graham’s.

In Calem’s beautiful lodge Sónia Figueira and winemaker Carlos Alves from Sogevinus welcomed us with two flights from one of their minor brands Hutcheson – minor in quantity but not quality. And this time the vintages were served before the tawnies. Carlos explained that in his opinion it is easier to clean the mouth from the strong tannins with bread and water than to clean the nose after the Tawnies.

We had a LBV from 2003 followed by a young but promising Vintage 2003 and a Vintage 2000. The latter was drinkable already, more dry and with minerals, but with less tannins that the 2003. After that followed Colheita 2004, Colheita 2000, 20 years Tawny and Colheita 1984. The first a bit too young, 2000 very smooth with nuts and orange. The 20 years was sweeter that the Colheitas but very nice. The best glass sure was the 1984 with an impressive amount of acid to balance. 

Noval does not have a lodge in Gaia - just a small store. Here we tried a couple of good and powerful table wines and then some port: Their reserve called Black and LBV 2007, followed by 10, 20 and 40 years Tawny and finally Noval Vintage 2011 and Noval Nacional Vintage 2011. Both the vintages were very rich and powerful. Noval had a lot of fruit, blackberries and pepper in the end. Nacional was nearly ink, a little shy in the nose, but so rich and intense that it nearly felt like an explosion in the mouth, sharp and with good acid.

Finally at Ramos Pinto Ana Rato presented both rubies and tawnies as well: LBV 2008 – one of the best LBV´s with a lot of power and juicy fruit, Single Quinta Vintage 2007 from Ervamoira and the vintage from the same year. The former more dry and spicy and with a lot of mint in the nose. The latter sweater, darker and with a more deep pallet. Then followed their range of aged Tawny, 10 years, 20 years and 30 years. They always impress me with their good balance between sweetness with almonds and freshness with acid, orange and acid. I range them among the best tawnies at all.    

The 30th Regatta de Barcos Rabelos

A few days after the Enthronement Ceremony the Confraria de Vinho do Porto had their traditionally regatta in the Douro. The old Barcos Rabelos – the boats that used to sail the port pipes down to Vila Nova de Gaia from the Quintas in the Douro – were sailing from the mouth of the river to the finish line in front of the port lodges.

16 boats were participating this year. I was lucky to get invited by Ramos Pinto to be on board of Confrarias boat that followed the Rabelos during the race. Soon the Rabelos of Cockburn, Cálem, Offley and Taylor were in the lead, but at the goal “Quinta dos Canais” from Cockburn with Mestre Luís Martins as the captain was a clear winner, followed by “Quinta do Foz” from Sogevinus and Infanta D. Isabel from Rozès.

 The winner, “Quinta dos Canais” from Cockburn

But as David Guimaraens from Fladgate explained me the regatta is more fun than a serious race. The same point was made by George Thomas David Sandeman, who after the regatta, where the boat from Sandeman fished last, said with a big smile: “Everyone can win, but it takes more effort to finish last. And remember, that it is told in the Bible that the last will be the first”.

Yes, it is a funny event. And it sure is a beautiful sight when the Rabelos are coming up the Douro with their sail raised. And I must admit that it was lovely to spend the afternoon at Confrarias boat with good serving and port tonics.

Ramos Pinto, who invited me on board, doesn’t have a boat in the race themselves. And as João Machete Pereira explained to me, it is too expensive to buy a new Barco Rabelo just for that event.

On board of Confrarias boat together with the  

Fiel das Usancas of the Chanceleiro, 

Manuel Maria Matos de Magalhães Ferreira.

Visit in Porto

In late June I visited Porto again. It is always nice to be back in the beautiful city, and it is always a pleasure to visit the port lodges for tastings and for meetings with old and new friends in the port business.

The main events during this visit were the celebration of São João – the main Saint of Porto - and the Enthronement Ceremony at the Confraria de Vinho do Porto. A friend of mine, the president of the board of The Vintage Port Club, was enthroned as Caveleiro and we were a small group that to took part of the event and the following dinner. A wonderful evening that gave me the chance to talk with people like David Guimaraens (Fladgate), João Nicolau de Almeida (Ramos Pinto), Gustavo Devesas (Symington), Miguel Roquette (Quinta do Crasto), Ana Rato (Ramos Pinto), Roy Hersh (For the Love of Port) and many more.

The days in Porto included a few visits and tastings as well. We started at the newly renovated lodge at Graham´s, where we a big tasting followed by a wonderful fresh tuna steak at the new Vinum Restaurant. The tuna, the wines and the view were all beautiful. The Symingtons have done at good job renovating the lodges and transforming it into at first class destination for wine tourist.

In the days to follow we visited Barão de Vilar, Sogevinus (at Cálems lodge), Noval and Ramos Pinto. A report of some of the wine tasted will follow. 

Together with other port lovers: Me, Gustavo Devesas and Roy Hersh from For the Love of Port

Antinori – tradition in Tuscany

As a winelover, you got to have some respect for a wine producer that can trace its history back as long as 1385. Back then Giovanni di Piero Antinori became a member of the winemaker’s guild in Florence, “Arte Fiorentina”, and today, 26 generations later, the firm is run by Marchese Piero Antinori and his three daughters.

Antinori is one of the most important and biggest wine producers in Italy. Besides a palace in Florence the family owns a long row of estates and vineyards, mostly in Tuscany but elsewhere in Italy and in California and Chile as well. Together with families like Frescobaldi they represent tradition, which has managed to survive during the centuries.  

Among the many wines produced by Antinori, I tasted a few recently, when the wine importer and shop, Vinens Verden (http://www.godevine.dk/) offered a chance to become co importer. In generally Antinori is known for producing fruity wines of good quality that don’t need to age for a long time but are ready to drink. And that goes for the cheaper wines as well as the more expensive.

We started with a white and a rosé. Tuscany doesn’t have a long tradition for producing white wine, due to the fact that the white grapes often were blended into the red Chianti wines. But that has been forbidden since 2005 when the regulation for Chianti Classico was changed. Villa Antinori Bianco 2011 (IGT) is made of 70 % Trebbiano and Malvasia – the traditionally varieties in Tuscany – and then 30 % blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco and Pinot Grigio. The result is a light coloured fresh wine, with flowers and some grapefruit in the nose. Well balanced and medium bodied.

The Scalabrone Rosato 2012 from Guado al Tasso in Bolgheri at the coast south of Livorno was very light pink in the colour, fresh with a lot of strawberry notes. It is made of a blend of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.

The reds started with Villa Antinori Rosso 2009, which has been produced since 1924 and with inspiration form Bordeaux. The grapes are 55 % Sangiovese, 25 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 15 % Merlot and 5 % Syrah. Therefore it is classified as Toscana IGT and not DOC. The later category demands a minimum of 80 % Sangiovese. It has stored 12-14 months on French oak and then about a year in the bottle. The result is a very fruity wine with dark berries and soft tannins. Very pleasant to drink with an international approach, but still with a Tuscan style.

After that followed three Chianti Classicos: Pèppoli 2009 from the estate with the same name, Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva 2008 and Badia a Passignano Chianti Classico Riserva 2007. The Pèppoli had some raspberry and a bit stable in the nose, a bit tannins but still soft and a short tail. It has performed better before. Marchese Antinori was darker and very powerful and seducing in the nose. Black berries and a bit oak due to the 14 month in small French barriques. A pleasant and powerful wine. The same goes for the Badia a Passignane mads of 100 % Sangiovese. Concentrated with a lot of fruit and a very long and beautiful tail.

After these three Chianti Classicos the next wine had a hard time. Il Brucato from Bolgheri was lighter and more anonymous in the style. It is made of 60 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 30 % Merlot and 10 % Syrah. Drinkable and easy going.

Finally we tried Tignanello 2009, one of the so called Super Tuscans that appeared in the 70s and 80s, when the winemakers started to experiment with other grape varieties. It is made of 80 % Sangiovese, 15 % Cabernet Sauvignon and 5 % Cabernet Franc. Powerful, expressive and elegant in the nose, notes of raspberries and a lot of fruit, well balanced with some acid and tannins and a long aftertaste. It is a wine with and understandably good reputation, but of course more expensive too.

All together Antinori was not a disappointment and in generally gives good value for the money.      

Read more: http://www.antinori.it/en

Wine at a meeting

The board of The Vintage Port Club does not have meetings that often. But when we meet, we are always having a glass or two, and not just port, but table wine as well. Often the meeting include a dinner, and we try to match the wines too the food.

Normally everyone brings a bottle or two and often the wines are served blind. Yesterday’s list of wine was quite impressive – not just in numbers but in quality as well. I did not make notes, but here is the list:

Blancs de Blancs Valdiviesio

Champagne Valois extra dry

Dr. Loosen 2007 Graacher Himmelreich Riesling

Alsace 2006 Riesling gr. Cru

Dr. Nägler Rheingau 1996 Riesling Spätlese

Dr. Heinrich Nägler Rheingau 1976 Riesling Auslese

Select Blocks Sauvignon Blancs 2011 Marlborough New Zealand

Hartley Ostini – Hitching Post Highliner 2008 Pinot Noir Santa Barbara

Dominus, Napa Valley 2002

Sauternes: Ch. Lafaurie Peyraguey 1994

Andresen Vintage 2009

Graham Vintage1983

Taylor Vintage1970

Cockburns Vintage1970

Fonseca Vintage1970

Feist Vintage1977

Among the peaks of the evening were the Rheingau Spätlese 1996, Dominus 2002, Cockburn 1970 and Fonseca 1970.

A duel between Single Quinta Vintage and LBV

Single Quinta Vintage (S.Q.V.P.) is a category of port that I find very interesting and challenging. Interesting because it the most pure product. As a principle it is based on grapes from the same harvest and the same quinta which gives more variation due to the differences in soil, locality and microclimate. Just think of the differences of rain and heat in the Baixo Corgo and the Douro Superior… This explains why you can find excellent Single Quinta Vintages in years where the harvest in general was not that good. In other words it is among the S.Q.V.P.´s that you will find the terroir of the Douro expressed more clearly that in “real” Vintage, which is a made of a blend of the best grapes from different quintas and places in the region.  

On the other hand there is some confusion connected to the category. It is not a formal category described in the “Regulamento das categorias especiais do vinho do Porto”, but on the website of Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto (IVDP) I have found this definition:

These Vintages are unique in that they are not only the product of a single harvest but also of a single quinta, or wine estate, which makes them truly exceptional.

The Portuguese version does not talk about quinta, but “uma única vinha”, where vinha means either wine estate or vineyard.

Traditional S.Q.V.P is produced when a company does not declare “real” vintage and if – of course – the harvest on the specific quinta is good enough for the purpose. But the same goes for other types of blended vintages which also are sorts of Second Wines like Fonseca Guimaraens, Noval Silval and Graham´s Malvedos – the latter a topic that has been discussed many times. Before Malvedos was more a brand, but lately the quinta has given its name to real Single Quinta Vintage.

After the new law from 1986 which allowed independent producers to export port direct from the Douro, more S.Q.V.P.s has been added to the marked. Instead of selling their grapes to the big companies, growers wanted to produce port themselves under their own name and brand – and some of them are declaring S.Q.V.P. nearly every year. That is another reason why the category is a challenge. New brands of different quality are popping up every year. There is always a new player on the marked ready to be tasted and tested.

Another sort of Second Wine to Vintage is of course Late Bottled Vintage – “The Other Vintage Port” as Roy Hersh once called it in an article. Today LBV is produced nearly every year, but opposite vintage it is stored between 4 and 6 years in large barrels. There are different types of LBV, but in general they can be divided into filtered and non filtered – where the former is ready to drink when bottled and the latter will gain from maturing in the cellar.

Both S.Q.V.P. and LBV can be excellent, and often you will find very good value for the money. But what if you compare those two categories? Which one are the best? Can you taste the difference when they are young? Those were the questions, when The Vintage Port Club recently invited to a duel between S.Q.V.P. and LBV both from the year 2005.

The wines were Quinta do Bomfim and Dow´s LBV, Fonseca Guimaraens and Fonseca LBV, Graham´s Malvedos and LBV, Quinta do Passadouro and LBV, Noval Silval and Noval LBV, Quinta de Ervamoira and Ramos Pintos LBV and finally Quinta de Vargellas and Taylor´s LBV.

And before that we had a little warm-up with Delaforce Quinta da Corte 1980 and Graham´s Malvedos 1968, 2008 and 2009.  

Of the first four the Malvedos 1968 was the peak. Red brown with white rim and with a good balance between acid and fruit. Still fresh and nice. The two younger brothers had a lot of fresh fruit, tannins and acid and a very good potential for developing. I don’t remember that I have tried Quinta da Corte before, and unfortunately this bottle was not a pleasure. It was sticky in the nose, unbalanced and lacked fruit and power.

After that followed all the bottles from 2005. Most of them were not mature yet, had strong tannins and resulted in purple tongues. To make it more difficult they were all served blind and in random order. That’s means that besides finding out which ones were single quintas and which ones were LBVs, we should try to figure out the names of the companies as well.

Honestly it was not easy at all! I identified the LBV´s from Dow´s, Graham´s, Fonseca and Ramos Pintos, but the latter I thought was a vintage. The same with the LBV from Noval – and then for other wines it was the opposite: I degraded some of the vintages to LBVs. For educationally reasons it might have been better to taste them two by two, giving us a chance to compare the LBV with the S.Q.V.P. from the same brand. 

After the tasting, but before the names were unveiled, we voted for the best wines of the evening:

1. Fonseca Guimaraens with 48 votes. My own favourite this evening, fine balance and a long lovely tail.
2. Graham´s Malvedos with 31 votes. I agreed here as well and had it on my second place. A lot for dark berries.
3. Quinta do Passadouro with 14 votes. Here I disagreed and in a matter of fact I though it was a LBV
4. Ramos Pinto Quinta do Ervamoira with 12 votes. I had it in my top 5 as well
5. Ramos Pinto LBV with 10 votes. The only LBV that made it to the top.

After that followed Dow´s Bomfim, Taylor´s Vargellas, Graham´s LBV, Passadouros LBV and Noval Silval. All in all 80 % of the votes were given to the Single Quinta Vintages.

Therefore my conclusion will be, that it is possible to taste a difference between S.Q.V.P. and LBV – and in generally the former perform better that the latter. But you can make mistakes as well and a good LBV – like the one from Ramos Pinto – can compete and often they will be good value for the money.