The product of a climactically challenging year, the 2016 Vintage shows all the characteristics of a wine that could reach great age, whilst also providing drinking pleasure at any time in its maturation cycle.

The wine is a deep dark ruby with violet undertones, and the nose offers lush plum, grape and blueberry aromas supported by rich spice notes, a lovely combination of freshness and intensity. On the palate dense, powerful fruit and rich tannins are well balanced, robust and compact, just what you want for a classic Vintage Port.

At this point it seems every year is an “atypical” year for weather in the Douro, and 2016 gave us challenges different from 2015’s atypical pattern. The winter months were warmer than usual and January and February wetter by far than the historical averages. The spring months (March – May) were cooler than normal but also extremely rainy. Then came a hot dry summer, and a perfect warm and dry harvest period which began mid-late September, after a welcome light rainfall that gave the grapes that last bit of freshness before harvest.

The 2016 Vintage Port blend rather unusually includes grapes from Quinta das Mós. With over a kilometer of river frontage, this low, north-facing quinta is usually our driest and first to harvest, but it seems 2016’s unusual weather patterns suited it well and the grapes matured to Vintage greatness.

In Portugal it is traditional to have fish the evening of the 24^th – bacalhau, octopus or skate. We would recommend a white for these dishes, particularly Claudia’s White 2015. In fact, this wine would also be superb with the turkey which is typical of English and North American Christmas dinners. A finely balanced blend of five different Portuguese grapes, Claudia’s White 2015 has an elegant and complex aroma that will delight your senses with an intriguing blend of slightly smoky and bright citrus notes. On the palate it delivers a well-structured and complex flavour with great freshness and minerality.

If your holiday meals will feature richer meats, such as a roast goose, game, or a crown roast of beef, or the Portuguese cabrito (roasted goat) or a rich lombo assado (roasted loin of pork), then you will want a superb red, and we recommend Q Grand Reserve 2014. Made from a trio of classic Port grapes this wine is maturing beautifully in bottle. Rich dark fruit flavours dominate both nose and palate, with a whiff of spices and a chocolatey richness, and power that extends into a wonderful long finish.

Finally… what to drink with the dried fruit flavours of fruitcakes and mince pies, or the wonderful eggy sugary richness of Portuguese fried Christmas sweets such as rabanadas, filhoses or sonhos? Port, of course. But here, we would recommend the 30 Year Old White Port. The flavour is too complex to put into mere words, but Claudia, who blended this, noted “at a certain point, it smells like honeycomb.” The finish never seems to end. That said, the refreshing acidity is just what you want to cut through the richness of your desserts. Also, honestly, this Port can be enjoyed as a well-earned dessert in and of itself – you may not want any pudding.

Enjoy your holidays!

“Quevedo is a family wine business”. Yes, but lots of families make wine, after all.

At Quevedo, being a family wine business means so much more than the fact that a lot of family members are involved in the enterprise. There are many small stories and details of family history that have shaped the flavour of our wines and the basis of our business in ways that are not immediately obvious. Here are a few such instances:

Why are Quevedo Ports a bit drier than the average?

Once I asked my grandpa João Quevedo this question, and I never forgot his answer. He said that sugars hide flavours. Sugars work like makeup, hiding what is behind, both good and bad flavours. “If you believe in your grapes and in your Port”, he says, “why make the Port so sweet? Let the sugars of the grapes ferment a little bit longer, make your Ports a bit drier and you will have more expression of your fruit”.

The ups and downs of the family business

There are some events during the last century that had an indelible effect on the evolution of the family business. One of these happened to my great grandfather Raul, when a foreign merchant based in Vila Nova de Gaia, that had been buying the Port from my family, went bankrupt. The merchant left my family, and certainly other families as well, with no payment for the previous two vintages.

This major financial loss for our small business created a financial and emotional drama within the family, and my grandfather believes that this setback, so late in a life which had been spent fighting to raise the family business, strongly affected his father-in-law Raul. It is one of the reasons that as soon as laws permitted, in the 1980s, the Quevedo family decided to establish our own independent wine brand, and to produce and sell finished wines, rather than sell all our grapes or harvest wines to the big Port shippers.

Realizing that Mum doesn’t need to know everything

When people ask me when I started tasting Port, I don’t recall it very well. Maybe at the age of 4, 5 or 6 years old. What I do remember is going to my grandparents’ house, where my grandpa João would give me a freshly made cookie and share with me few drops of a Port that he would get from a barrel in the basement of his house. I would have only a sip or two, but that would be enough to make me smile and feel the sweet perfume of grapes.

However, for a reason that only now I understand, for several months, maybe even a few years, there was no sipping of Port when having the cookie at grandpa João’s house. And I believe that happened because I told my parents, during dinner, that grandpa João gives me a drop of Port when I have a cookie. After that day, when my Mum furiously looked at my father without saying a word, no more Port with cookies was served by grandpa.

Both the impression made by those first few sips, and then missing the treat for those few years after I told Mum, are part of what made me appreciate Port even more as I grew older, and drew me into the business as an adult.

Sometimes one has a special relationship with vintages. For me, this is 1983, the year of my birth. Though it’s not unusual that I’ve frequently tasted wines from this vintage; however, a horizontal tasting of Ports from various producers is a rare event. In September 2013, we organized a tasting in the Douro region, at Quevedo’s winery, to honour the 30th anniversary of the 1983 Vintage.

Oscar Quevedo’s son is also born in 1983, and thus also has a special relation with this year. Hence the reason I asked him to complete the following sentences:

The Vintage Ports from 1983 …

OQ: the best Vintage ever produced!!

Special about wines from this vintage is …

OQ: elegance and persistence.

My favourite wine from 1983 is …

OQ: Gould Campbell

At Quevedo was the harvest of 1983 …

OQ: My father says it was not clear that was going to be a very good vintage, only few months after the harvest, when Winter arrived, Ports started to show the complexity and richness of flavour that we can still assess nowadays.

I personally drunk wines from 1983 for the first time …

OQ: probably in the early 1990’s

The perfect occasion for drinking Vintage Ports of 1983 is …

OQ: on every birthday party.



Weather and general info: 
1983 was an unusually dry year with a very long winter and a hot summer and autumn, which resulted in extremely highly variant wines. Some producers had suffered greatly from this vintage, including Cockburn’s. Their ’83 resulted in “Beauty and the Beast” – you’re required to open the bottle to know which variant you get.

Initially, the ’83 was compact and hard, an unattractive style compared to the fruity and concentrated 85. Thus, this vintage always stood in the shadows of his “big brother”. There is, however, a pleasant side effect for consumers, the price. The price is still economical despite nearly 30 years of bottle aging. The wines are rather austere and many wines have notes of dark chocolate and coffee.

Truly outstanding ports were not produced in 1983, but a good selection of very good ports were. Not only that, but they are at a stage of maturity for drinking at an attractive price-pleasure ratio. The best Vintage Ports should continue to develop nicely over the next two to three decades.

For lovers of statistics: after the tasting, each participant, which included some experts like Maria Maia and Jorge Pintão of Poças, Claudia Quevedo and Carlos Raposo from Niepoort, were allowed to give points. Up to 3 points were given to each of their personal favourites . “Wine of the night” was awarded to Gould Campbell (22 points) followed by Niepoort (14 points), Taylor (8 points), Quarles Harris and Grahams (7 points each). The tasting was semi-blind, and my tasting notes – listed below – are in alphabetical order.

• Borges: Wide-ripened colour with distinct shades of brown. The palate is elegant and well developed. Error-free and very pleasant to drink now. 17
• Churchill – Quinta Agua Alta: The only Single Quinta Vintage Port in the tasting and only the second Vintage Port of this producer, after 1982, ever. In the colour showed a mature brick red, very restrained nose. In the mouth rather light and elegant, ripe fruit with good acidity and well integrated alcohol. Should be drunk now, very good for a SQVP. 17
• Cockburn: Did not show his true potential, but that I know only from hearsay, because so far all bottles opened by me (three) were not optimal. 16
• Dow: Only slightly aged ruby red; beautiful structure, complex and harmonious; quite a lot of chocolate tones, and drier than others, matured berry fruit. Good acidity balance. Although Dow 80 is better, the 83 will continue to develop for at least two decades. 18
• Fonseca: Beautiful mature ruby red, still closed on the palate, needs air. Relatively large amount of acid, neat, rather something elegant, good middle class. 17
• Gould Campbell: Great Port, still dark colour with many red tones. Very fruity, full body. Just beginning to mature, has a good acidity and a long finish. For me this evening just beaten by Graham. 18 +
• 
Graham: is also one of the darkest ports of this tasting. Needs a lot of time and air. Very good, full-bodied, medium sweet, fleshy and fruity. Complex with herbs and coffee notes. In my opinion certainly one of the best Graham of the 70s and 80s. Will develop further, long finish. 18 +
• Kopke: Faulty bottle. From a good bottle, as I tasted some months ago, this is an elegant, rather far-ripened vintage, with distinct sweetness. NR
• 
Messias: A pleasant surprise, since I did not remembered this Port that well. Also quite wide aged colour. Elegant palate with nice coffee notes and savoury flavours, now in a very nice stage. 17
• Niepoort: Beautiful age-appropriate colour, slightly darker than Fonseca. On the palate, slightly sweeter than other, more recent fruit flavours and light toasty notes. Beautiful structure, medium long finish. 17 +
• Quarles Harris: Beautiful mature ruby colour, pleasant bouquet. Rather light body, well-developed, impeccable port, however, it lacks something special. 17
• Ramos Pinto: Very good colour, one of the darkest ports of the sample. Bouquet still closed, needs air. On the palate, full-bodied, fleshy, good acidity, strong, many fruit flavours and medium-long finish. One of my personal favourites of this Vintage. 18
• Real Companhia Velha: Faulty. Not drinkable. NR
• 
Taylor: Beautiful mature ruby red. Good structure, very pleasant to drink now, harmonious and well balanced. Mature fruit flavours, beautifully aged. I think should be drunk within the next decade. 18
• Warre: Pretty dark, but also with light brown tones. Very closed nose. Very good Port, rather elegant and well matured, sweetness is recognizable, with coffee notes and behind dark chocolate. Alcohol is perfect involved. Medium length finish. 18 +

Many thanks again to Oscar and Claudia Quevedo for providing the great location and great barbecue!

Christopher Pfaff