2015 was the best year ever for our family business. Actually, I did not want it to finish! And the cherry on the top of the cake arrived few weeks before Christmas when the latest reviews from the American magazines were published: Wine Advocate, Wine Spectator and Wine & Spirits. For those that like these ratings, here are the results:

Prior to the publication of these reviews, other publications had tasted and reviewed our wines and Ports. On the image above you can find the most relevant reviews given to our wines throughout 2015.

But, before I finish, let me remind you of this: You, dear lonely consumer, are the most important wine critic of all. Without you, we wouldn’t exist.

Cheers,

The Winter was cold and dry, and although Spring brought warmer temperatures well above the long-term averages, rain was still too low. The vine cycle started about a week earlier than normal. In terms of quantity, it was a regular year, with about 3,5 tons per hectare. Summer arrived and stayed slightly cooler than it normally does, which was a great sign. The vines didn’t have plenty of water reserves, but at least July and August were not being too severe, and even more important, the overnight temperature in August was as low as 12ºC.

In September, the grapes were looking great, no diseases, no dehydration or raisins. All was in line for a good harvest, but far from fantastic. And when the rain arrived on Tuesday, September 15th and Wednesday, September 16th we immediately got very concerned. The two previous years, 2013 and 2014, were severely damaged by rain during the harvest. But surprisingly 2015 was different. The steady rain came in two days and was followed by strong winds that quickly helped to dry the grapes and leaves.

When the rain started pickers were sent home for a few days. And what happened was that the quality of the grapes improved tremendously day after day. We were very happy on Monday, September 21st when we resumed harvest and started crushing grapes again. It was amazing to see that this generous amount of rain in the middle of the harvest was changing the quality of the wines so much.

Hope you taste this story soon, in our wines. And if you want to read more about the harvest in the Douro check Graham’s blog article.

Cheers,

Claudia, Teresa and Oscar

Now that the harvest of the white grapes is over, I thought you might want to know a bit more about the most popular white grapes of the Douro. How do they look and taste like. I kindly asked the tireless and enthusiastic Tanya Garnham to photograph representative bunches to show you the on-going process. On the other hand, I researched online an accurate description about four of the most planted grapes in the Douro. On the website of the Portuguese Wine Club Co Uk there is a great description about dozens of Portuguese classic grape varieties either red and white. Here are the main four we use in our blends:

Arinto

This is a versatile grape, grown in most of Portugal’s wine regions. In the Vinho Verde area, it goes by the name of Pedernã. It makes vibrant wines with lively, refreshing acidity, often with a mineral quality, along with gentle flavours reminiscent of apple, lime and lemon. Arinto-based wines can keep well but are also delicious young. Because it keeps its acidity even in hot climates, Arinto is often added to other lower-acid white grapes to improve blends – especially in the hot Alentejo and Ribatejo. Its good acidity also makes it a great ingredient for sparkling wines.

Gouveio

This Douro grape is now planted right across Portugal and has recently become particularly popular in the Alentejo. It produces fresh, lively wines with good acidity, plenty of body, and fresh, citrus aromas, along with notes of peach and aniseed resulting in a lovely balance. It ages well in bottle. For years it was known as Verdelho in the Douro, which led to confusion, as Gouveio has nothing to do with the Verdelho of Madeira.

Malvasia Fina

This is a grape of inland northern Portugal, especially the Douro, Dão and Beira Interior. Malvasia Fina wines are subtle, not particularly intense, reasonably fresh and moderately complex. You may detect a hint of molasses, a suggestion of beeswax and nutmeg, and the wine may appear slightly smoky even if it has not been matured in wood. Generally used for blending, it also contributes to base blends for sparkling wines in cooler areas and/or when harvested early, for instance in Távora-Varosa and Lamego.

Viosinho

This grape survives for the most part scattered here and there in the old mixed white vineyards of the Douro. Traditionally, Viosinho has been an unpopular variety with growers because of its very low yields. It’s only recently that winemakers have realised what a treasure it is, as a component both in Port and in unfortified Douro white blends. It makes full-bodied but fresh, fragrant, well-balanced wines, performing best in hot, sunny climates.

Other grapes could be mentioned here, such as Códega or Rabigato. Maybe for another post!

Now that we know what each grape brings to the blend, I’ll run to the winery to see if our blends smell and taste like what we read above!

Cheers,

Oscar

Before we turned on the engine of the pick up truck that drove us to the fields, we knew that this year at the 10th of August we would find grapes with higher content of sugar than any of the previous years. Despite the cold and wet Winter, Spring arrived earlier and brought plenty of warm weather. And that means that vines started the new production cycle a few days before its normal timing. March’s bud break happened before and since then green shooting and new grapes growth has been consistent, as there was no cold temperatures to slow down the cycle.

The results for the pollen counting that took place during flowering showed higher than average production. We were expecting about 20% more of grapes to be harvested from our vineyards. However, the very dry Spring and Summer dropped this forecast because, due to the lack of water in the soil, berries are not as big as in other years. They are actually, quite small. So, this harvest we may have more berries but they are certainly smaller resulting in what we expect to be a similar vintage to the average in terms of quantity.

In terms of quality, things are showing very good. There are no deceases, berries are small which will bring concentration and tannins. In terms of colour, the pigmentation is still low, so we will need to wait several days to see how easily the skin will release the colour to the wine, and this is a critical point to achieve the best quality – Vintage Year – in 2015.

In terms of acidity, the cold nights have been helping to keep the figures at acceptable levels, freshness of the grapes has not been affected by the hot weather.

We don’t know yet when start the harvest. But by looking at the sugar level and day we started in the previous year, we can say that it shall be in early September:

• 2007 10.49%, September 19th
• 2009 11.86%, September 14th
• 2010 10.05%, September 18th
• 2011 12.07%, September 12th
• 2012 9.13%, September 28th
• 2013 10.9%, September 23rd
• 2014 11.2%, September 8th
• 2015 12.38%, ?

This being said, when we returned home after the visit to Quinta Vale d’Agodinho there were shy smiles on our faces. The picture is quite fine, but we still have in mind that the odds of the two previous harvests were changed during the harvest by several days of intense rain. And this year it can happen the same. But if it doesn’t, then start finding some room in your cellar, you will want to stock up on this vintage’s Port!

Oscar

Many years later, in 1985, as a result of massive emigration, urban migration or bad demand projection, the Spanish side stopped the train connections to the Portuguese border. Three years later, in 1988 the Portuguese Prime Minister Mário Soares took a similar decision and canceled the connection to Barca d’Alva. The last train stop from Porto was now Pocinho, located 19km northwest of Barca d’Alva. Since then, between Barca d’Alva and Pocinho lies a dead railroad, almost eaten by the nature. But on this narrow path you can enjoy breathtaking landscapes of the Douro valley. There, you feel an outsider, totally out of place. Despite the very dry and arid weather conditions, locals insist in getting something from the land, and plant olive trees, vines, almond trees and sometimes citric trees along the river. These natives never give up!

Few months ago my friend and former blogger here, Pedro, challenged his friends to walk from Freixo de Espada à Cinta to Pocinho in two days. And that is what we did last weekend. First day, on Saturday, we walked from the beautiful, old and generous town of Freixo de Espada à Cinta to Barca d’Alva. Once in Barca d’Alva and after a refreshing dive in the Douro river and a beer at Chico’s Bar, we followed the old and inactive railroad and walked a couple of km further west. At 7.30pm, after walking for 10 hours, we found an abandoned house next to the railroad and made it our base for that night.

On the next morning, after sleeping for 7 hours outside under an intense and cool moonlight, and without any incident, we continued to walk along the old railroad towards Pocinho. We got there by 4.30pm, very tired, but on time to catch the train to Porto. On our way to Pocinho we crossed several vineyards, among them Quinta da Granja (Ferreira), a new plantation and hotel of Quinta do Vallado, Quinta da Cabreira (to Quinta do Crasto) and Quinta de Castelo Melhor (Duorum). In total we walked over 50 km, many hours with temperatures above 30ºC. We figured out how hard and boring is to walk along the railroad – stones – railway s – stones – wood stave – stones…. But with good friends and an unforgettable view this marathon is well worth. It was a weekend to remember, and certainly to share with you as this is among the most extraordinary adventures I have ever done.

Oscar

Oscar

Related articles

• Port beyond a digestive

To dispose of this young sediment, we wait until the solid particles are already at the bottom of the container and then decant the wine. Time and cold temperatures help to sink the particles to the bottom.

The question being, what do we do with the sediment that represents about 1.5%-2% of all wine? If we wait too long, it will continue to concentrate. But there is another option, sediment can be filtered by a machine.

In the video below, you can watch a rotating cylinder filtering out the sediment through a tight filter. On the surface of the cylinder, we put diatomaceous earth, a fantastic filtering agent. The wine, which we don’t see in the process, is clarified before returning to the tank. What comes out from the cylinder is a dense, rather dry, not toxic sediment that is later used for the spirits industry. This sediment we sell to distilleries as they can still use it to make spirit, through distillation. It can also be used to make tartaric acid.

But in case you want to have the same experience as the old English lady, drop us a line and we will keep a bit of sediment for you. Or better yet, come over to our winery and enjoy sediment with a glass of wine!

Cheers!

Oscar

When someone asks a winemaker (one that knows where the grapes are coming from) why his wines taste a particular way, they will generally say that the wine reflects the provenience of the grapes. We all say that terroir is key to make the wines taste the way they do. The influence of the soil, age of the vines, vine training, productivity, protection from winds, vine density, sun exposure, rainfall level, and so on, all influence the quality of the grapes in various ways. But for those that know the Douro, location can sometimes be confusing. The Douro valley, extends for over 100km, 250.000 hectares, elevating from 50 to 1000 meters. As Paul Symington recently mentioned in a conference, the Douro vineyards alone is equivalent to approx. 40% of the total area of vines planted in Germany. That’s a lot of vines! Not only that, but the microclimates are numerous! The location of the vineyard, its elevation, rainfall level, average temperature and sun orientation make it close to impossible to pinpoint exactly what factor influences a wine’s flavor, and in the end, quality. Some weeks ago, on an ADVID seminar, I came across several maps of the Douro elaborated by Gregory Jones from South Oregon University. I put two very interesting maps from Jones in this article so we can all see how temperatures and rain influence the different locations of the Douro. There are a couple of things we can conclude:

– as the elevation rises, temperatures drop and average rainfall level goes up

– temperatures rise and rain drops as we move away from the coast, this is, as we move West to East;

Now the question is, how can you feel these changes in temperature and rainfall in the wine? I might suggest the following:

– the closer to the basin of the Douro, and farther East the vineyard is, the more concentration and well ripened flavors you’ll find in the wine – not to mention, more tannins and longer aging potential.

– the higher elevation, you’ll find greater freshness, elegance and lighter wines, which are ready to drink young.

But maybe I’m crazy? Just maybe you’ve found a wine that doesn’t follow this pattern at all? If so, share it with us! Let us know if you disagree with something I wrote or disagree entirely. We all learn from discussions, so never be shy to ask the winemaker where the grapes are coming from. It’s the best way to understand the wines you drink.

Oscar

Another bit of Trivia to put under your belt is that our main grapes have been ripening at different rates: while Touriga Franca is just now reaching its pinnacle ripeness, Tinta Roriz was jumping off the vines two weeks ago! Not only that, but Tinta Roriz is currently showing better color concentration, complexity and balanced flavors, when compared with Touriga Franca or Touriga Nacional. Hence why we believe that 2014 is going to be the year of the Tinta Roriz!

Currently, our white grapes, and red grapes from the river side (A and B grade), have been dutifully harvested, but there are still plenty of grapes to go! Our plan, sit back and relax! Because despite the vineyards being fabulous for mud wrestling, they’re for from ideal for harvesting. We need time for the vines to dry out, to obtain their intense concentration once again – nothing that a few days of sun shine couldn’t provide.

In the previous post, I may have mentioned that 2014 could be a vintage year, but no more! The rain killed what looked like a promising harvest, and the Baixo Corgo and even the Cima Corgo just can’t take it.

That said, we may not have a Vintage year, but there’ll still be plenty of wines that will benefit from the funky weather!

Oscar

Fortunately, we’ve been lucky this year! The temperatures during the day have hovered around +30ºC, while nights have been cool, with temperatures going below 15ºC and sometimes as far as 12ºC. The cool, brisk evening temperatures allow the vine to maintain higher levels of acidity in the berries which will promote longer aging in bottle.

If you rack your brain back to 2012, you’ll remember our “riveting” conversation about the important of humidity in the soil. When water levels are low, vines shift to survival mode, and essentially, quit helping the grapes. Fortunately, this is not the case this year! The water levels have been good, but could potentially use a few more buckets of water this August.

The only thing that didn’t help, as mentioned in a previous post, were the cold and humid days during fruit set, which reduced the number of fertilized flowers. Here is a table with values for the potential alcohol on August 10th of previous years and the day when we started harvesting:

• 2007 10.49%, September 19th
• 2009 11.86%, September 14th
• 2010 10.05%, September 18th
• 2011 12.07%, September 12th
• 2012 9.13%, September 28th
• 2013 10.9%, September 23rd
• 2014 11,2%, ?

We still have a long way until the harvest – five or six weeks yet – so many things can change. But at least we can report that 2014 is certainly better than 2012 and probably better than 2013. At this point, it’s just a matter of patience; which is difficult when it feels like the day before Christmas!

Oscar