The video we made some months ago, “How to make Port Wine” was shorted and is finalist on Wine Spectator video contest. First, Wine Spectator asked for submissions; then, they selected nine videos for the big final, and now is the time for the public to elect the winner. I don’t really know how close or far are we of winning this competition. All I know is that I really need your help to make it to the first place.

Please take a look at all videos that Wine Spectator selected and vote for one! I hope the one of your preference is that  related to Port Wine The deadline for voting finishs on Sunday, September 18th. 2nd and 3rd place are annouced on 19th and the winner on the 20th. So please vote and spread the word!

Oscar

P.S. We failed to win this contest. The winner was “Zinfandel – Paso’s wine”, which in my opinion well deserves this prize. At least in one thing we did not fail, in put the name Port among Wine Spectator featured videos!

How many of you have already trodden grapes in a lagar? I do it at least once a year when my friends from the University come over to celebrate the harvest. We all go to Quinta das Aranhas, property of Sebastião Mesquita, a friend producer, and we enjoy for a couple of hours the warm temperatures of fermenting must. This is something that I really recommend and that you should do next September you come to the Douro.

Going back to this photo taken in 2008, yesterday, while I was presenting our wines in Warsaw, Poland, in a new wine bar that is selling our Ports (I’ll talk about that later), I got a tweet with this message: #nakedwines won online retailer of the year at the #oln awards and photo of foot treading @quevedo on the screen @thedorchester! It took me a while to understand but then I got it, our client in the UK, Naked Wines, won the award for best online retailer by Drinks Retailing Awards and on the big screen guess what? A photo of me and my friends treading grapes in a lagar!  So you know where you have to come if you want to be on the screen next time!

Oscar

This week was released the top 100 wines list of 2010 by the American magazine Wine Spectator. This is probably the most respected top 100 list, already on its 23rd edition. The selection is based on four criteria: quality; value; availability; and an X-factor that WS calls excitement. In this year’s list there are three Portuguese wines, all from the Douro: 2 red wines and 1 Vintage Port from 2007:

• ranking 9 with 94 points CARM Douro Reserva 2007
• ranking 14 with 100 points Dow 2007 Vintage Port
• ranking 22 with 96 points Quinta do Vallado Reserva 2007

Oscar

You know that we here, in our corner, love to hear what you think about our wines. So much that most of the time we don’t care too much about what the press says. In any case, and just to keep you informed about what is going on with our wines, I must tell you that the two Ports we launched in the last months were awarded by the International Wine Challenge. Quevedo Vintage 2007 got a silver medal while the Quevedo Colheita 1996 received a bronze medal. If you want to see other awarded wines, you can go to International Wine Challenge Awards 2010.

And you know, if you have something to say about our wines, write it now, or…. whenever you want!

Oscar

Dear readers of our blog, it is time to judge us. This time not by tasting our wines, but because we were nominated for Best Winery Blog from the Wine Blog Awards. I had never expected that a Port producer located in a remote region in the north of Portugal could attract the visibility for such a nomination!

This is the time for you to say what you think about our blog. And you only have until May 30th to vote. So please click here for the survey link and participate.

Now I’ll open a good bottle from the cellar, yep, I also celebrate nominations!!!

Oscar

Roy Hersh in the ForTheLoveOfPort web has recently promoted a feature called PORTraits. With the aim to create a compendium of Porto, Madeira and Douro pictures, the feature was free open to all who want to share their little treasures. The challenge finished mid December and the winners were announced in Roy’s newletter of January, issued early this week.

There are over 850 pictures in the photobase, some definitively very impressive. Take a look, it is worth. I was lucky to win the 5th place with a photo taken during a treading of grapes in Quinta das Aranhas. Ah, and I will also get a nice baseball cap with a bottle o Port and a ForTheLoveOfPort inscription.

Thank you ForTheLoveOfPort!

Oscar Quevedo

The top 10 wines in 2008 from the magazine Wine Spectator brought an excellent result for the Portuguese wines. The red Quinta do Crasto Reserva Old Vines 2005 ranks in #3 with 95 points from the magazine.

This is definitively an extraordinary prize for this dedicated family. But are also amazing news for the Portuguese wines, and mainly for the Douro wines, which year after year are more and more known and recognized by the world wine experts.

From Quevedo we would like to congratulate the winemaking team, which includes Manuel Lobo, Dominic Morris and Tomás Roquette and say thank you to put the name of Portugal in so recognized list!

Oscar Quevedo

Top 10 Wines:

1. Casa Lapostolle, Clos Apalta Colchagua Valley 2005, 96 points, Chile

2. Château Rauzan-Ségla, Margaux 2005, 97 points, France

3. Quinta do Crasto, Douro Reserva Old Vines 2005, 95 points, Portugal

4. Château Guiraud, Sauternes 2005, 97 points, France

5. Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe, Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau 2005, 95 points, France

6. Pio Cesare, Barolo 2004, 94 points, Italy

7. Château Pontet-Canet, Pauillac 2005, 96 points, France

8. Château de Beaucastel, Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2005, 96 points, France

9. Mollydooker Shiraz McLaren Vale Carnival of Love 2007, 95 points, Australia

10. Seghesio, Zinfandel Sonoma County 2007, 93 points, California