Quevedo Port Wine » Claudia’s Wine | Port Wine Producer in the Douro Valley of Portugal

Wines for the holidays

Quevedo — Fri, 22 Dec 2017 14:22:38 +0000

Time to pick your wines for the holiday meals and special get-togethers of family and friends.

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!

2013 Harvest in the Douro – all about to finish

Oscar Quevedo — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 15:48:44 +0000

Time doesn’t stop and we are slowly approaching the end of the harvest. Contrary to the norm, this year it rained during the picking and this fact played a very important role in the overall quality of 2013 wines. If we would divide the harvest in two parts we would have the weeks before and after the 27th of September. Until the 27th we harvested those parcels at lower altitude, which reach full ripeness early. At that time, in our mind we were thinking that grapes would improve if they could stay a few more days in the vine. After the 27th we asked ourselves why did we wait for so long to harvest the grapes. Thus, it is fair enough to ask what happened on September 27th… If you read the previous post about the 2013 harvest in the Douro you may have some clue. It rained for almost one week and as consequence, the quality of the grapes was threatened and affected. In areas with some slope and without retention of humidity the rain went down the hill and grapes were not that much affected. But those vines planted in flat soil with more humidity and low ventilation showed some rotten grapes. And one of the varieties that was most affected was Touriga Franca, which grows with a compact bunch and has thin skin.

As a very first impression so far, I would say that wines in general present a good dark ruby color, with fresh aroma, medium bodies with slightly short finish. Lets see how they develop during the next weeks/ months but the lack of concentration is a bit surprising. Well, maybe not that much unexpected if we have in mind that vines didn’t have enough water to finish the maturity of the grapes during September, mostly in the lower altitude areas. Of course there are exceptions to this lack of volume: those vines that produce very low yields, with small berries in which we can get and extract more tannins and structure. Time will tell us.

Oscar

Claudia’s 2009 among the 50 Great Portuguese Wines by Olly Smith

Oscar Quevedo — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 18:05:19 +0000

Since 2005 that Viniportugal has been inviting a prestigious journalist to select the 50 Great Portuguese Wines for the UK market. For the ninth edition, the journalist invited was Olly Smith, who presented last Thursday in London his list for 2013. In that list we are proud to announce that you will find one of our wines, Claudia’s 2009 red.

This is certainly a vitamin supplement, specially for us that tend to focus the major part of our energy in Port production. Claudia, the winemaker, was happy for this recognition on her reserve Douro red. It certainly does not change anything about us, but we understand this selection as a indication that we are following the right star.

Wines from the Douro dominated Olly’s list, with 3 still whites, 11 still reds, 1 Moscatel and 1 Port. Here is the list:

Vales de Ambrães – Avesso 2012 – Vinho Verde
Casa da Senra 2012 – Vinho Verde
Soalheiro 2012 – Vinho Verde
Alvarinho Solar de Serrade 2012 – Vinho Verde
FP 2012 – Bairrada
Quinta da Raza Arinto 2012 – Vinho Verde
Montes Ermos Reserva 2011 – Douro
Beyra Quartz 2011 – Beira Interior
Redoma 2011 – Douro
Quinta de la Rosa 2011 – Douro
Pato Frio Antão Vaz 2011 – Alentejo
Vinhas do Lasso 2010 – Lisboa
Dona Ermelinda 2011 – Península de Setúbal
Valle Pradinhos 2011 – Trás-os-Montes
Muros de Melgaço 2011 – Vinho Verdes
Quinta de Saes Encruzado 2011 -Dão
Quinta dos Roques Encruzado 2011 – Dão
Esporão Reserva 2011 – Alentejo
Arenae 2010 – Lisboa
Marquês de Borba 2011 – Alentejo
Almeida Garrett, DOC Beira Interior TNT 2010 – Beira Interior
Sexy 2011 – Alentejo
Zéfyro 2009 – Alentejo
Altano Quinta do Ataíde Reserva 2009 – Douro
PAPE 2010 – Dão
Claudia’s 2009 – Douro
Manoella Douro 2010 – Douro
Quinta Nova – Colheita 2010 – Douro
F’OZ 2011 – Alentejo
Palpite 2010 – Alentejo
Poeira 2010 – Douro
Vertente 2009 – Douro
Casa Cadaval Trincadeira Vinhas Velhas 2009 – Tejo
Tinto da Ânfora 2010 – Alentejo
Duas Pedras 2011 – Alentejo
Crasto Superior 2010 – Douro
Quinta de Foz de Arouce 2009 – Beiras
Quinta dos Quatro Ventos 2009 – Douro
Aliança Bairrada Reserva 2011 – Bairrada
Quinta dos Roques 2010 – Dão
Esporão Reserva 2010 – Alentejo
Cedro do Noval 2009 – Douro
Julia Kemper Touriga Nacional 2009 – Dão
CH, Chocapalha 2009 – Lisboa
Quinta de la Rosa Reserve 2010 – Douro
Quinta do Sagrado Reserva 2007 – Douro
Henriques & Henriques Verdelho 15 Years Old – Madeira
Adega Coop. Favaios Moscatel de Favaios Colheita 1980 – Douro
Família Horacio Simões Bastardo 2009 – Península de Setúbal
Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim Vintage Port – Douro

Other wine critics chosen for the UK Great 50 Portuguese Wines’ previous editions were: Richard Mayson, Charles Metcalfe, Tim Atkin, Simon Woods, Jamie Goode, Sarah Ahmed, Tom Canavan and Julia Harding. For 2013 Olly Smith decided to focus on wines between 7 and 30 pounds.

Enjoy your week-end and make a toast with a Portuguese wine!

Oscar