Parambos, Carrazeda de Ansiães

Winter is approaching quickly at the same pace that days get shorter. Temperatures in the Douro have been barely positive, which is quite normal for the season. Usually, at this time of the year rains often. Once or twice a week I would say. However, after the long days of rain in October which helped to spoil the grapes and part of the harvest in the Douro, very little rain came afterwards. These last days the moisture is coming only from the compact fog that has been covering the valley. Although this makes it harder to handle winter as the humidity is very high, the fog actually creates stunning landscapes. And this photo is a good example of those landscapes. The photo was taken in the way to Tua village, on the north bank of the river.

Next time you plan to come to the Douro, you may want to consider a visit on winter. It is a quite different scenario, but If you do so, just make sure you bring a good coat.

Oscar

Oscar

And then you realize this is not a dream and you are quite awake. And you smile again.

Oscar

I’m very please to be invited by Roy Hersh – a leading voice in the US talking about Port – to be part of this section of the forum and I had a great time as some questions made me think and reflect about a bunch of things!

Some of the questions were related with using social media to promote our wines, others related with the last harvests we had in the Douro and about the quality of Douro and Port wines. Among others, a question included strategies to launch our wines in a country where wine consumption is just now emerging. And more.

If any of these questions grabbed your attention, open a bottle of Port and visit For the Love of Port forum.

Cheers,

Oscar

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• Wine Wisdom: Celebrate the holidays with Port

This hug worked like a honest and simple way of making the welcoming easier and simplify the conversation, for that that was a business dinner. I never expected an almost unknown Londoner receiving me with such a friendly hug. I do hug my friends in Portugal, we need to touch people to show our attention and satisfaction for those we have around us. But I thought in England it would be different. Fortunately it was not, so let me just ask you dear reader of this blog post, next time we see each other, please, give me a hug!

Oscar

The wine consumer is also suffering with this, not only because VAT is rising in many countries (from 2010 until 2012 14 out of 27 of the EU countries rose VAT) but also because politicians are trying to further rise tax on alcohol consumption.

Politicians still ignore the merits of wine, treating it as heavy alcohol. Brazil has a Machiavellian plan to reduce the imports of wine in order to protect local production, which actually is tiny, mostly of table grapes and when for wine is very expensive. England is also preparing a new bill to increase the alcohol tax, as points the Economist magazine in a recent article. More countries may come next.

I find it hard to understand. We know that too much alcohol is not good for our health. Alcohol may create addiction, leading to further problems in case of too severe consumption. But, many of us who drink fine wine (putting spirits and other rough stuff apart) do it to complement a meal. On the table we have bread, rice, meat, vegetable, fruit and a glass of wine. That is the so spoken Mediterranean way of drinking wine. One or two glasses of wine a day, almost every day and almost always with food and it just helps or blood and heart. That is what the World Health Organizations suggest when says “(…) the pleasure and health benefits of moderate wine consumption have to be recognized.”

If at least we would see some economic relief, politicians’ tax hangover would finish and the merits of moderate wine consumption could be recognized also by the bureaucrats.

Oscar

P.S. One day after posting this text, found an article from Harvard Medical School about the benefits of resveratrol, a chemical found in red wine.

So the best case scenario would be a two or three week period of rain to help increase the level of water in the soil followed by a period of dry weather. These are just wishes and sometimes they are accomplished, but not  always.

Oscar

Harvest time at the Douro; a wonderful but tough period of the year for all the wineries. Eugène and me (Monique) were there in September 2011.

My brother has been a Port lover for the last three years. Last year he met Oscar in Holland in Nieuwegein at a wine tasting evening. Oscar invited Eugène to come to the winery to pick some grapes during the harvest. Well, Eugene started to make his trip to the Douro and almost one year later, just a few weeks before leaving to Portugal, he invited me. I had to arrange everything with my husband (Ronald) and kids (Jelle and Sietse) and at my work too. All worked out positively. I was the lucky one that had the opportunity to go to the Douro with my brother Eugène. After a full day of work in the hospital – I am a nurse – we left Amsterdam by plane at night and arrived to Porto just in time to pick up our Clio at the car rental of the airport.  After one short night at the Ibis Hotel we went to Oporto for a tasting of some very nice Port Wines: Old Tawny Ports and Vintage Port. I write it all in capitals because of the respect for the Port Wine of the Douro.

We started the trip to Quevedo’s winery in S. Joao da Pesqueira; our final destination of the Douro trip. After two and a half hours driving, it was about 6pm when we arrived at the winery. We met Oscar (junior) and Claudia, his sister. It was a warm welcome. Oscar showed us the winery in great lines and let us try one of his Port Wines.  We saw that it was a very busy time. Harvest time is the most intensive time of the year. And still than, the family was so open, friendly and they had always time to show parts of the winery and explain how the process of the grapes was going.  We got to know the parents of Oscar and Claudia too. We even were invited for dinner on the Thursday of our stay. It was so nice to meet Mr and Mrs Quevedo. We got to know this very hard working family.  One of the friends we met at the reunion weekend told us about Oscar. After finishing studies, Oscar worked at a bank. He made a change in his career when his grandfather died. Oscar wanted to save the winery and started working for the Quevedo Winery. He, Oscar, changed in a positive way. He found the job for his life. He became a happier guy than ever.  Somewhere in the evening Oscar brought us to the house in Valongo dos Azeites. It was amazing to see such a beautiful house in such a beautiful surrounding. We were really surprised. The house belongs to the family. It was just restored, we could still smell the paint.

The next day we had to be at the winery at 7:00 am. We got a pair of scissors to pick the grapes. And that was it, that was the tool, and a hat for the sun and the right working clothes. We had to work at rocky places also on hilling tops. It was work where you get some more condition. It’s like going to the gym and working your muscles. Well, we went with our Clio to the house of the parents of Oscar. On our way we saw a beautiful sunrise.  There we met the father of Oscar, Mr Quevedo, Oscar Quevedo. With his jeep / pick-up truck and some other people from Romania and Bulgaria we drove to the vineyard. It was a very rocky, narrow and windy off the road. We enjoyed the view so much. In the beginning, it was around 7:30 am, it was very chilly in the vine raw up the hill. Then, when the sun rose and the warmth of the sun rays started to do their work, it became in all of a sudden very warm. It was a big moment to pick up the first grapes. This was for we came for. Picking grapes, harvesting at Quevedo’s winery. It gave us a big kick. It also was very nice to work with people from abroad. Their goal was very different of our goal. Two separate worlds. It made me think about the differences in the world too. We are very lucky with the way we live here in Holland and that we have the opportunity to visit Portugal in the way we did in this harvest trip.

The funniest thing was that when Eugène started cutting the very first stem of the very first bunch of grapes, he cut his finger; it started bleeding, no it was not the liquid of the red grapes, it was really blood. I put some ‘homemade’ bandage around his finger and he has to do with it because nobody has any bandage in his/her pocket.  In the afternoon it happened to me… Luckily, it was also the last time we cut ourselves because we decided to buy some garden gloves in the afternoon at the store in the main street of S. Joao da Pesqueira. Because I loved the gloves and the scissors I bought a few sets for my friends and myself to use in Holland.  At about 9.30 am we’ve had a half a hour rest. Oscar senior and junior brought us to the village where they served a good cup of coffee and very good pastries. Portugal is famous for its pastry’s! I can confirm you now it is true!  Coming back to the vineyard we started the second part of the day picking grapes. When one parcel of the vineyard was finished, Oscar drove us to another part of the quinta… it was really rocky… now and then a hole…. Suddenly we got stuck and the truck almost turned over. Luckily there were strong men who got the car on its four wheels again.

At 1.00 – 2.00 pm we had lunch and after the lunch we took a big nap at the top of the hill of the vineyard. From 2.00 – 5.00 pm we had the last shift of grape-picking. When we finished at 5pm, it was time for the pickers to rest and get their body strong enough for the next day, for the family Quevedo it was different: the big work started and went on and on and on, even by night they have to control the process of the grapes to finally make the authentic  Port Wine of the Douro.    The most wonderful things will be made here, at the winery by Claudia. Of course no Port Wine without joint work of Oscar junior, Oscar senior. And never forget Mrs. Quevedo who is doing all the invisible  things around this hardworking family.  For now we say thank you for the wonderful time at your place, your hospitality and kindness. We loved to pick the grapes but we even love more the taste of Port Wine! In Holland, Quevedo Port Wine is at the distance of a two-minut walk of a Jumbo Supermarket. This way, I always stay close to Quevedo’s Port Wine and keep fresh in my memory a wonderful harvest time at the Douro with the family Quevedo.

Monique de Jager

We always learn something while reading a book or a magazine, even if it is the supermarket catalogue. Books that really please us are those which can grab our attention for hours, taking us to a place far way from where we are and absorbing us so much that we can’t even stop reading it. Oz’s book is one of those. Before start reading, I thought it was going to be enjoyable but very light and simple. I was totally wrong. The Wine Atlas is actually very complete and detailed. The Douro valley is often referred because of its climate, soil or landscape and always very accurately. It is a very nice guide for beginners and also for those more advanced into wine. I strongly recommend it. Turn the TV set off earlier and don’t be afraid of opening it. It is well worth your time and your friends will thank you for what you will teach them at next wine tasting!

Oscar

2. a very cold February, to help wines to clarify

3. sunshiny March so blooming almond trees will look gorgeous

4. rainy April, creating enough reserves of water in the soil for the hot and dry Summer

5. warm and dry May free of diseases which so much affected our production in 2011

6. good weather for at least one day of June, the St. John day, June 24th for a dry rabelo’s regata in the Douro river

7. hot and dry July wherever I go for holidays

8. a couple of days of rain in August to re-hydrate vines

9. clear and warm September for a dry and happy harvest

10. foggy and cold October will help out on the ripeness of our olives

11. warm first week of November so the cheastnuts will taste better with the new wine on St. Martins day (Nov 11th)

12. anything for December is okay, as long as we feel happy for the last 11 months

Oscar