When they arrived at our winery, after had visited our main vineyard, Quinta Vale d’Agodinho, they tasted, in black glasses, a Rosé and a White Port. As some are very conservative about Port, it was interesting to see their reactions. They didn’t dislike, but they are generally not in love by Rosé Port!

Then I proposed a blind tasting of four different LBVs 2003. The one from Quevedo achieved very good results. Finally, and already at Quinta do Passadouro, where we had dinner, I had the pleasure to taste some very old Vintage Ports and a handful of Vintages 07. Between the 5 Vintage Port over 38 years old, my preferred were the Fonseca 1966, followed by the Graham’s 1948. What two stunning Ports, very different but incredibly nice! Thank you Derek, Alex, Andy, Julian and Christopher!

Oscar Quevedo

Vinexpo is over and I am back to S. João da Pesqueira. I have spent five very intense days in Bordeaux, where I had never been before. I just had time to visit one Chateau, Luchey-Halde, where took place the winery bloggers meeting (BTW, a really nice event, masterly organized).

From Vinexpo I bring some new friends from all around the world, a bunch of new wines tasted and the hope we can find an importer in France.

As in Prowein, in Vinexpo the IVDP also invited a sommelier, this time Stéphane Profit, to lead Port Wine tastings. These tastings took place at the IVDP’s stand, during the first four days of the show. Different wines from generally all producers were tasted and commented by over 30 people each session.

As the Rosé Port is now a hot subject, I asked Mr. Profit to share with us his opinion about it. Some say it is the prostitution of Port, others just love it. Lets see what Stéphane Profit thinks.

Oscar Quevedo

Editor’s note: early May we had the pleasure to receive the visit of Mr. Roy Hersh, from For the Love of Port, during the Fortification Tour 2009. On Mr. Hersh’s newsletter of June 2009, which is always one of the best sources of information about Port, he comments on our recent launch Quevedo Rosé. Please read below his notes. Oscar

From what I have been told, this wine is now available in Portugal, The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. I tried it while visiting the Quevedo family and it is a very sweet version and especially if mixed in a Port Tonic this should be a great success. This was the third Port producer’s Pink/Rose Port I’ve tried so far.

In a future newsletter, I will recount our recent visit to Quevedo during the 2009 Fortification Tour in May. We had a really terrific time at their property, which to put this in perspective, is very close to Quinta de Vargellas in the Douro Superior. The wines and especially their Ports, from LBVs dating back to 1968, a few Vintage Ports, a very solid 10 year old Tawny and a handful of Colheitas too, were a tremendous and pleasant surprise!

Not prepared to release my tasting note yet, but I must say that the 2007 Quevedo Vintage Port that I had that afternoon, as well as the bottle I tasted blind over three days, was mighty impressive. This is a Port shipper to keep an eye on. I can only hope that they will find an importer in the USA!Speaking of which, I believe they are coming over to America next month to partake in the American Wine Bloggers Conference. If you have not visited the Quevedo blog as of yet … go check it out.

Last and definitely not least: There is more great news from the Quevedo family. They will be releasing their first Colheitas to the aforementioned marketplaces, which will include the 1992, 1994 and 1995 vintage Colheitas. We tried others as well, going back to 1968, but that is a story for another day. My favorite of the new releases was the 1994 which was wonderful for such a youngster!

The first day of Vinexpo is over and I have to confess I was expecting more visitors. During the morning there were very few people. After lunch more people came over our stand to try our Ports and Douro wines. Our stand is integrated in the IVDP’s general stand as many others Douro producers. The big Port shippers have their own stands. There are few other Douro producers with stands on the Viniportugal area.

There is a zone reserved by the IVDP for Port Innovation, where a waiter offers Dry White Port and Rosé Port. Very interesting iniciative, where our Rosé Port can be found. Besides Quevedo’s, three other producers have Rosé Port: Croft, Cruz and Poças. From what we have seen and heard, Rosé Port is being very well accepted and most young people love it.

Time to rest!

Oscar Quevedo

Suddenly some dark gray clouds started to come over from the east, while the west side of the sky was blue and clean. The sky was so beautiful, it seemed like S. João da Pesqueira was dividing the territory of the happy and the furious God, the blue and the gray sky.

This picture was taken with my cellphone few minutes before a big storm got dark S. João da Pesqueira. I was in the south border of the Douro Wine Region, in Valongo dos Azeites, 15 miles away from home but already missing it. As I love rain, I would have loved to walk in the rain through the vineyards…

This storm dropped the temperatures for some hours and did not cause major damage in the vines. No hail reported. At that time, and following-up on the early week post, our major vineyard Quinta Vale d’Agodinho was already treated against mildew and oidium. We are continuing the treatments in the other vineyards.

I hope not to be far away when the next storm visits the Douro!

Oscar

“Colheita” (harvest in English) is a designation for Port Wine made of grapes from a single harvest (the name doesn’t lie!!) that has aged in oak for at least seven years. However, we decided to let these two Colheitas stay there much longer, 16 and 14 years respectively, resulting in a more complex Port.

Some of those who visited us during the last weeks already had the chance of tasting these wines, but the majority has not, yet. That is why I would like to invite you again to come over to S. João da Pesqueira for a tasting and let us know how do you feel about them. We are sure you’ll bring home a bottle of each!

See you soon, Oscar

During the last weeks sudden weather changes have affected the vinegrowing of the Douro Valley. The last days of May were warm and not windy at all, which is perfect for pollination. We were really happy because we thought we would not need to spray our vines and therefore we could minimize the use of chemicals in our grapes. But between the 4th and the 6th of June it rained a lot, increasing the humidity, though with very low temperaturas (under 60º F or 16º C), which is cold enough to keep powdery mildew and oidium away from the vines. Between the 7th and the 9th of June the sun came back, temperatures increased to 80º F (or 27º C), which is quite dangerous due to the high level of humidity on the leaves and on the soil. But again from the 10th until the 14th of June it rained and the temperature went down. Today is hot again, temperature is well over 90º F (or 32º C), and we are worried about the weather. We did not spray the vines yet, we have just used sulfur powder to combat oidium. We are not protected against powdery mildew and some signs of worry are growing on my dad’s face…

Oscar

P.S. As suggested by one of our readers in Canada, we are also showing the temperatures in Celsius scale and not just in Fahrenheit scale. Thank you Steve for your suggestion!

During the wedding reception the red wines we had were Quinta Vale d’Agodinho 2003 and Cortes de Cima Chaminé. We also had Quevedo Rosé Port as aperitif and a chilled Quevedo White Port. With the deserts and cheeses we tried the Colheita 1994, which you will read about in  the upcoming post.

Bruno and Lucia are now flying to Greece where they will spend a 2 weeks honey-moon.

Oscar e Pedro

We have been preparing this moment for a while. All started in mid September 2008 during the harvest. Claudia and me were discussing about the best moment to start harvesting. At the same time we both wanted to try our winemaking capabilities by making our own version of a Rosé Port. This is a easy-drinking and refreshing Port, with which we were identified.

We knew that our vineyard Quinta da Trovisca would give us the best grapes for our purpose: young vines at an altitude of over 1800 feet; possibility to achieve over ripeness maintaining a good acidity. But the most important reason to choose Quinta da Trovisca’s grapes was the varietals we decided to use for our Rosé Port: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Sousão. If the first two varietals are consensual due to their flowers and fruity flavors, sousão is more mineral and well known by its coloring “skills”. At the end, in the final blending, We decided to use 30% of sousão, which could give us a plus of acidity, 40% touriga nacional and 30% touriga franca.

Our job is now finished, Quevedo Rosé is ready to be enjoyed with your best friends!

Click here for the Press Release of the Quevedo Rosé.

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• Touriga in the Glass! (vinespot.blogspot.com)
• Getting to Know Portugal’s Douro Valley (vinessetoday.com)
• Churchill’s Ports and table wines, including the 2007s

Please tweet this survey, blog it or put it on your facebook account!

On behalf of David, Francisco, Gonçalo e Pedro, thank you for your collaboration.

Oscar