News archives 2006

www.infoportwine.com
News archives 2006.
All articles older than 1 to 3 months are entered in News archives. We start with a title list with accompanying dates. You will find the full articles by linking the titles.

By now Hersh has published an extensive article under the new regime on the Vintages 2004 with a complete harvest report, buying information and tasting notes on 24 (Single Quinta) Vintages. This information is no longer available for free, with the exception of a preface.

Roy and his partner Mario Ferreira have announced their next trip in May 2007 which will combine visits to Oporto/Vila Nova de Gaia and the Douro region (for the first time) with the island of Madeira. These are very exclusive excursions for the discovery Port and Madeira. The trip is limited to ten guests. More on this trip can be found at: http://fortheloveofport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=30

New online shop.
30/12/06. After six months of pre-launch preparation the Portuguese Port wine shop www.theportwine.com is now online. It is an initiative of the two friends T. Bastos and J. Soares with their company Z & T - Comércio de Vinhos Lda.

Their site is available in Portuguese, English and French. At the moment Port wines of sixteen houses are available. The prices vary from 5.74 to 278.54 Euros. Auctions are also possible.

Double Magnums of Porto Solene.
30/12/06. Wine Cluster Co, the mother company of Porto Solene, has issued a press release about the launch of double Magnums of its Reserve Ruby and Reserve Tawny:

“250 Years of Douro - 250 Double Magnum Port Wine Bottles (Unique Edition)
“In 1756, the Douro wine region, where the mythical Port wine is produced, became the first in the world to be demarcated and delimitated.
”250 years later, Wine Cluster Co. celebrates this historical date with the release of an absolute exclusive edition, unique and unrepeatable, of 250 numbered double magnum (3litres) units of Port wine - celebrating a vivid praise of the wine, the region, its people and the country.
“Through a delicate and handcrafted process, all bottles are individually filled, numbered, labelled and packed.
“Created from the Porto Solene concept (500 ml) whose qualities of luxury, design and excellence have already collected multiple awards worldwide, this numbered and limited edition, with a 52 cm tall bottle of transparent glass is brought to you in a black case (59x17x15 cm) made from an ultra-light and spongy material. While the glass’s transparency allows you to observe the Port wine’s astonishing nuances, the case will present you with matchless tactile and visual sensations. A universe of words related with the Porto Solene concept, translated into five different languages and engraved using laser technology, shapes the bottle’s structure, and offers a never before seen beauty to this edition.”

These Magnums can be bought in the Club del Gourmet of El Corte Inglês in Lisbon and Vila Nova de Gaia and through Wine Cluster Co.
For more information see: www.portosolene.com See also: News archives 2006

Link of the months January and February 2007.
30/12/06. For these two months we have chosen www.jhandresen.com
Andresen is one of the few Port houses which is 100% owned by a Portuguese family. The brand specifically profiles itself by its great Colheitas and award-winning Tawnies.

The website has rigid forms and is light of colour. The texts are only available in English. The general information is good. The beautiful product packagings especially catch the eye.

Links page: changes in December 2006.
30/12/06. We added to Port links:
- www.quintasantoantonio.pt
- www.quinta-das-aveleiras.com
- www.quintadocrasto.pt
- www.qtastaeufemia.com Quinta de Santa Eufêmia.
- www.theportwine.com Portuguese online shop.
- www.quintadosilval.com
- www.adegavilareal.com Adega Cooperativa de Vila Real.

In the section Port links www.fortheloveofport.com has been changed to http://fortheloveofport.com

We removed from Port links:
- www.amorim-group.pt/ing/burmester.html
- www.hotelburmester.com

We added to Port tourism links:
- www.quintasantoantonio.pt
- www.quinta-das-aveleiras.com
- www.casademendiz.com
- www.casavermelha.com Manor House Tourism.
- www.cm-freixoespadacinta.pt Moradias do Douro International.
- www.quintanova.com Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo.
- www.quinta-do-passadouro.com/douropass/quinta-de-santa-luzia.html Holiday homes.
- www.quintadoportal.com
- www.quintadosilval.com
- www.quintadovallado.com

We removed from Port tourism:
- www.hotelburmester.com
- www.assec.pt/casa-do-coro
- www.piscosnet.com/casa-das-freiras/index.html

Sales numbers January - November 2006.
30/12/06. The sales of Standard Ports have decreased in this period. However, the sales of the more important Special Categories have increased. The latest numbers of the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto are as follows:

-         the volume of all Port sold decreased by 2.2%.
-         the revenue of all Port sold decreased by 1.6%.

-         the volume of the Special Categories sold increased by 4.7%.
-         the revenue of the Special Categories sold increased by 2.8%.

The complete information can be found at: http://www.ivdp.pt/pagina.asp?idioma=0&codPag=73&codSeccao=6&

IVDP events calendar as of January 2007.
30/12/06. The Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto has planned the following events in France:

France:
. June 17th-21st - Vinexpo 2007 - Bordeaux.

Wine Tourism Awards 2007.
30/12/06. The Great Wine Capitals Global Network has granted its annual tourism awards for the fourth time. The capitals, which are part of the group, are: Bilbao-Rioja, Bordeaux, Cape Town, Florence, Melbourne, Mendoza, Oporto and San Francisco-Napa Valley.
An International Winner Award was granted to the cellars of Ferreira in Vila Nova de Gaia in the category Significant Wine Tourism Experience.
National Winner Awards were granted to:
-         Quinta Nova and Quinta do Portal in the category Accommodation.
-         Museum Oficina Vinária in the category Art & Culture (see:Round trip)
For more information see: www.greatwinecapitals.com/bestof/view_list.php

MUNDUSvini 2006.
30/12/06. During the sixth International Wine Prize competition MUNDUSvini of Meininger Verlags in Neustadt – Germany, Great Gold Medals were awarded to the following Port wines:
-         Croft Quinta da Roêda Vintage 1995,
-         Sandeman Vau Vintage 2000.
The other results can be found at: http://www.mundusvini.com/340--~de~internationaler_weinpreis~ergebnisse~2006_open.html by choosing Port/Madeira/Sherry and Portugal.

Revista de Vinhos no. 205, December 2006.
30/12/06. The December issue of the Portuguese magazine Revista de Vinhos contains the following information on Port Wine:

New products:
Judgement by the editorial staff. Score chart from 0 to 20.
-         Quinta Seara D’Ordens LBV 2001 Unfiltered 17 punt.
-         (Wiese &) Krohn Branco 1964 (Colheita?) 18 punt.
-         SPR Vinhos Quinta do Pégo Vintage 2003 16,5 punt.

Quinta das Carvalhas:
Luís Lopes reviews this quinta of Real Companhia Velha on the hill opposite Pinhão. The total area is 600 hectares, of which 120 under vine. The eye-catching Casa Redonda - the Round House is situated on the top of the hill. In the nineties this quinta was radically renewed and it is now well accessible for wine tourism with eight kilometres of paved roads.

Encontro com o Vinho e Sabores:
António Falcão reports on this popular event in Lisbon that was also organized by Revista de Vinhos. Over 10,000 people visited the seventh edition with many workshops and tastings from November 4^th to 6^th. The press prize in the category fortified wines was awarded to the Vista Alegre Vintage 2004 of Vallegre.

Wine & Soul:
Luís Antunes wrote a profile of the winemakers and marriage partners Sandra Tavares da Silva and Jorge Serôdio Borges. In addition to their work for Quinta do Vale D. Maria (Sandra) and Q. do Passodouro (Jorge) they also make wine and Port wine in their own company Wine & Soul. Tasting notes of the W&S Vintages 2003 with 17.5 points and 2004 with 18 points have been printed along with the article.

Two months in the Douro.
02/12/06. On September 26^th we arrived halfway harvest time. Small and larger trucks with containers overfull with grapes characterized the traffic. If you happened to stand next to such a transport you could often smell the beginning of fermentation. The characteristic, heavy smell of the most dominated at the large wineries but sometimes also at the small leans-to of hobby farmers.
We had the opportunity to join our neighbour’s picking, this you ought to have done once in a lifetime. And yes it was heavy work. Fortunately we could stop at lunchtime. Later on our participation proved to have been discussed and appreciated in the village.
Quite quickly afterwards the autumn colours started to change the vineyards. This is for us the nicest time of the year with splendid, brightly coloured, varied fields.
See own photo - © infoportwine-eleonora.

Unfortunately the bad weather at the end of October spoilt the pleasure for a great deal. But on the other hand heavy rainfall had resulted in a sea of green ground covers, which is definitely a nice view in the bare fields after the summer.

Shortly after the harvest, pruning started and the curling plumes of smoke of the burning branches created another characteristic and fascinating image.
See own photo - © infoportwine-eleonora.

Qualitatively, 2006 will not be a top year because of heavy rainfall at the wrong moment. But because of the
differences in microclimates and the choice of harvesting time positive exceptions might exist.
On September 29^th the harvest period of four weeks on Quinta do Vesúvio was halfway. In spite of the rains its quality was very adequate. We tasted a very young Port in the laboratory. The colour was purple red, the smell full and fruity and the taste excellent, far too good to not finish the well-filled glass. The aguardente had been absorbed totally. We judged this youngster with an 8, not yet sufficient to fulfil the IVDP test requirement for a Vintage with a 9, but this will be in two years’ time. People on the spot certainly expected that a Vesúvio Vintage 2006 would be marketed.
On October 6^th the harvest on Q. do Vale Maria of Cristiano van Zeller and his wife had already been finished. They and their winemaker Sandra Tavares told us that due to the hail on July 14^th they had a 40 to 50% lower yield (see our News item of 01/07/06). The damages at the bunches were so bad that the grapes had to be selected by hand. However, this may be an advantage in quality.
Óscar Quevedo, of the company Vinoquel in São João da Pesqueira with 80 hectares of vineyards around this village, told us that his harvest was over 30% lower than on average, but of a very good quality.
On Q. do Vallado, they had already started picking the white grapes at the end of August and immediately continued with the reds and they were not dissatisfied about the quantity as well as the quality.

For two months we lived in the Douro Superior close to Vila Nova de Foz Côa. This is an attractive region with good viniculture, many olives and almonds, splendid relics from Roman time or earlier and of course the fascinating, very old rock-carvings in the valley of the Rio Côa. However, the centre of the Port region is 1 to 1.5 hours by car and this is not very handy if you would like to go there regularly.

The weather was disappointing. The first few weeks it was sometimes sunny, but temperatures were moderate (never without a coat) and during the nights frequently below ten degrees Celsius. After there had been storm and rain, the night of October 24^th to 25^th was extremely bad with much flooding. Afterwards we appeared to be on the line Bragança - Guarda, exactly at the lowest point of the depression which had caused much damage. Statistics indicated that this month had been one of the worst October months since 1931.
However, the Portuguese can also be optimistic. During this bad period we were told that there was always the possibility of a good late summer, ‘o verão de São Martinho - the summer of Saint Martin’. This day is on November 11^th and really from November 8^th the sun broke through for some days with sometimes nice temperatures, though it you could feel winter was coming.

On October 5^th we met Roy Hersh and his partner Mario Ferreira in the restaurant next to Q. da Senhora da Ribeira (opposite to Q. do Vesúvio). They were with eight guests with whom they made an intensive Port trip through Oporto, Vila Nova de Gaia and the Douro region (see: www.fortheloveofport.com/travel.htm ).
We shared an animated and good dinner with them. Roy and we have known each other from since we started this website in 2001. However, we never succeeded to meet each other in Portugal at the same time. Now that we finally met turned out this dinner to be an unforgettable event.
Roy brought an excellent Dow’s Magnum Vintage 1970 for the cheese desert. In the afternoon he had managed to decant it carefully and in time. This Port had, also because of the large bottle, a surprising dark colour, had delicious fruit smells and a fantastic taste.
The young picker’s group of Q. da Senhora da Ribeira was celebrating its farewell more cheerfully and louder at the table next to us, so we had great difficulty to keep up our conversation. At the end a bagpipe and drum came to finish the party with original, especially lively, Portuguese music. Mario told us that an accordion should have been there too to make it complete, but since music during the harvest has almost died out this too was a special experience.

Apart from our holiday activities, we were in the Port region mainly to check and to expand the information on accommodations in our article Round trip. Sometimes you are so lucky as to find a little pearl. This was the little wine museum Oficina Vinária in a former winery in the middle of Torre de Moncorvo. The museum belongs to Q. das Aveleiras south from the village. Sandra Ruge manages the tourist activities there and also runs Oficina Vinária. The exhibition of and the information in the museum are good, but a visit becomes wonderful because of the enthusiastic, very professional presentation by Sandra who relates a huge knowledge of Port production to a great love for the role of the Douro Superior in particular. On December 30^th or 31^st we will publish our renewed article Round trip and tell more about this quinta, this museum and other objects.

The development of tourist accommodations in the Douro region has slowly progressed during the last few years. At the end of 2003 and early 2004 large hotel projects in Vila Nova de Foz Côa, Mesão Frio and Sabrosa were initially announced, but these have not yet been realized. However the real renewal has come from small Quinta hotels with five to fourteen rooms. In our article Round trip we will review most of them. On October 28^th a new governmental project was announced to build small hotels with ten to forty-five rooms around the area. We hope to publish more on this issue later on.

Generally our informers were quite satisfied about the numbers of tourists this year. Most of them achieved slightly higher numbers compared to last year, only one or two had fewer stays than in 2005. This is not a bad result with the increasing bed capacity.

Q. de la Rosa buys Q. da Bandeira.
02/12/06. The Bergqvist family of Quinta de la Rosa (QdelaR) has bought Q. da Bandeira (QdaB) in the Douro Superior for 800,000 Euros. This was reported by Vida Económica on October 6^th.
QdaB is situated east of the Douro and the road N102/IP2, from Vila Nova de Foz Côa about 2.5 kilometres before the exit of the new road to Torre de Moncorvo. Opposite this spot vineyards of Q. do Vale Meão are situated at the other bank of the river.
No Port will be made of the grapes from QdaB, but only table wine. The commercialising of the yields from this new quinta will be done by means of a joint venture of 50% owned by the Bergqvist family and 50% by their winemaker Jorge Moreira.
Sophia Bergqvist told us the following about this purchase:
-         the Douro Superior offers a different terroir and climate than at QdelaR and hence will produce a different wine,
-         it would only be possible with Jorge’s help,
-         we cannot expand around QdelaR,
-         my father was keen and excited to finance the project.
QdaB consists of 100 hectares, with many olive trees and six hectares of old and five hectares of new vines. The construction of new vineyards is in full swing and the patamares and plots for vinha ao alto are well visible. Most of them are situated on slopes facing west.
See our own photos below - © infoportwine-eleonora.

We were so lucky to be able to visit QdaB on a nice, dry afternoon and admired the spirit of enterprise of the new owners. Sophia Bergqvist also sees possibilities for tourist developments in the future, but the vineyards now have priority.
QdelaR consists of 55 hectares with class A Port rights. The annual production is 65,000 litres of Port Wine and 100,000 to 150,000 litres of table wine. The trade amounts to 1.5 million Euros a year.

Sogrape buys Q. do Sairrão.
02/12/06. Sociedade da Quinta do Sairrão (QdoS) has been sold to Sogrape (Ferreira, Offley and Sandeman). QdoS is the company name of a group of eight quintas with together 175 hectares vineyards on a total area of 300 hectares (do Barroso, da Calanca, da Fonte Seca, do Picote, de Roche, do Sobreiral, do Sairrão and do Vale da Silveira). The company markets table wines with different names and Port Wine under the brand QdoS. Sairrão was an initiative of Próspero Vilaverde (joined with Costa Pina & Vilaverde) who in 1999 decided to start a company for wines from the Douro region and for other regional products. This entrepreneur died two years later. Then the production had already amounted to 1,500 pipas of wine of 550 litres a year.
The central settlement of QdoS is situated at the N222 more than 2.5 kilometres east of São João da Pesqueira and can be reached through a good, about 800 metres long access road.
See own photos - © infoportwine-eleonora.

Sogrape, together with Gran Cruz, shares the second and third place in the Port industry behind the Symington group, but is the largest in Portugal. In the company strategy Sandeman focuses on the export markets, Offley on the lowest prices and Ferreira on the home market. In 2005 Sogrape had a volume of trade of 166.7 million Euros, 3% more than in 2004.
(Source Diário Económico of 06/10/06.)

Sales numbers January - October 2006.
02/12/06. The sales of Standard Ports have decreased in this period. However, the sales of the more important Special Categories have increased. The latest numbers of the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto are as follows:

-         the volume of all Port sold decreased by 2.1%.
-         the revenue of all Port sold decreased by 1.5%.

-         the volume of the Special Categories sold increased by 2.3%.
-         the revenue of the Special Categories sold increased by 1.9%.

The complete information can be found at: http://www.ivdp.pt/pagina.asp?idioma=0&codPag=73&codSeccao=6&

Link of the months August - December 2006.
02/12/06. In view of the extensive commemorations of the 250^th anniversary on September 10^th of the demarcated Douro region we have chosen www.250rdd.utad.pt/en/index.html as our Link of the next few months.
Several regional and national institutions are working together in a joint project for these celebrations. The festivities will begin on August 31^st and end on December 14^th. The website of the organization, in Portuguese and English, offers general information, a programme of activities and a survey of the many books presented on the occasion of the jubilee.

White Port Wine with an indication of age.
02/12/06. On September 2^nd 2006, after hesitating a long time, we published in our article Types the new type Old Whites that did not officially exist but that we missed. Of course we don’t want to suggest a direct link, but on October 9^th the Interprofessional Council of the IVDP reached an agreement about the recognition of the white version of the Aged Tawnies. Officially it is the Vinho do Porto Branco com Indicação de Idade de 10, 20, 30 e 40 Anos or White Port Wine with Indication of Age of 10, 20, 30 and 40 Years. The new type has to comply with the descriptions in article 5 of Regulamento no. 36/2005 of 17/05/05 and article 5 of Regulamento no. 23/2006 of 12/04/06.

Brand registration LBV and Portonic.
02/12/06. The IVDP has registered the brand rights of the Late Bottled Vintage and the Portonic in Portugal and the European Union. A logo of the Portonic has also been registered:

Two new wine magazines.
02/12/06. For some months two new wine magazines have been published in Portugal: ‘blue Wine’ and ‘Wine Passion’
blue Wine is made through the combination of blue Media and Essência do Vinho (see Round trip 4b.). Luís Costa is in charge of the editorial staff.
Wine Passion or Paixão pelo Vinho is a publication of Alive World Communicação that also runs the editing.
Both magazines published little on Port Wine until now. For that reason we cannot recommend them. However the bilingual design of Wine Passion (English-Portuguese) may be attractive for people who want to be informed in a better way on Portuguese wines in general. See: www.winepassion-magazine.com

IVDP events calendar as of December 2006.
02/12/06. The Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto has planned the following events in Belgium, France and Spain:

Belgium:
. December 4th - Port Wine Tasting - event hosted as part of the 250th anniversary of the RDD - Hotel Meridien - 3 Carrefour de l'Europe - Brussels - trade and other wine professionals 2-5 pm - connoisseurs 5-7 pm.

France:
. December 4th - Port Wine seminar for members of the USDF - tutorial for catering college students, teachers and USDF sommeliers - Lycée Cagnes sur Mer - Chemin Brecq - Cagnes sur Mer.
. December 12th - Port Wine seminar for members of the USDF - tutorial for catering college students, teachers and USDF sommeliers - Lycée de Dijon - Rue Daubenton - Dijon.
. June 17th-21st - Vinexpo 2007 - Bordeaux.

Spain:
. December 13th - Port Wine seminar for members of the UAES - Main office - Calle Colón - Zaragoza - 5-8 pm.

Revista de Vinhos no. 202, September 2006.
02/12/06. The September issue of the Portuguese magazine Revista de Vinhos contains the following information on Port Wine:

New product:
The DR 10 Years Old Tawny gets 16 points from the editorial staff on a score chart from 0 to 20.

The Symington Family:
João Afonso, João Paulo Martins and Luís Lopes visited some quintas of this largest Port producer and interviewed Paul and Charles Symington. They describe the company which has recently had a market share of 24% and which encloses seven wineries and nineteen quintas. The company pays much attention to the study of new forms of vineyard construction to stop the large erosion problems of patamares and vinha ao alto. Variations of grape varieties are being tested to enlarge the low production of 1.1 kilogram a vine in the Cima Corgo and the Douro Superior. The number of wineries with the already legendary, self developed Robot lagares will yet be enlarged. The authors judged the following Port Wines:
Senhora da Ribeira Vintage 2004 17,5 points,
Quinta do Vesúvio Vintage 2004 17,5 points,
Quinta de Malvedos Vintage 1996 17 points,
Quinta da Cavadinha Vintage 1992 16 points.

LBV tasting:
João Afonso reports on a tasting with 42 LBV’s, of which as many as four showed cork or TCA problems.
The Warre’s LBV 1995 scored 17.5 points and both the Croft and Dow’s LBV’s 2000 17 points. At the bottom of the list we find the Delaforce LBV 2000 with 14.5 points and the São Pedro das Águias LBV 1997 with 13.5 points.
A striking fact is that the judging panel gives as much as thirteen LBV’s, or over 30%, less than 16 points, which is the standard the IVDP uses for this type.

Revista de Vinhos no. 203, October 2006.
02/12/06. The October issue of the Portuguese magazine Revista de Vinhos contains the following information on Port Wine:

New products:
Judgment by the editorial staff. Score chart from 0 to 20.
-         Quinta do Grifo Vintage 2003 (SPR Vinhos) 16 punt.
-         Q. do Retiro Novo Vintage 2004 (Wiese & Krohn) 16 punt.
-         Q. do Bucheiro 10 Years Old Tawny 14,5 punt.

Harvest 2006:
From September 6^th to 20^th five editors visited several quintas in the most important wine regions. Their overall conclusion was that 2006 gave a harvest between all and nothing. On September 15^th João Paulo Martins went in the Douro to Encosta Longa in São João da Pesqueira and Hernâni Verdelho in Freixo de Numão and established good results.

The image of Port Wine:
Marc Barros writes about the meaning of images on labels, packagings and posters of Port products. The famous series of sensual designs for Ramos Pinto was superseded by patriotic images with flags, militaries and religious under the regime of Salazar. Later on the series of women dressed in black of Porto Cruz is a splendid example how art can be used. The article is largely illustrated with material of Ramos Pinto, Sogrape and Taylor’s.
These images will get an important place in the next exposition of the Museu do Douro.

Revista de Vinhos no. 204, November 2006.
02/12/06. The November issue of the Portuguese magazine Revista de Vinhos contains the following information on Port Wine:

New products:
Judgement by the editorial staff. Score chart from 0 to 20.
- Quinta de Ventozelo Tawny Reserve 15 points.
- (Wiese &) Krohn Branco Seco 16,5 points.

Harvest 2006:
João Afonso and António Falcão continue the harvest report with the revealing title “From everything a bit”.

Villas-Boas family + Niepoort:
Dirk van der Niepoort cooperates with the Villas-Boas family in the production and marketing of Douro and Port wines from their 4.5 hectare quinta near Provesende. Luís Antunes reports on the launch of this brand Morgadio da Calçada/Niepoort and publishes tasting notes with the following scores:
-         Ruby Reserve 15,5 points,
-         Tawny Reserve 16 points,
-         LBV 2001 16,5 points,
-         Dry White 15,5 points.

QuidNovi: Caves D’ouro - English version:
The English version of this book (see Library) is now available.

Next publication on December 2nd.
15/09/06. We are fortunate enough to live in the Port region for two months. From about mid September to mid November we will be staying in a vineyard in Touça, a little village near Vila Nova de Foz Côa. We will attend the commemorations of the 250^th jubilee of the demarcated Douro region, work on an update of our article Round trip and enjoy ourselves very much.
That’s why our next publication will be on December 2^nd.

Vintages 2004 (2).
15/09/06. The Dutchman Aad van der Werf has published an excellent article on the three 2004 Vintages of the Syminton Family Group (see also our News item of 06/05/06) on the website The Flying Wine Writer. He reviews quintas and Single Quinta Vintages in general and the three Symington’s quintas and their 2004 Vintages in particular. The article entitled “2004 Single Quinta Vintage Ports of Symington Family Estates” can be found at www.flyingwinewriter.com/symington2006_september_single.php

Link of the months August - December 2006.
15/09/06 and 02/09/06. In view of the extensive commemorations of the 250^th anniversary on September 10^th of the demarcated Douro region we have chosen www.250rdd.utad.pt/en/index.html as our Link of the next few months.
Several regional and national institutions are working together in a joint project for these celebrations. The festivities will begin on August 31^st and end on December 14^th. The website of the organization, in Portuguese and English, offers general information, a programme of activities and a survey of the many books presented on the occasion of the jubilee.

Sales numbers January - July 2006.
15/09/06. The Port sales continue to increase in an encouraging manner. Revenues are up mainly because the sale of Special Categories has increased more than those of Standard Ports. The latest numbers of the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto are as follow:

-         the volume of all Port sold increased by 0.8%.
-         the revenue of all Port sold increased by 2.2%.

-         the volume of the Special Categories sold increased by 7.5%.
-         the revenue of the Special Categories sold increased by 12%.

The complete information can be found at: http://www.ivdp.pt/pagina.asp?idioma=0&codPag=73&codSeccao=6&

IVDP events calendar as of 15 September 2006.
15/09/06. The Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto has planned the following events in Austria, Belgium, Brasil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Great Britain, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA:

Austria:
. November 7th and November 10th - Port Wine Market - Grand Hotel de Viena - Vienna.

Belgium:
. October 18th and 19th - Port Wine and Chocolate by ICEP and Callebault - Brussels.

Brasil:
. November 6th - Grande Prova de Vinho - Rio de Janeiro.

Canada:
6th edition IVDP's Tasting Series (17.30-19.30, $25):
. October 23rd - Le Royal Meridien King Edward - Toronto.
. October 25th - Marché Bonsecours-Ballroom - Montreal.
. October 26th - Delta Québec Hotel - Québec.

. November 4th-5th - Ottawa Food and Wine Show - Ottawa.

Denmark:
. November 6th - Port Wine Tasting - Palácio da Bolsa de Copenhagen - Copenhagen.

Finland:
. November 15th - Port Wine Tasting - Helsinki.

France:
. October 16th - Port Wine - members USDF - Toulouse.
. November 22nd - Port Wine - members USDF - Cagnes.
. December 5th - Port Wine - members USDF - Dijon.

Great Britain:
. September 22nd-October 1st - York Festival - York.
. October 26th-29th - London Wine Show - London.

Norway:
. September 21st-26th - Sommelier students of the Culinary Institute of Norway visit the Douro accompanied by their professor, the journalist Arne Ronold.
. November 8th - Port Wine Tasting - Oslo.

Portugal:
. October 10th-15th - Douro no Tejo - 10 Restaurants in Lisbon.
. October 14th-15th - Douro no Tejo - Tasting in the Museu da Electricidade - Lisbon.
. November 4th-6th - Encontro com o Vinho e Sabores 2006 - Lisbon.

Spain:
. October 2nd - Port Wine and Chocolate - members UAES - Santiago de Compostela.
. October 3rd - Port Wine and Chocolate - members UAES - Vigo.

Sweden:
. November 14th - Port Wine Tasting - Vinkallaren Grappa in Stockholm.

Switzerland:
. September 4th - Seminário na École Hotelière de Lausanne.
. October 2nd - Tasting Port and Douro Wines - Restaurant Au Premier - Railway station - Zurich.

USA:
October 19th - Wine Origins - San Francisco.

For more see: http://www.ivdp.pt/eventos.asp?idioma=0&

Wine Enthusiast: Star nominees 2006.
15/09/06. The magazine Wine Enthusiast has announced the fifty nominees for the ten categories of its annual “Wine Star industry awards 2006”. The Douro region has been nominated for “Wine Region of the Year” and Niepoort for “European Winery of the Year”. The results will be published in the December issue of this American magazine.

Decanter World Wine Awards 2006 (2).
15/09/06. In June we published the Regional Trophies and the Gold Medals of the annual wine competition of the English magazine Decanter (see our News item of 03/06/06). Now the magazine has also announced the International Trophies. The Ramos Pinto Quinta do Bom Retiro 20 Years Old Tawny won the “International Red Fortified over 10 English pounds Trophy”.

Revista de Vinhos no. 201, August 2006 (2).
15/09/06. The August issue of the Portuguese magazine Revista de Vinhos contains the following information on Port Wine:

Casa das Pipas (Q. do Portal):
In the section Enoturismo, Fernando Melo reviews this hotel of Q. do Portal that opened in March 2005. Melo describes this hotel with ten rooms as the new agro-tourism and judges the activities of Casa das Pipas with 18 points on a score chart to 20.

Q. de la Rosa:
João Geirinhas reviews the history of this quinta with reference to its 100^th anniversary. He denominates the Vintage 2004 of Q. de la Rosa as promising but postpones further judgement untill a later publication by the magazine on a large tasting.

Important changes in our Files.
02/09/06. On July 28^th it was five years ago that we published this site for the first time. This is a good occasion to introduce an essential change in our article Types. At our start we made a choice for the segmentation including and excluding harvest year. Now we have changed this to Ruby style and Tawny style as this fits better in with the most important taste differences.

Simultaneously we have made a new Chapter 3. with the appreciation criterions as they are used for the official judgement by the IVDP of the different types.

Other additions are:
-         In What’s Port? the views of professor Gaspar Martins Pereira on the first demarcated wine region in the world.
-         In To serve, to drink and to combine 3. the views of the American Port guru Roy Hersh on the time between decanting and serving Vintages.
-         In Types 1h. the table with sweetness degrees of the IVDP.
-         In Types 4c. and 4d. the Colheita White and the Old White.
-         In Types 5e. the changing views about drinking Vintage young.
-         In Types 6e. a description of the “age” of Aged Tawnies and the blends of a 10 Years and 20 Years Old.

All changes and additions are printed in italic.

Symington’s buys Cockburn’s/Martinez.
02/09/06. In Portugal it has been announced that The Symington Family Group has bought the Port companies Cockburn’s and Martinez from Beam Global Spirits & Wine, a part of the American Fortune Brands.
The purchase includes four wineries, the Quintas dos Canais, do Atraíde and do Tua, 330 hectares of vineyard, warehouses, stocks of over 27,000 pipas of Port Wine and bottling plants. The brands Cockburn’s and Martinez will remain in possession of Beam Global for twenty years. In this period Beam Global will guarantee sales and distribution.
In 2005 Cockburn’s and Martinez came into possession of Fortune Brands when a consortium managed by the French Pernod Ricard purchased the English Allied Domecq (see our News items of 05/08/05 and 03/12/05). Beam Global was especially interested in Cockburn’s because of its large market share in England.
Beam Global will keep a small establishment managed by Miguel Corte Real at the Symington Group.
(Source: Público of 22/07/06.)

The market shares have become by this purchase as follows:

Symington 24%,
Sogrape 16%,
Gran Cruz 16%,
Sogevinus 11%,
Fladgate 10%,
Real Companhia Velha 5%.

Part Sogrape (including Sandeman) going public?
02/09/06. In July it became known that Joe Berardo had bought 33% of the shares of Sogrape (including Ferreira, Offley and Sandeman) through his company Metalgest (see our News item of 05/08/06). Now Berardo wants to reorganize his interests in the wine sector by the foundation of a holding. His 33% of Sogrape, his 86% of Bacalhôa Vinhos, his controlling interest in the Canadian Coolio Wines and his 50% of Quinta do Carmo should be united in this holding. Probably a still to be bought large Argentinean wine company will be added to it.
It is the intention that 49% of the new holding is going public, starting with a portion of 25%. The flotation could happen within a year.
Berardo paid 80 million Euros for his 33% share in Sogrape bringing the total value of the company to 240 million. However, he is of the opinion that Sogrape could be worth 500 million Euros on the stock exchange.
(Source: Jornal the Negócios of 24/07/06.)

Next publications on September 15th and December 2nd.
02/09/06. We are fortunate enough to live in the Port region for two months. From about mid September to mid November we will be staying in a vineyard in Touça, a little village near Vila Nova de Foz Côa. We will attend the commemorations of the 250^th jubilee of the demarcated Douro region, work on an update of our article Round trip and enjoy ourselves very much.
That’s why our next publications will be on September 15^th and December 2^nd
Harvest forecast 2006.
02/09/06. The Instituto da Vinha e do Vinho (IVV) predicts that this year the wine harvest in Portugal will decrease by 3% compared to last year and will be 5% less than the average of the last three years.
A 11% lower yield is expected for the Douro region. This lower yield is welcome to many traders as stocks from earlier harvests have not been sold completely yet.
One is generally optimistic about the quality of next harvest given the recent state of the grapes.
(Source: Jornal de Nóticias of 01/08/06.)

The jubilee highlights of Gaspar Martins Pereira.
02/09/06. On the occasion of the 250^th jubilee of the demarcated Douro region, the Portuguese newspaper Expresso has asked Gaspar Martins Pereira to make a choice of highlights from this history. Martins Pereira is the great expert in this field, professor of history at the University of Oporto, president of the Museu do Douro and author of many books and publications. His explanations of his choices are so compact that we quote them completely:

“Moment: The classification of the Douro as World Heritage (14/12/2001). The recognition of the identity of a landscape, culture and wine, in a tribute to successive generations which have shaped this world region.”

“Character: D. Antónia Ferreira (1841 - 1896). Through her symbolical function, because she always invested, especially in times of crises, focused on the social aspects, the region and the future. ‘Everyone should do everything in his field to help Humanity’, she wrote from London to the deputies of her company.”

“Episode: Revolt of Lamego (15/7/1915). Twelve people killed in a demonstration against an article in the Portuguese - English treaty that allowed the designation Porto for all wine from Portugal. A symbolical movement that united all agents from the region with the same goal. On the day of the tragedy the government had already surrendered.”

“Quinta do Vesúvio: Because she prepared the way for the development of the Douro Superior. A symbolical estate of Ferreirinha, with seven hills and thirty-one valleys. Among the quintas which also affect him, one finds Bom Retiro (S. João da Pesqueira) and Ervamoira (Côa).”

“Glory: Construction of the railway (1873 - 1887) which took the train to Barca d’Alva and Salamanca. The building was fatal for many workers, struck down by fevers caused by the heat and mosquitoes. The planting of eucalyptus trees, these days still visible along the line, were intended to decrease the discomfort. The reverse side of the coin was the disinvestment in the railway, with its destruction of halts and stations.”

(Source: Expresso of 08/07/06.)

Article on Aged Tawnies in Wine Enthusiast.
02/09/06. Roger Voss published an excellent article entitled ‘Tawny Port Plays it Cool’ in the August issue of Wine Enthusiast. The article contains including an important statement by IVDP’s Bento Amaral about the “age” of Aged Tawnies.
The article can be found at: http://www.winemag.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=DB7D3EF25248462AA8AC8F10921C4FB9

IVDP events calendar as of September 2006.
15/09/06 and 02/09/06. The Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto has planned the following events in Austria, Brasil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA:

Austria:
. November 7th and November 10th - Port Wine Market - Grand Hotel de Viena - Vienna.

Brasil:
. November 6th - Grande Prova de Vinho - Rio de Janeiro.

Canada:
. October 23rd - Toronto Port and Douro Mini Salon - Toronto.
. October 25th - Montreal Mini Salon - Montreal.
. November 4th-5th - Ottawa Food and Wine Show - Ottawa.

Denmark:
. November 6th - Port Wine Tasting - Palácio da Bolsa de Copenhagen - Copenhagen.

Finland:
. November 15th - Port Wine Tasting - Helsinki.

Great Britain:
. September 8th-10th - Emsworth Festival - Emsworth.
. September 22nd-October 1st - York Festival - York.
. October 26th-29th - London Wine Show - London.

Sweden:
. November 14th - Port Wine Tasting - Stockholm.

Switzerland:
. September 4th - Seminário na École Hotelière de Lausanne.
. October 2nd - Tasting Port and Douro Wines - Restaurant Au Premier - Railway station - Zurich.

USA:
October 19th - Wine Origins - San Francisco.

For more see: http://www.ivdp.pt/eventos.asp?idioma=0&

Revista de Vinhos no. 201, August 2006.
02/09/06. Unfortunately we have not yet received the August issue of this Portuguese magazine.

Part of Sogrape (including Sandeman) sold.
05/08/06. “On July 12^th Joe Berardo came to Oporto to present himself as stockholder to Salvador Guedes.” This wrote the Portuguese newspaper Expresso on July 15^th.
Berardo proved to have bought 33% of the stocks in the holding Guedes, Carmo e Silva SGPS, Lda (G, C e S) from the Carmo family. This holding G, C e S is, through two management companies, the owner of Sogrape Holding (including Ferreira, Offley and Sandeman). The Silva family with about 12% and the Guedes family with 51% are the other large stockholders of G, C e S. Salvador Guedes is in charge of Sogrape, he is a grandson of the founder (in 1942) Fernando van Zeller Guedes.
Berardo paid 80 million Euros for his 33% part, so the total value of Sogrape would be 240 million.

Joe Berardo is a special man. For example he personally rewrote his biography on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Berardo as follows:
“José Berardo, born on Madeira island in 1944, is a Portuguese businessman and stock investor.”
“He went to Mozambique (a Portuguese colony at the time) at the age of 19. Then he started up commercial ventures there and in South Africa, becoming one of the most renowned and wealthiest Portuguese entrepreneurs at the end of the 20^th century. He has multiple businesses, including participations in many companies listed on the Euronext Lisbon, and tourist ventures around the world. He has a special interest in art, being one of the most successful art collectors in Portugal. He also created a foundation which has his name - Fundaçao Berardo.” (See also: www.berardocollection.com)

Salvador Guedes and Joe Berardo were already connected through the group of seven largest Portuguese wine producers. Berardo’s majority participation JP Vinhos/Bacalhôa Vinhos de Portugal is part of it just like Sogrape.

The newspaper Jornal de Negócios published some reactions of Salvador Guedes on July 19^th:
“The Guedes family did not succeed in buying the stocks of the Carmo family ‘especially because of the price’ and we have not been informed about the sale to Joe Berardo.”
“Guedes does not fear that the da Silva stocks will also be sold. ‘We have an excellent relation with the heirs of dr. Gastão Lopes da Silva’”.
“It is not a hostile position, but it is clearly not the solution we preferred. We wanted to maintain the family character.”
“There is no reason to assume that we will not get on well with Mr Joe Berardo. A new page is opening for this company.”
“Joe Berardo’s arrival in G, C e S will not bring any change at the level of the Board of Directors. Joe Berardo stays outside the daily management of Sogrape.”

In 2005 Sogrape invoiced for 166.7 million Euros and gained a profit of 12.6 million (2004: 26.4). The export share in the company’s activities amounts to 64%. Sogrape spends about 20 million Euros a year on publicity. An investment in a new winery at Quinta do Seixo is almost ready (about 5 million Euros) and will be followed by a second phase in tourism.
(Sources: Jornal de Notícias of 14/07/06, Expresso of 15/07/06 and Jornal de Negócios of 19/07/06.)

Benefício 2006 increases by 3%.
05/08/06. The Interprofessional Council of the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto (IVDP) has set the production quota (Benefício) for the next harvest at 123,500 pipas (casks of 550 litres) most (before adding aguardente). This is an increase by 3,500 pipas or about 3% compared to last year.
The Interprofessional Council with six members on behalf of the trade (AEVP), six members on behalf of the production (Casa do Douro) and under the chairmanship of Jorge Monteiro (IVDP president) were not unanimous. The Casa do Douro voted against all five proposals under discussion. Finally the chairman’s vote had to be the deciding factor. The Casa do Douro was especially opposed because a proposal for a price guarantee proved to be unfeasible.
The development of the Benefício was as follows during the past years:
2001: 154,000 pipas.
2002: 135,000 pipas or – 12.3%.
2003: 107,900 pipas or – 20.1%.
2004: 126,000 pipas or + 16.8%.
2005: 120,000 pipas or – 4.85%.
2006: 123,500 pipas or + 2.9%.
The full harvest bulletin will be published on the IVDP website: www.ivdp.pt

Program jubilee celebration.
05/08/06. Several regional and national institutions are working together in a joint project for the commemoration of the 250^th anniversary of the demarcated Douro region on September 10^th. The festivities will begin on August 31^st and end on December 14^th.
A special website was created for these activities: www.250rdd.utad.pt/en/index.html The site offers general information, a program of activities and a survey of the many books presented on the occasion of the jubilee. The site is available in Portuguese and English.

Four exhibitions on Port Wine in Oporto.
05/08/06. As a result of the commemorations of the 250^th anniversary of the d