News Archives 2007

www.infoportwine.com
News archives 2007.
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.

Desire Petroleum plc is a company listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London, dedicated to exploring for oil and gas in the Falkland Islands. Desire was founded in 1996 and participated in the first round of drilling in the North Falkland Basin in 1998.

The capital injection enables the investment of four million Euros in a winery (ready in 2009) and in the table wines. The company will plant an extra 25 hectares of vines at Quinta da Gricha. Aim is to enlarge the 2007 production of 252,000 bottles of Port Wines and 120,000 bottles of table wines to 300,000 bottles each within five years.
(Source: Expresso of 08/12/07.)

New web shop Garrafeira Nacional.
30/12/07. Garrafeira Nacional, the shop in the heart of Lisbon, has launched a new web shop with a good selection of Port Wines. The prices are moderate. A part of the offer is not in stock.

You find extraordinary offers particularly in the sections Colheitas and Raros (rare Port Wines). The section Colheitas also offers several years of the Niepoort Garrafeiras and amongst Raros you find several years from the nineteenth century. Regrettably the bottling years are lacking in the section Colheitas.

See: https://www.garrafeiranacional.com/

Link of the months January and February 2008.
30/12/07. For these months we have chosen www.premiumport.com
Premium Port Wines, Inc. is the sales organisation in the United States for all products of the Symington Family Estates.
The PPW website offers a wealth of information about Port, Madeira and Douro wines. Besides it is an excellent example of a marketing site.

Best Vintages of the Symington Family.
30/12/07. Late November The Symington Family Estates have organized in Portugal a tasting with their choice of their fourteen best Vintage Ports of the twentieth century. These are:
2005 Vesúvio
2005 Senhora da Ribeira
2000 Graham’s
1998 Malvedos
1994 Vesúvio
1985 Graham’s
1983 Dow’s
1980 Warre’s
1977 Smith Woodhouse
1970 Graham’s
1966 Warre’s
1963 Dow’s
1945 Dow’s
1924 Warre’s
(Source: Jornal de Negócios of 30/11/07.)

New labels Offley.
30/12/07. Offley has launched a new label for its Standard Ports (see photo). The first letters of the types dominate the design: R for Ruby, T for Tawny, W for White and L for Lacrima (very sweet).

Again design prize for Solene.
30/12/07. The half a litres Solene Reserve Ruby and Tawny have again won a design prize, this time a Merit during the first edition of the European Design Awards.

European Design is a Paneuropean institution consisting of an awards scheme, a conference and an annual catalogue for the European communication design industry. The three events are organized by European Design in collaboration with the European Design Media Network. See: http://www.ed-awards.com/

See also: http://www.portosolene.com/

News of Q. do Ventozelo, December 2007.
30/12/07. In its eighth Newsletter Quinta do Ventozelo brings the following news:

This year the commercial team expanded the number of export countries to 25. The company now reaches the best points of sale in an important part of the world, in shops as well as in restaurants.
For its importer in The Netherlands, Q. do Ventozelo made its first one litre bottle of Port Wine. It is a Reserva Ruby in a taut bottle which looks much like the half a litre bottles of Solene. This product is available in the Henri Bloem shops and will be launched in other countries too. See photo:

Sales numbers January - October 2007.
30/12/07. In the course of the year figures seem to improve more and more. The latest numbers of the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto are as follows:

-         the volume of all Port sold increased by 4.8%.
-         the revenue of all Port sold increased by 3.6%.

-         the volume of the Special Categories sold increased by 12.1%.
-         the revenue of the Special Categories sold increased by 6.6%.

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 2008.
30/12/07. Just now the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto has not planned any activities.
See also: http://www.ivdp.pt/eventos.asp

Revista de Vinhos no. 217, December 2007.
30/12/07. The December issue of the Portuguese magazine Revista de Vinhos contains the following information on Port Wine:

New product:
The LBV 2003 of Wiese & Krohn gets 15.5 points from the editorial staff on a score chart of 0 to 20.

Press choice Encontro Vinhos e Sabores:
At the event Encontro Vinhos e Sabores organized by Revista de Vinhos from November 3rd to 5th in Lisbon the Press prize for fortified wines was granted to the Offley 30 Years Old Tawny.

Q. de Santo António:
Fernando Melo reviews this Quintahotel near Adorigo/Tabuaço. He rates the tourist activities with 17.5 points on a score chart to 20. See also: Round trip 14.2a.

Conceito Vintage 2005:
Luís Antunes describes the launch of three Douro wines and one Port Wine of the Carla Ferreira family (Quinta do Cabido, winemaker Rita Marques). He rates their Vintage 2005 with 17 points.

2005 Vintage (by Roy Hersh).
08/12/07. On November 29th Roy Hersh has published an excellent and extensive article about these newest Vintages on his website ForTheLoveOfPort. His tasting regimen was extensive and careful like always.

In general, Hersh calls the 2005 Vintage suitable for early consumption, although some have the qualities to improve for three decades or more. His rankings for the 2005 Vintage are on average 91.5 points, only a little over his rankings for the 2004 Vintage with on average 91 points.

At first Hersh judged 23 2005 Vintages and gives extensive tasting notes of them. The highest score is for Quinta do Vesúvio with 95-97 points. At the bottom of the list we find Ramos Pinto Quinta de Ervamoira with 85-87 points.

The judgements of some wines that did not arrive in time will be admitted in his December Newsletter.

The article can be found at: http://www.fortheloveofport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=110&Itemid=46

Julia Harding wins Noval Award for Communication.
08/12/07. The English Institute of Masters of Wine has granted its Award for Communication to Julia Harding MW. This award is sponsored by AXA Millésimes, the owner of Quinta do Noval and is presented to a recent Master of Wine who has excelled in communicating about wine. The prize includes a cheque for £1000, a trip to Q. do Noval and a mixed case of Noval Port, including the legendary Nacional.

Formerly a professional book editor, Julia has put her skills to very good use in her wine career. At the same time as working for Waitrose on their wine information, Julia edited the Concise Wine Companion in 2001, earning the trust and praise of Jancis Robinson MW, so much that she worked part time with Jancis on the Oxford Companion to Wine in 2003, which she copy edited. After gaining her Master of Wine in 2004, in December 2005 Julia moved to work full time with Jancis, where she now helps both with her books and on the renowned website.

Sogevinus Port Wine stand wins design prize.
08/12/07. The fair stand used by Sogevinus (Cálem, Burmester, Gilbert’s, Kopke, etc.) for the first time during the Vinexpo 2007, has won the Gold Premium in the category from 54 to 108 m² of the first Prémio Excelência StanDesign 2007. The booth has been designed by Bactéria Comunicação and was chosen out of nine finalists by a jury of national specialists.

The prize is an initiative of EcorexEventos, part of the Ecorex group. The presentation took place on October 18^th during the International Exhibition and Conference on Events and Fairs Marketing in Batalha, Portugal. Through the price the organizations objective is success at fairs and exhibitions, both national and international, through increasing innovation on the way brands exhibit their business and portfolio. In 2008 the prizes will be granted again.

News from Q. do Portal November 2007.
08/12/07. In its third Newsletter Vinhos, Quinta do Portal brings the following news:

1. The company marketed four new products. The LBV 2003 and the Vintage 2005 were already announced in the second Newsletter. New are the 30 Years Old and the 40 Years Old Tawnies, announced with "A revelation of some of our family treasures! Unmissable."

2. The agriculturist Miguel Sousa says in his harvest report: "The 2007 harvest was later than usual due to the delay in the vegetative cicle of the vines, more evident in the white varieties. The weather was dry and generous (with the exception of some rain in the beginning of October) and the grapes were very healthy at the time of picking. Despite all the difficulties we had a production increase of 10%.

And winemaker Paulo Coutinho wrote: "The harvest has finally reached its end. The Red wines finished the melolactic and the last white wines are now finalising the alcoholic fermentation. It is truly an unsual year. But the news are very good: the average quality of the wines is high, and if the ageing confirms it, we'll have again (after 4 years) a Portal Vintage Port and the Quinta do Portal AURU. Great premiere for the new winery!"

Link of the month December 2007.
08/12/07. For this month we have chosen www.quintadosilval.com

This company is less known as a Port Wine producer, though their LBV’s and Vintages are excellent. Quinta do Silval is especially attractive because of its hotel (see also Round trip 14.2e.). The offered tastings and arrangements are a good reasons for a visit.

The website of QdoS is of a pleasant design and offers good information in English and Portuguese.

Cockburn’s stays at Fortune Brands.
08/12/07. The American Fortune Brands has sold its wine interests with the exception of its brands Cockburn’s and Sherry Harveys, because fortified wines offer higher yields than (its?) table wines according to the company.

Fortune Brands, with its daughter Beam Global Spirits & Wine, only looks after the marketing and sales of Cockburn’s. In 2006 the possessions in Portugal were sold to the Symington group, who entered into a twenty years contract for the production (see our News item of 02/09/06).
(Source: Jornal de Negócios of 19/11/07.)

Wine Enthusiast: Symington producer of the year.
08/12/07. For its Annual Wine Star Awards the American magazine Wine Enthusiast has chosen The Symington Family Estates as European Winery of the Year.

Feature articles on each of the winners appear in the December 15^th Special Annual Awards issue, published on November 12^th. The recipients will be honoured at a gala dinner and awards ceremony at the New York Public Library on Monday, January 28, 2008.

For more information see:
http://www.winemag.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications
%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=690AD74554
BF44E7B74C25460C088EA7

Polish prize for Niepoort.
08/12/07. Niepoort has won a silver medal in the category best “Licor wine” with its LBV 2001 in the Grand Prix Magazyn Wino of the Polish magazine Magazyn Wino. See also: http://www.magazynwino.pl/onas/
(Source: aicep Portugal Global of 13/11/07.)

Two stories on Douro tourism.
08/12/07. Almost simultaneously, two stories on the Douro region tourism appeared in November:

- In The New York Times: In Portugal, a New Stop on the Global Wine Trail by Gisela Williams, see: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/travel/11next.html

- In Food & Wine Magazine: The Next Must-Visit Wine Country by Ray Isle, see: http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/the-next-must-visit-wine-country

The recognizable (sponsored?) cause seemed to have been the recent opening of the luxury Aquapura hotel (see our News item of 06/10/07) and the extravagant Hotel dos Sonhos/Quinta da Romaneira (see our News item of 02/06/07). No matter how good both stories may be, especially with regard to the Douro table wines, it is disappointing to notice that the group of magnificent Quinta hotels, inaugurated last years, has been totally neglected (see Round trip 14.2. with S. António, Chão d’Ordem, Nova, Portal, Silval and Vallado). Isle furthermore disqualifies himself by still indicating Port Wine as only a dessert wine.

IVDP events calendar as of December 2007.
08/12/07. Just now the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto has not planned any activities.

Wine Tourism Awards 2008.
08/12/07. During its meeting in Oporto in November, the Great Wine Capitals Global Network has handed out its fifth annual awards. The capitals, which are part of the group, are: Bilbao-Rioja, Bordeaux, Cape Town, Florence, Melbourne, Mendoza, Oporto en San Francisco-Napa Valley.

International and National Winner Awards were granted to:
- Confraria do Vinho do Porto - Port Wine Brotherhood in the category Wine Tourism Services.
- The House of Sandeman in the category Art and Culture.

National Winner Awards were granted to:
-         Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo in the category Architecture, Parks and Gardens.
-         Quinta(hotel) de Santo António in the category Accommodation.
-         Cálem Winery in V. N de Gaia in the category Wine Tourism Services.

For more information see: http://www.greatwinecapitals.com/bestof/view_list.php

Revista de Vinhos nr. 216, November 2007.
08/12/07. 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.
-         Wiese & Krohn Colheita 1968 18.5 points.
-         Quinta dos Murças (Covelinhas, Peso da Régua) 10 Years Old Tawny 16.5 points.
-         Rozès Q. do Pégo LBV 2003 16 points.
-         Rozès LBV 2003 16.5 points.

Q. do Portal:
Luís Lopes describes this company of the Mansilha Branco family. They not only invested much money over the last few years, but were also qualitatively and commercially successful. Of course, their own hotel Casa das Pipas and the by architect Álvaro Siza Vieira designed working accommodation with visitors centre were amply mentioned in the story. Lopes values the Portal products as follows:
-         10 Years Old Tawny 16 points.
-         20 Years Old Tawny 16.5 points.
-         30 Years Old Tawny 18 points.
-         40 Years Old Tawny 17.5 points.
-         Colheita 1995 16 points.
-         LBV 2003 17 points.
-         Vintage 2005 17 points.

Particular architecture:
Samuel Alemão reviews some wineries/working accommodations/visitors centre with eminent architecture. In the Douro region he mentions Q. de Nápoles of Niepoort, Q. do Seixo of Sogrape, Q. do Portal and Q. da Touriga Chã in Vila Nova de Foz Côa that won the Douro architecture prize in 2006.

Next publication one week later.
03/11/07. Our next publication will not be in the weekend of December 1^st and 2^nd but in the weekend of December 8^th and 9^th .

Harvest 2007 (2).
03/11/07. After a good start (see our News item of 06/10/07) , the end of harvest report of October 22^nd by The Symington Family Estates is even more positive. The group writes among other things:

“A very good vintage has been completed in the Douro, making it likely that this will prove to be one of the exceptional years when the weather combines with the work of the viticulturists and winemakers to produce some very special wines.”

“On 15 October Charles Symington wrote: One feels very fortunate to have had near perfect conditions throughout this vintage, allowing us to produce some very promising wines.”

”There is no doubt that the Douro valley has produced some exceptional Ports and Douro DOC wines this year. Their evolution in vat and cask over the coming months will be followed with great interest.”

The complete report can be found at: http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/20071022_1

Adrian Bridge, general manager of The Fladgate Partnership, stated in the Portuguese newspaper Público of October 31st that the harvest results are exceptional. He calls it very probably that the 2007 Vintage will be declared generally (so by all large Port Wine houses).

The Fladgate Partnership buys Q. da Eira Velha.
03/11/07. The Newman family has sold its Quinta da Eira Velha, west of Pinhão, to The Fladgate Partnership (Taylor’s, Fonseca, Croft and Delaforce). The take-over price has not been revealed.

Quinta da Eira Velha, with vineyards class A, is 50 hectares in size and produces 100 pipas or 72,000 bottles of Port Wine annually. Since 1893 this quinta has been owned by the Newman family, English traders, who exported European wines to Newfoundland (Canada) and brought back cod fish and salt. Their Port company Hunt, Roope and Co, also active in bottling Port Wine outside Portugal, was sold to Ferreira in 1956. The quinta stayed in the hands of the family who were successful with the brand Newman’s Celebrated Port. Since 1980 Martinez Gassiot was in charge of the day-to-day management. In 2006 Beam Global sold this Port house and the properties of Cockburn’s to The Symington Family (see our News item of 02/09/06). This caused the Newman family to now sell Quinta da Eira Velha.

Winemaker David Guimaraens stated in the Portuguese newspaper Público of October 20^th to be very happy with the purchase, also because the grapes of Eira Velha can only be used for the Port production. The Fladgate Partnership wants to engage exclusively in Port production and not with Douro table wines. Guimaraens also said that the brand Newman’s Celebrated Port will be maintained and that the possibilities of the brand Eira Velha are still under consideration.

Two Standard Ports 22 years stored.
03/11/07. A short time ago we got from a visitor to our site a Standard Ruby and a Standard White which had been stored for 22 years. These had been bought by a Port lover in the western part of the Netherlands. After he passed away his widow stored the bottles upright in a cabinet in the living room.

Both bottles had a deviating form, better than the straight standard bottles. See the photos below - © infoportwine-eleonora. The Ruby had a guarantee seal of the Instituto do Vinho do Porto. The White did not have such a seal, but had a back label with the text “Certificado de origem de Vinho do Porto” of the IVP. The White had a screw cap closing, the Ruby a stopper cork.

Under normal circumstances no high expectations should be had regarding these two bottles. Standard Ports are not meant to store, but are meant to be consumed within one or two years after bottling. In addition upright storage in living room conditions is deadly for a wine.

Nevertheless when we first saw the bottles we became curious. The liquid level was still acceptable (halfway the neck) and both bottles showed some sediment. We had higher expectations for the Ruby than for the White.

The White was of Porto Cruz. The colour was light amber, like that of a 20 to 25 years old Colheita. Immediately after opening both the smell and the taste reminded us more of a Bagaceira (Portuguese wine spirit) than of a Port Wine. The following day this had already changed and on the second and third day it was a super old Port Wine we quickly finished.

According to the IVDP test requirements a Standard White has to score 5 points on a score chart to 10. We gave this unintentionally aged Standard a 7.5.

The Ruby was of Dalva (C. da Silva) with seal number CD/15/181825. The colour was like a light rosé table wine. Smell and taste had nothing at all of a Port Wine. Instead it reminded us of a strong extract of roses. This did not change in the days after opening the bottle. It was certainly not nice and not drinkable. We even had no use for it in the kitchen.

Why did the White improve and was the Ruby undrinkable? We think that the main difference is in the way of closing the bottles. The screw cap of the White was on very tight. We even had to use a small pipe wrench to open it. On the other hand the stopper cork of the Ruby came out very easily. So, in this case a screw cap produced the best results after 22 years. It does, all in all, make us curious regarding other Port Wines stored much too long.

Link of the month November 2007.
03/11/07. For this month we have chosen www.smithwoodhouse.com The Symington Family Estates owns this Port house since 1970.

The design of this website reflects something of the age of the house (1784). The site is only available in English. The product information is excellent and calls the Smith Woodhouse Port Wines drier than most other Port Wines.

Ports in top lists Wine & Spirit.
03/11/07. The following two Vintages, both with 94 points, are on the list of the 100 best wines of the American magazine Wine & Spirits:

- Taylor Fladgate Vargellas 2004.
- Taylor Fladgate Vargellas Vinha Velha 2004.

Quinta de Roriz is, as the only Port producer, on the list of the best wine houses with two Douro wines and its 2004 Vintage (87 points).

Croft Quinta da Roeda 2004 Vintage is on the list of the 100 best buys with 92 points (in the USA 45 dollar).

On October 9^th Nicholas Heat of The Fladgate Partnership said in the Portuguese newspaper Diário de Notícias:
“The magazine publishes other lists and on the 100 most sold in restaurants one, for the fifth successive year, five of the eight most sold are ours, like the Croft 20 Years Old Tawny and the Fonseca BIN no 27.”

Distribution Q. do Crasto in Portugal by QVB.
03/11/07. Quinta and Vineyards Bottlers of The Fladgate Partnership (Taylor’s, Fonseca, Croft and Delaforce) will do the exclusive distribution in Portugal of all Port Wines and table wines of Quinta do Crasto. The agreement has taken effect on October 1^st.

Quinta do Crasto of the Roquette family also works together in the group Douro Boys with Niepoort, Q. do Vallado, Lemos & Van Zeller and Q. do Vale Meão.

Considering the policy of The Fladgate Partnership to produce no table wines, the excellent Douro wines of Q. do Crasto will be very welcome.

Sales numbers January - September 2007.
03/11/07. The sale volumes continue to increase, especially in the Special Categories, but revenues stay behind. The latest numbers of the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto are as follows:

-         the volume of all Port sold increased by 1.2%.
-         the revenue of all Port sold decreased by 0.4%.

-         the volume of the Special Categories sold increased by 4.9%.
-         the revenue of the Special Categories sold increased by 1%.

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

IVDP events calendar as of November 2007.
03/11/07. The Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto has planned the following events in Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Portugal and Spain:

Belgium:
. November 23rd-11th - Port Wine Workshop - Hotelschool Bruges.
. November 26th - Port Wine Workshop - Hotelschool Antwerp.

Denmark:
. November 12th - Port Wine Festival - Bourse palace of Copenhagen.

Norway:
. November 14th - Port and Douro wine tasting - Grand hotel Oslo.

Portugal:
. November 3rd-5th - Encontro com o Vinho e Sabores 2007 - Centro de Congressos de Lisbon.
. November 19th-25th - Port & Douro Wine Show - 2nd edition - Lisbon.

Spain:
. November 6th - Port Wine tasting with cheeses and sweets - Jornadas Internationais de Sommeliers - Hotel Melia Golf - Gerona.

See also: http://www.ivdp.pt/eventos.asp

Wine for Asia - Singapore.
03/11/07. During the fifth Wine for Asia in Singapore from October 25^th to 27^th a gold medal was awarded to the Vista Alegre Vintage 2004. For more information see: http://www.wineforasia.com/2007/doc/WSAA_gold_medalists.pdf

Revista de Vinhos no. 215, October 2007.
03/11/07. The only Port Wine information in the October issue of the Portuguese magazine Revista de Vinhos concerns two new products. The Niepoort Morgadio Da Calçada LBV 2003 gets 16.5 points from the editorial staff on a score chart of 0 to 20. The Poças Colheita 1991 was chosen to one of the six Selections of the Month with 17.5 points.

Harvest 2007.
06/10/07. On September 21^st we received the following report from the Symington group:

“Symington Family Estates has started to harvest grapes at its Quintas in Portugal’s Douro Valley. The vintage started at the family’s key properties in the Douro on the 20^th of September. This is significantly later than usual due to mild weather conditions that permitted a longer, more even maturation cycle.
Brief showers fell on the evening of the 16^th and morning of the 17^th of September, bringing heavy rain and localized thunderstorms, but otherwise picking weather has been ideal in the Douro, with clear blue skies and cool evenings.
Although yields are lower than in past years, the fruit is in excellent condition, benefiting greatly from the three weeks leading up to the start of the vintage, when warm dry weather provided perfect ripening conditions.
The musts being produced are showing very good colour, aromas and concentration with optimal sugar levels. The family is pleased with the good start and is hopeful that if the fair weather continues for the next 10 to 14 days, some exceptionally fine wines will be made this year.”

The next report will not be released until November at the earliest, after the group has had a chance to look at the wines and to make the first assessment of quality.

On September 24^th Quinta de Ventozelo wrote in its Newsletter no. 7:

“This year's harvest has been delayed two weeks. We only started it the 17th of September! It's been a very humid year with high temperatures during the maturation stage, a very positive situation for the phenolic maturation and tannins levels. Right now, as grapes are being picked, the maximum temperature is between 25-30ºC (77-86 Fº), something that improves the grapes maturation levels. The grape juices have a very good acid-sugar balance and high levels of polyphenols. As per quantities, we expect to harvest 800 tons of grapes. It's still a bit too early to say for certain, but the quality of the juices we're getting makes us think 2007 is going to be an exceptional year.”

At http://www.theportforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=405 we found:
By Axel P on September 25^th:
“Most of the guys I talked to are not too happy with the conditions in 2007. Although some say, that it wasn’t that bad etc. and had some marketing phrases on, I don’t think its worth watching out for this vintage too strongly although its a 7-year like 77 and 97...

Jorge Borges from Passadouro told me, that he is pretty happy with his harvest.”

By Frédérick Blais on September 26^th :
“Got some news today from Q. do Nápoles. So far the quality is excellent, the favorable weather is improving the quality and they are really excited.”

By Derik T. on October 2^nd :
“From what I have seen 90%+ of the harvest is in. Two winemakers at different quintas have told me that 07 will be very good for Douro red and possibly Vintage Port, although not a chance of a classic year.”

By Frédérick Blais on October 5th:
"Got some words today from a winemaker for a big company that has some holdings in the Douro Superior.

He said that the harvest is of very good quality so far, especially with the colors, he never saw deep colors like this before from the Douro."

Harvest report 2007 by Frédérick Blais.
06/10/07. Frédérick Blais published his personal harvest report “12 days at Quinta do Nápoles 2007” at: http://www.frederickblais.com/niepoort2007/ It is an extensive and excellent article by a real Port lover. It offers lots of information about harvests in general and especially this year’s, and it presents much knowledge about the Niepoort company and its people.
His magnificent photos can be found at: http://www.frederickblais.com/pics/index.php?cat=9
More of his articles can be found at: http://www.frederickblais.com/

New production director Q. do Côtto.
06/10/07. Quinta do Côtto, of the Montez Champalimaud family, has appointed Diogo Frey Ramos as its new production director. He will manage the entire process, from vineyard to bottle.

Diogo Frey Ramos (1978) received his education at the University in Vila Real. He did work placements at Osborne, Muros de Melgaço and Gaivosa and worked at Q. de Covelos of José Carlos de Morais Calheiros Cruz for some time. He is the winemaker of the project Tavadouro of his family. He is one of the young winemakers who developed and gave a look the table wine sector in the Douro a look like that of the Douro Boys.

Q. do Côtto is 50 hectares in size. The second quinta of of the Montez Champalimaud family, Paço Teixeiro, encloses 12 hectares. Both quintas are situated in the Baixo Corgo, west of Peso da Régua. See also our ‘Link of the month October 2005’.

2005 Vintages (4).
06/10/07. The German Gerd Gerhard is the first one who has published some judgements of 2005 Vintages on the internet. He quotes the wine guide ‘Vinhos de Portugal 2008’ by João Paulo Martins. The survey can be found at:
http://www.portwein-shop.de/portwein-shop/shop_content.php/coID/10/product/vintage---charts.html

Port Wine replaces altar wine.
06/10/07. On September 21^st the Belgium newspaper De Morgen wrote that more and more priests use Port Wine instead of altar wine during Eucharist. This wine sours faster than Port Wine and because of decreasing church attendance and less altar boys it takes more time to empty a bottle.

An opened bottle of altar wine is gone bad after at least two weeks and in the view of the priests Port Wine remains good months after opening. In canon law it says only that the used drink has to be made of grapes.

News from Q. do Portal September 2007.
06/10/07. In its second Newsletter Vinhos, Quinta do Portal brings the following news:

The replantation work at Q. da Abelheira (15.4 ha) and Q. dos Muros (1.7 ha) is being finalized. With this work we now have 50% red varieties, 35% white varieties and 15% Moscatel Galego.
In October we will release our 2003 LBV and our 2005 Vintage.
The 2007 harvest will serve as a test that will determine our wines profile for the following years. The new winery has 15 fermentation vats where the process will be robotized, three robotic lagares and new presses. Everything within a philosophy of not using any pumping neither for the musts nor for the wines, just gravity.
A machine that makes the sorting automatically will also be a plus in a difficult year with heterogeneous grapes. This will also be very important to sort grapes from traditional vineyards planted with mixed varieties.

Q. do Estanho at stamp.
06/10/07. The mini state San Marino, south of the Italian city of Rimini, issues a series of eight stamps with reproductions of European wine labels. The stamps cost 0.65 Euros.
One of the stamps pictures the label of the Vintage 1996 of Quinta do Estanho. Below there are photos of the original and the stamp.
(Source: Aicep Portugal Global of 24/09/07.)

Link of the month October 2007.
06/10/07. For this month we have chosen http://eng.sogrape.pt/marcas/9/historia of Offley.
Sogrape does not present its different brands with own websites, but as part of a joint site with all concern activities. However, from the in 2002 purchased Sandeman, the original website was also maintained.
The Sogrape sub-sites are somewhat statically designed and miss a look of their own. Offley's product information is excellent and is available in Portuguese and English.

New hotel next to Q. da Pacheca.
06/10/07. Recently the luxurious hotel Aquapura Douro Valley has been inaugurated at Quinta de Vale Abraão. The hotel has 50 rooms, of which there are nine suites and one presidential suite, all with a view of the Douro or vineyard. Twenty-one villa-apartments with private swimming pool and private sun terrace are situated alongside with the hotel. The hotel has two restaurants, two bars, a swimming pool bar/restaurant, 2,200 square metres SPA with ten treatment rooms, a yoga studio and other facilities. The whole complex encloses eight hectares with hotel, SPA, villas, forests and vineyards. The price of the rooms are from 210 Euros.

Aquapura Hotels Villas & SPA is a Lisbon based private development group specialized in five-star and residential boutique hotel properties.

Q. da Pacheca of the Serpa Pimentel family is situated south-west of Peso da Régua in Cambres-Lamego. This quinta is 36 hectares in size. The adjacent Q. de Vale Abraão, where recently 17 hectares of new vineyards were planted, is the second quinta of the company. We were not able to find out how the relations with Aquapura exactly are.

See also: www.quintadapacheca.com and www.aquapurahotels.com

IVDP events calendar as of October 2007.
06/10/07. The Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto has planned the following events in Belgium, Canada, Canary Islands, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden:

Belgium:
. October 18th - Port Wine Workshop - Hotelschool Brussels.
. November 23rd-11th - Port Wine Workshop - Hotelschool Bruges.
. November 26th - Port Wine Workshop - Hotelschool Antwerp.

Canada:
. October 22nd - Port and Douro wine tastings - Toronto.
. October 24th - Port and Douro wine tastings - Montreal.
See: http://www.ivdp.ca/2007/index_en.php

Canary Islands:
. October 8th - Port Wine seminar for members of the UAES - El Gabinete Gastronómico.

Portugal:
. November 3rd-5th - Encontro com o Vinho e Sabores 2007 - Centro de Congressos de Lisbon.
. November 19th-25th - Port & Douro Wine Show - 2nd edition - Lisbon.

Spain:
. October 22nd - Port Wine seminar for members of the UAES - Restaurante El Fogón de Baco - Camino de Valladolid, 13 - 28250 Madrid.
. November 6th - Port Wine tasting with cheeses and sweets - Jornadas Internationais de Sommeliers - Hotel Melia Golf - Gerona.

Sweden:
. October 16th - Port Wine tasting - Vinkallaren Grappa - Stockholm.

See also: http://www.ivdp.pt/eventos.asp

MUNDUSvini 2007.
06/10/07. During the seventh International Wine Prize Competition MUNDUSvini of Meiniger Verlag in Neustadt - Germany no Great Gold Medals were granted to Port Wine products. The Sandeman 20 Years Old Tawny won a Gold Medal. The other medals and awards can be found at:
http://www.mundusvini.de/4784700--~de~internationaler_weinpreis~ergebnisse~2007.html
and choose: Weinart: Port/M/S; Herkunfstland: Portugal; Anbaugebiet: Douro; Appellation: Porto.

Revista de Vinhos no. 214, September 2007.
06/10/07. The September issue of the Portuguese magazine Revista de Vinhos contains the following information on Port Wine:

New product:
The 2005 Vintage of Quinta do Vesúvio gets 18 points from the editorial staff on a score chart of 0 to 20.

Luís Soares Duarte:
Luís Antunes wrote the profile of winemaker Luís Soares Duarte who works as a consultant for including the Quintas do Infantado and Seara d’Ordens. His Port Wines get the following judgements: Q. do Infantado Dona Margarida Reserva 17 points and Q. Seara d’Ordens LBV 2000 16 points, LBV 2001 16.5 points and Vintage 2004 also 16.5 points.

Colheita tasting:
João Paulo Martins describes a tasting with 20 Colheitas from 1985 to 1997.
The Q. do Noval 1986 scored highest with 18 points.
At the bottom of the list we find Adega Cooperativa de São João de Pesqueira Fraga D’Ouro 1986 with 13 points.

Hotel Rural Quinta do Vallado:
Fernando Melo reviews this company over three kilometres northeast of Peso da Régua (see also Round trip 14.2f.). He rates the tourist activities with 18 points on a chart to 20.

Harvest expectations 2007 (2).
01/09/07. On July 27^th Diário Económico wrote that for the Douro region a decrease by 30% of the harvest was expected compared to 2006 (see our News item of 04/08/07).

On August 16^th Jornal de Notícias quoted a spokesman of the ADVID (Desenvolvimento da Viticultura Duriense) who predicted a decrease of 10 to 18%.
On August 21^st Diário de Notícias wrote that the INE (Instituto Nacional de Estatísticas) and the IVV (Instituto da Vinha e do Vinho) expected a decrease of about 10%.

The newspaper O Primeiro de Janeiro wrote on July 16^th that Quinta do Vallado expected the same yield as in 2006, while Q. Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo forecasted a lower yield.

All reports mentioned that it has been a difficult growing season with many fungus diseases like mildew and oidium.

First Kosher Port Wine - Cordovero.
01/09/07. The American Royal Wine Corporation (www.royalwines.com) has taken the initiative to market the first Kosher Port Wine, the Cordovero Ruby. Soon a LBV will also been launched, which means that the project has already been started more than four years ago.
The Port Wine is made by The Fladgate Partnership/Quinta and Vineyard Bottlers (Taylor’s, Fonseca, Croft, Delaforce and Romariz; www.fladgatepartnership.com) in their winery at Quinta da Nogueira in São João da Pesqueira. As far as we know, the grapes come from Quinta da Brunheda in Carrazeda de Ansiães (in the Port Wine enclave at the EN 214 between Tua and Vila Flor), but we did not succeed in getting this confirmed.

The fact that a wine is kosher has no effect on its taste.
A wine is kosher if it is made using strict rabbinical production techniques in accordance with Jewish dietary laws. A kosher wine cannot include any chemical or animal additives, gelatine, lactose, glycerine, corn products or nonwine yeasts. In addition, Sabbath-observing Jews must conduct the entire wine making process under rabbinical supervision. The equipments and machines must be used exclusively for the production of kosher products.

The Royal Wine Corp owns the brand name Cordovero. This company has supplied the used kosher wine alcohol, after approval of course by the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto (IVDP).

Codovero is a very common Jewish name with as most important rabbi Mozes Cordovero (1522 - 1570).

Daniel Rogov, wine critic of the Ha’aretz newspaper in Tel Aviv, wrote the following tasting note on the Ruby:
“To the best of my knowledge, the first kosher Port Wine produced and this one a joint effort between Royal Wines in New York and the highly respected lodge of Taylor Fladgate. Darker garnet in colour than most Ruby Ports and on the palate and nose one might think this a higher-level Tawny (Infoportwine: Ruby Reserve?). Ripe and spicy, with well integrated tannin and good balancing acidity, showing generous prune, black cherry, caramel and vanilla along with a firm structure and a generous finish on which you will find a hint of cinnamon. A very well-made Ruby! Drink now or in the next year or two. Score 88.”

Link of the month September 2007.
01/09/07. For this month we have chosen www.quintadocrasto.pt
Quinta do Crasto, of the Roquete family, is situated north of the Rio Douro in Gouvinhas (Sabrosa) between Peso da Régua and Pinhão. The company is 130 hectares in size of which 70 hectares are vineyards with Port rights class A. The company is very active in Douro wines, but also makes excellent top Ports like LBV’s and Vintages. In spring 2007 Q. do Crasto announced substantial investment plans (see our News item of 05/05/07).
Their website is nicely designed and offers good information in Portuguese and English.

Sales numbers first half 2007.
01/09/07. In the first half of this year only the volume of the Special Categories has 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 0.4%.
-         the revenue of all Port sold decreased by 2%.

-         the volume of the Special Categories sold increased by 6.2%.
-         the revenue of the Special Categories sold increased by 0.1%.

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

IVDP events calendar as of September 2007.
01/09/07. The Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto has planned the following events in Belgium, Canada, Canary Islands, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland:

Belgium:
. September 28th - Port Wine Workshop - Hotelschool - Marcinelle.
. October 2nd - Port Wine Workshop - Hotelschool Namur.
. October 18th - Port Wine Workshop - Hotelschool Brussels.
. November 23rd-11th - Port Wine Workshop - Hotelschool Bruges.
. November 26th - Port Wine Workshop - Hotelschool Antwerp.

Canada:
. October 22nd - Port and Douro wine tastings - Toronto.
. October 24th - Port and Douro wine tastings - Montreal.

Canary Islands:
. October 8th - Port Wine seminar voor members of the UAES - El Gabinete Gastronómico.

Denmark:
. November 12th - Port Wine Festival - Bourse palace of Copenhagen.

Finland:
. October 15th - Port and Douro wine tasting - Helsinki.

Norway:
. November 14th - Port and Douro wine tasting - Grand hotel Oslo.

Spain:
. September 24th - Pairing Port Wine tasting for chefs - Restaurant Vertical - Valencia.
. November 6th - Port Wine tasting with cheeses and sweets - Jornadas Internationais de Sommeliers - Hotel Melia Golf - Gerona.

Sweden:
. October 16th - Port Wine tasting - Vinkallaren Grappe - Stockholm.

Switzerland:
. October 1st - Port and Douro wine tasting - Restaurante "Au Premier", Bahnhofbuffet HB - Zürich.

See also: http://www.ivdp.pt/eventos.asp

IWP Zürich 2007.
01/09/07. During the Internationale Weinprämierung Zürich from July 16th to 20th a Gold Diploma was awarded to the 10 Years Old Tawny of Messias. More information can be found at: http://www.iwpz.ch/

Revista de Vinhos no. 213, August 2007.
01/09/07. The only Port news in the August issue of the Portuguese magazine Revista de Vinhos is an article by João Afonso. He writes about the purchase of Quinta do Zimbro by Manuel Pinto Hespanhol. This quinta of 20 hectares with Port rights class A, is situated in the Ribalonga valley near the estuary of the Rio Tua. Hespanhol already owned about the half (some 18 hectares) of Quinta Calços do Tanha in Vilarinho de Freires and a quinta of 7 hectares near Lamego where he lives.Together he ownes now 44 hectares vineyards. Since 1991 the company markets Douro table wines and from the 2005 harvest 3000 bottles of a Special Catergory Port were also produced. In the future Hespanhol wants to develop tourist activities at the quintas in Ribalonga and Vilarinho de Freires.

Harvest expectations 2007.
04/08/07. On July 27^th the Portuguese newspaper Diário Económico wrote that several companies and regional viniculture representatives expect that this year the harvest in Portugal will be 35% lower than in 2006. A decrease of 30% is expected for the Douro region.

A lower yield however often goes hand in hand with a higher quality. The paper also writes that many regions hope for a possibility to get rid of stocks and that the prices will increase. Probably, in the Douro region this will less apply for Port Wine, with its fixed production quota, than for the Douro table wines.

Diário Económico mentions the weather circumstances over the year as reasons for the yield decrease: first rain, next excessive heath at the beginning of fruit growing and lack of warmth at the ripening. Diseases had a better opportunity to emerge under these circumstances.

Benefício 2007.
04/08/07. Also this year the Casa do Douro (CdoD, the representative of the farmers and the cooperatives) has again caused problems with the setting of the production quota. In 2006 the CdoD refused all five proposals, after which the chairman of the Port Wine section of the Conselho Profissional had the casting vote. Afterwards this was of course blamed on him (Jorge Monteiro, president of the IVDP - Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto).

This year the CdoD refused to appoint its representatives in the Interprofessional Council in protest against the amount of specific debts to the government. We cannot help but wonder if this way the interests of the farmers is served well by the CdoD.

In case of absence of the CdoD in the consultations, the Minister of Agriculture had already issued a decree in which chairman Monteiro was authorized to take all necessary actions.

Nevertheless sessions of the Conselho have finally taken place, but with only some members on behalf of the CdoD. After this the production quota (Benefício) for the next harvest has been set at 125,000 pipas (casks of 550 litres) most (before adding aguardente). This is an increase by 1,500 pipas or over 1% compared to last year.

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%.
2007: 125,000 pipas or + 1%.
The full harvest bulletin can be found on the IVDP website: http://www.ivdp.pt/destaque.asp?cod=120

New Port forum.
04/08/07. On June 20^th a number of Brits, amongst which Derek Turnball and Alex Kilbey, both also active at the Roy Hersh’s site (http://fortheloveofport.com), have started a new Port forum. They had the need for a venue where in a somewhat more relaxed atmosphere Port Wine could be discussed. They do not consider this to be criticism of Hersh but simple wanted a site with a slightly different approach. The Port Forum also includes forums about table wines, beer and spirits. See: www.theportforum.com

Symington does not discontinue foot treading.
04/08/07. On July 7^th the English newspaper The Telegraph published the article ‘Centuries of Port heritage ended by family firm’ (see: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/07/wport107.xml). In this article the announcement was made that the Symington Family Estates would stop the production of Port by means of foot treading. Senior winemaker Paul Symington denied this highly unlikely report as follows:

“Following your article on Saturday 7th July about our robotic lagares for making Port, we would like to take this opportunity to correct a very important point that was mis-reported in the piece.”

“The article stated that our family was ending traditional treading by foot. This is simply not true. The purpose of the ‘Symington Robotic Lagar Seminar’ was not to announce that our family planned to abandon foot treading, but to recognize the great success of the Robotic Lagares and the increasingly important role that they will play in the production of premium quality Port. At no time, however, was it suggested that we will be giving up traditional treading. On the contrary, we have gone to great lengths to maintain this centuries old tradition at two of our finest properties, Quinta do Vesuvio and Dow's Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira.”