There was a time when Carcavelos wine was something of a British household name. At the end of the Georgian era (early-19th century), it was relatively common to find the words “Lisbon” and “Calcavella” engraved on the decorative silver tags designed to identify the wine served from a decanter. Both were fortified wines, the Port of Lisbon briefly competing with Oporto (Porto) for the shipment of wine from their respective hinterlands. “Lisbon” is no longer (other than as the much larger Vinho Regional “Lisboa”), but Calcavella is making a welcome return as a fortified wine under its modern-day name.

Situated close the mouth of the Tagus, Carcavelos is a now a coastal suburb of Portugal’s capital city, just 12km (7.5 miles) west of Terreira do Paço (“Black Horse Square”) that marks the center. The surfing crowd who regularly congregate on the broad sandy beach are blissfully unaware of the trials and tribulations of this historic wine region, which was driven to the point of extinction in the late-20th century. Although vines have been planted along the Tagus (Tejo) estuary since the 14th century, Carcavelos was made famous in the 18th century by the Marquês de Pombal, Portugal’s autocratic Prime Minister under José I, who had his then out-of-town residence at Oeiras. Pombal is celebrated for enacting the first modern demarcation of the Port region in 1756, but when it came to Carcavelos, he deliberately flouted his own rules. Pombal apparently sold grapes from his estate to Port producers, and may well have blended Port with wines from his own estate. At the time, Calcavella was a rich, amber-colored fortified wine that regularly appeared alongside “Lisbon” at Christie’s early London auctions, and the two wines were probably very similar in style. John Croft, writing in 1788, described between 4,000 and 5,000 tuns of “Lisbon” being imported to England, “all promiscuously called Calcavella.” A consignment was sent by José I to the Court of Peking, no doubt at Pombal’s instigation.

Calcavella, then Carcavelos, continued to be shipped to England during the 19th century and enjoyed a period of vogue in the aftermath of the Peninsular Wars when Wellington’s troops had been stationed in the hinterland around Lisbon. Later in the century, phylloxera put paid to exports. Records show that production fell to just 12 pipes (6,600 liters) in 1867, but by the 1930s it had recovered to a modest 40,000 liters of wine a year.

Carcavelos was demarcated in 1908 to take in the then villages of Oeiras, Parede, São Domingos de Rana, and the town of Carcavelos itself, all of which had substantial areas of vineyard. Now a DOC [DOP], the region has been enlarged to include the coastal strip between Paço de Arcos and the outskirts of the resort town of Estoril. In the meantime, however, large areas of vineyard have been lost to urban development, as Lisbon has expanded westward along the Tagus estuary. The heart of the region was around Sassoeiros, but since the 1950s, properties with bucolic-sounding names like Quinta de Bela Vista, Quinta das Rosas, and Quinta das Vinhas have been supplanted by housing estates. There is one urban area named Bairro Além das Vinhas (“Estate beside the Vines”), even though the vines are no more. Vines are now being planted on roundabouts as a nod to the wine region. 

The civic saving of Carcavelos

It is now hard to trace the true character of Carcavelos wine, since there wasn’t much in the way of consistency in the 20th century. A fleeting revival of the wine took place in the 1980s, when a new vineyard was planted at Quinta dos Pesos, at Caparide behind Estoril, but most of the vines were uprooted a decade or so later. Around the same time, one of the last of the traditional estates, Quinta do Barão, which once belonged to the Counts of Riba d’Ave, fell prey to urban development. That would have been the end for Carcavelos, but for the intervention of Oeiras town council in 1997. Joining forces with the Estação Agronómica Nacional, they restored the vineyard on Pombal’s old estate, and from 2001 they began producing wine again, marketing under the brand name Villa Oeiras. Not to be outdone, Cascais town council is also supporting a project in its patch, which includes the suburb of Carcavelos itself.

There are currently 32ha (80 acres) of vineyard within the Carcavelos DOC, with 23ha (57 acres) on the Marquês do Pombal’s old estate. A modern winery (Adega do Casal da Manteiga) has been created from a former dairy (hence manteiga, meaning “butter”), with the cellars of the old palace used for aging the wines in cask and barrel. The property is open for guided tours on certain days of the week and can be reached easily by train from the center of Lisbon.

The mild Atlantic climate lends itself to the production of fortified wine. The coastline faces due south, and a series of shallow valleys offer natural shelter from the Atlantic westerlies that buffet the west-facing coast just around the corner from Cascais. Both red and white grapes may be used to make Carcavelos. The reds are Castelão and Preto Martinho, supplemented by Trincadeira and Amostrinha, alongside white grapes Boal Ratinho, Arinto, and Galego Dourado. Of these, Galego Dourado seems to be the most distinguished and is now being cultivated with considerable success for unfortified whites on the Alentejo coast to the south of Lisbon. The calcareous soils and maritime climate lend acidity, which is considered essential for the character and the aging of the wine. Picking now begins as early as mid-August to retain natural acidity, although Arinto and Ratinho are far from short of it.  

In the past, the grapes were foot-trodden in lagar and fermented dry before being fortified with grape spirit up to at least 17.5% ABV. Residual sugar may not be more than 150g/l, with most of today’s wines registering RS levels of around 100g/l. According to António Maria de Oliveira Bello, who described Carcavelos toward the end of its heyday, the wine was produced in two styles: seco and meio seco. The former was apparently sold with a minimum of 18 years of age and the latter with 11. Both are described as aveluado—“velvety.”

Carcavelos reborn and reinvented

Carcavelos is currently reinventing itself and writing its own rules, with blended wines bottled at seven and 15 years of age (“Superior”), and sporadic single-harvest or colheita wines when quantity and quality permit. In future, when stocks permit, it is planned to bottle aged wines at 20 and 30 years, in parallel with Port and Madeira. There are now around 2,000 barrels in stock. The fortifying aguardente is 77% strength (akin to that used to fortify Port), with producers preferring to age a portion of the spirit in wood for eight months before fortifying to make the wine smoother and more mellow from the outset. Some spirit originates from nearby Lourinhã. There are currently wines made entirely from white grapes, a blend of red and white, and (in the case of the Adega de Belém urban winery), a wine made from pure Castelão. I have to say that I didn’t find the latter very tipico (to use a Portuguese word), being more akin to a young Tawny Port. True Carcavelos has been described as being “between a Sherry and a Madeira” in style. On the basis of the wines tasted below, this is a fairly apt summary. In fact, it was not unknown for the wines at Quinta do Barão to be subject to some rudimentary estufagem (heating in the sun). Today’s Carcavelos must be aged in wood for a minimum of two years, though most producers are aging their wines in French and Portuguese oak barricas of varying sizes for considerably longer. It is felt that wines made from red grapes need longer in wood than those made from white grapes. Larger chestnut casks are also used. All producers are now obliged to have a conta corrente (stock account) with the local CVR, which issues seals of approval. Like Madeira with its acidic base, Carcavelos clearly needs age.

Most of the wines below were tasted in Lisbon at the Instituto Superior de Agronomia in February 2024, in what must have been the first comparative tasting of Carcavelos for many a year. My thanks go to Jorg Lewerenz for inviting me, and to Rodolfo Tristão for leading this rather remarkable tasting. I have added more recent notes on the 7-year-old, 2014 Colheita and a 1997 Colheita from a tasting at the Villa Oeiras adega with winemaker Alexandre Lisboa. He is conscious of his pivotal role in restoring the region’s reputation: “We are aware of our heritage, and we are creating these wines for future generations.” Old bottles of traditional Carcavelos can still occasionally be found in specialist Lisbon wine shops, but look out for the new generation of wines from Quinta do Corrieira and Villa Oeiras, both of which represent the future of Carcavelos. 

Tasting Carcavelos

Villa Oeiras 7 Anos 

A blend of white wines aged in seasoned French and Portuguese oak casks for 7–9 years. Lovely, golden, orange-amber color; still showing spirit on the nose, with orange-peel aromas and a touch of toffee; gloriously smooth and fresh, with citrus-toffee complexity, gentle mouthfeel, and a clean, breezy finish. | 88

Villa Oeiras 15 Anos Superior 

A 15-year-old blend from the three principal white grape varieties, fortified with aguardente from Lourinhã, aged in Portuguese and French oak as well as chestnut. Lovely, golden amber color, with a green glint; heady maritime nose, salty citrus, candied peel, and a hint of toffee; similarly fresh crystalized-lemon and dried-apricot fruit, good balance (100g/l RS), fresh and nicely defined. | 91

Villa Oeiras Colheita 2014

This is the most recent single-vintage Carcavelos, shortly to be launched on to the market. Pale golden amber, with a glint of olive green on the rim; gently toasted dried-apricot aromas and flavors, with lovely mouthfeel, delicate richness mid-palate (95g/l RS), and on to the finish with a hint of saline butterscotch, now beautifully melded and harmonious with age. | 92

Quinta da Corrieira Colheita 2012 

The launch of a wine from a small property at Barcarena, 150m (500ft) above sea level about 5km (3 miles) inland from Carcavelos itself, with tremendous views over the Estoril coast. Made from a roughly equal blend of Galego Dourado, Arinto, and Ratinho, the specifics of the vinification and aging process for this have already been lost due to the indisposition of the previous owner, making this something of mystery wine. The property was only acquired by the current owner, Jorg Lewerenz, in 2017. Pale amber, with a green glint; delicate floral perfume, honeysuckle, vaguely nutty, too, with a hint of dried apricot; sweeter on the palate than the nose suggests (about 90g/l RS), dried-apricot sweetness balanced by acidity, leading to a lithe, elegant finish, delicate and honeyed. | 92

Quinta dos Pesos 1995

This property at the back of Estoril kept Carcavelos alive during the 1980s and ’90s. A blend of white and red grapes, the later accounting for about 35% of the blend and including Castelão and Espadeiro, bottled in 2023 for Howard’s Folly (with Australian David Baverstock in charge of the winemaking). Deep orange-amber, olive-green rim; rich and heady on the nose, with a touch of butterscotch and molasses, lifted and almost Madeira-like in style; similarly rich and textured on the palate, tawny marmalade in character, with a saline streak, quince and boiled sweets on the finish. Very good indeed. | 95

Carcavelos 1997 Colheita 

A wine made from grapes grown by the Estação Agronómica in Oeiras but made at the Dois Portos adega near Torres Vedras, still in cask. Lovely, deep golden amber, with a complex, slightly lifted, mellifluous character on the nose and palate, combining creamy butterscotch richness and candid-peel freshness with just a hint of chocolate. Rather glorious. Just one pipe remaining. | 94

Quinta da Ribeira de Caparide 1989

A blend of red and white grapes from a property near Estoril. Pale-to-mid- amber, rather cloudy; smells of rather poor-quality aguardente, with a backdrop of rather dusty dog biscuits; better on the palate, savory, in a drier style, saline but quite neutral, with a touch of toffee and carame on the rather extractive finish. Unappealing. | 80

Conde de Oeiras 

A blend of wines from 1997 to 2004, bottled in 2009. This was the first wine to be bottled by the Villa Oeiras project, backed by the town council. Mid-amber-orange, with a green glint; strangely roasted and rather oxidized on the nose, singed and rustic; rich on the palate, semi-sweet in style, with 110g/l RS, rather dusty dried apricots (sweet and savory), with some texture and a sultana-like finish. Disjointed; doesn’t quite gel. | 84

Quinta de Cima 

An experimental wine from the late 1980s/early 1990s, made at Torres Vedras from grapes grown in Oeiras, the vines having been planted in 1983. Pale mahogany, with a green-tinged rim; honey and orange blossom on the nose, grapey, too, “like an old Moscatel,” as one taster said; very rich and sweet in style (probably close to the maximum 150g/l RS), quite elegant, with peachy fruit and medicinal sweetness on the finish. This seems to have aged rather well in bottle. | 88

Quinta d’Algoa 1906

These vineyards have long disappeared under a housing development. There is a public garden named Algoa close to the modern-day center of Carcavelos. Deep, bright amber, with an olive-green rim; delicately maderized on the nose, with a touch of rancio, lifted and high-toned, with a touch of woodsmoke; a similarly delicate, off-dry, savory-smoky character on the palate, notable acidity, but more in the style of Amontillado Sherry than Madeira, with a similarly dry, austere finish. | 91 

Quinta do Barão No 1

This is a wine from the 1920s, when this property bottled wines numbered 1, 2, or 3, reflecting increasing sweetness. Barão continued to produce wine until 1988 (bottled as Ultima Reserva, Last Reserve), when the estate was divided in two by a feeder road. The adega still stands abandoned but there have since been various projects for redevelopment. Mid-deep mahogany, with an olive-green rim; wild, funky, rather woody nose; a delicate (fragile even) saline character, with crystalized fruit (Elvas plum) and a rather abrupt, austere finish. A fascinating wine, if very difficult to score. | 87

Quinta da Bela Vista 

A wine around 80 years old, thought to be made principally from Galego Dourado. The estate ceased production in 1969, and the wine remained in vat until it was removed and bottled in 1991 by Carlos Pereira da Fonseca of Quinta de Sanguinhal at Bombarral. Around 9,000 liters were bottled. Pale- to mid-amber in color; delicate, clean, if a bit non-descript on the nose, vaguely nutty; soft, dry, and quite elegant (only about 10g/l RS), with a soft, slightly grapey finish. There was some significant variation between bottles though. | 87

The post The Carcavelos comeback: Reinvention on the Tagus appeared first on World Of Fine Wine.

After seven years, Amphora Day 2024, held at Rocim’s spectacular winery in Alentejo, has become a fixture in the international wine calendar exclusively devoted to clay-pot winemaking.

While the focus is on the newly tapped talha wine from the local villages, it is also a great opportunity to retaste older talha wines to see how they are developing. It has also become the place for an increasing number of international producers to show off their amphora-made wine. There is simply no other place on earth where it’s possible to taste some of the planet’s newest wine styles and then spend the evening “adega” crawling in the surrounding villages like people did in Roman times.

2024 is looking to be a superb year for talha wine. Where previous years in Alentejo have been increasingly hot and dry, 2024 delivered a lot of rain and a cooler, longer growing season resulting in higher acidity, lower alcohol, and increased complexity across the board. 

Paul White’s favourite 2024 talha wines at Amphora Day 2024

During Amphora Day festivities Rocim tapped 1,500-liter talhas, sharing the latest harvest with a thousand eager participants crowding around the pots with outstretched glasses. Both the reds and the whites were remarkably finished wines with the whites especially polished and silky this year. Rocim’s many talha-made wines build up from this classic baseline. All are faithful examples and, given their global distribution, provide an excellent entry point to understanding talha wines. 

Similarly impressive are Adega Cooperativa de Vidigueira, Cuba e Alvito’s 2024s. Old-vine Aragones, Trincadeira, and Tinta Grossa from Vila de Frades is fermented in a talha dated 1656 to produce Adega Vidigueira 1656 Tinto 2024. Tons of spicy fruit and great acidity this year, a bit like biting into fresh blackberries and crunching the seeds (92 points). Vidigueira Centenaria Branco 2024 comprises a white field blend of 130-year-old Vidigueira vines. A mix of tinned pear, beeswax,  and pine needle aromas (perhaps from freshly pes-coated talha), that offers up a pleasing roll-around-your-tongue density, long flavors, and then fine acidity and skin tannins (94). Both are very traditional styles this year, each showing power, density, and vibrant acidity.

Canena Vinhas Velhas Tinto 2024 Talha DOC is packed with big, crunchily fresh, blackberry-brambly characters, bolstered by dusty, then powdery tannins driving length. Hard to believe such a pure wine can be so drinkable just a few months after birth. Good from the start, this wine becomes even better with age. First tasted seven years ago, the 2018 version has evolved into something quite refined, promising many more years (89). 

Some favorite Portuguese talha-made wines with a bit of age

Vila Alva’s XXVI Talhas have an increasingly impressive track record of talha-specific bottlings. Their XXVI Talhas Talha X Branco 2023 (11.5%) contains a field blend of 11 varieties, nicely harmonizing into delicate spice-floral aromas. Surprisingly sweetly fruited (although bone dry) with ultra-ripe, fine skin tannins flowing through a long, tapered finish (90). XXVI Talhas Mestre Daniel Tinto 2022 co-ferments Tinta Grossa, Moreto, and Aragones on skins for six months. It radiates all kinds of cherry characters, delivering tremendous back palate concentration without thickness (94).  Nicely counterpointing this with pure Tinta Grossa, XXVI Talhas Talha XV 2022 is chock full of spicy clove and cherry characters flowing through a concentrated slick texture, finishing off with silk-edged acidity and fine tannins. Very long (96). 

Legendary Alentejo winemaker David Baverstock retired from Esporão a few years back and established Howards Folly as a “talha taberna” in Estremoz. Howards Folly Tres Anforas Tinto 2021 (12.5%) and Branco 2021 (12%( Vinho de Talha DOCs are crackers. Both made from 85-year-old vineyards. The tinto packs in amazing cherry-esque fruit depth. Dense, taut, and velvety in the mouth—real iron fist in a velvet glove stuff—it delivers tremendous flavor length and should last for decades (96).  The branco is as refined as it is characterful (89).

Geracoes da Talha Farappo Branco 2023 (12.5%) Vinho de Talha DOC wears the spicy, honeyed beeswax and lemon aromas (fresh pes internal beeswax coating?) over a baseline of pears, quince, and apple skins. It’s plush and rounded in the mouth and juicy throughout (94).

There were too many other interesting wines to cover here. A few worth watching out for are: Honrado Vinum Novum Tinto 2023 (12.8%; 90), Sovibor Mamore da Talha Petroleiro 2022 (88), Talha Mafia Branco 2024 (88), Canano Tinto Vinhas Velhas 2023 (92), and so many others— Montalto, Scylla, Quinta da Alorna, Barroca da Malhada, Arvad, Serenada, Quinta do Paral, Adega Marel, Raul Moreno, Encosta do Pinhal.

Standout international styles at Amphora Day 2024

Napa Valley organic producer Tres Sabores Winery planted St Laurent back in 2014. Winemaker Jon Engelskirger was angling for something “soulful…between 11 and 12% alcohol” and eventually settled it into Beckham’s Oregon-produced, dolium-inspired, Novum amphoras in 2019. He loved “the intersection between low alcohol, low tannin, highly complex anthocyanin, significant pyrazines, fruit, and clay” and how all that sediments out with “still live organisms” in the belly of an amphora. He’d “heard others speak of constant bâtonnage by way of that curvaceous shape,” wondering, “Why won’t this settle?,” then self-answering, “Ah, texture—love that!Æ

All of which plays into Tres Sabores Winery’s St Laurent 2023 (11%). Bursting with herbal/basal/balsamic spiciness amplifying mulberry characters infusing a big, soft, fleshy texture and tempered with just enough acidity to keep it all in check (90). Tres Sabores Winery St Laurent 2022 is spicier and broader still, more savory, more depth, and a juicier finish (91).

Stellenbosch’s Kleine Zalze have been working on 50-year-old vine Chenin Blanc in amphora since 2016. The wine is fermented on skins for seven days then removed, with the free-run juice returned to amphora for nine months, then bottled. Kleine Zalze 2024 is full of sappy, nicely balanced acidity and well-integrated skin tannins, both counterpointing a full dense texture with tons of Chenin honey and lemon buried inside (90).

Unusual for Georgia, Kakheti’s Tilisma Winery has a young woman winemaker, Ketevan Hubert. Focused on low intervention, organics, and non-sulfite wines, her qvevri wines favor less skin contact, so are fresher and fruitier than the norm. Tilisma’s white blend of Kisi and, nearly extinct, Khikhvi from 2023 was left on skins for eight hours inside qvevri, then removed with the free-run juice returned, resulting in a rounder fatter, fleshier style, with spicy fruits, racy acidity, and fine tannins (89). Not unlike Portugal’s traditional Palhete mix of red and white grapes, Tilisma Saperavi-Mtsvani-Rkatsiteli ‘Dark Rose’ Qvevri 2022 was a more linear offering an intriguing mix of dried and fresh strawberries (89). 

Another winery bucking Georgia’s traditional 6-8 month on-skin ferments is Tezi Winery from Kartli. Tezi Tsolikauri 2022 had skins in qvevri for just a day, delivering super-fresh quince fruit, a not too firm, cohesive texture, finishing with pearish minerality (87). Kisi 2023 stretched skin contact to 21 days creating spicier notes, with quince/peach pit fruits throughout (88). Mtzvane 2022 with 30 days on skin, created a densely concentrated, expansively powerful style laden with complex, herbal, dried apricot characters (94).

Piedmont’s Rocco di Carpeneto uses above-ground dolia by Artenova, who originally revived this ancient Roman design. The winemaker loves the interplay of clay with skin contact-derived high acidity and tannins. Rocco di Carpeneto AdMura 2020 (12%) presses 100% Albarossa grapes after fermentation then returns the wine for another 18 months in amphora. Brimming with super-ripe black fruits and licorice, it’s velvety in the mouth with fine tannins and acidity cutting through (89).  RataRaura 2022 (13%), following a similar regime, offers up funky, savory black fruit notes and a long, elegant, silky finish (90).

Looking back on this year’s Amphora Day I had a lightbulb moment. The day before I had my fourth opportunity to taste Hedade do Rocim’s Jupiter 2015, which had been aged in talha for four years and subsequently became the most famous, most expensive clay pot-produced wine in the world. When released it was an impressively complete wine right off the starting blocks. And yet no one could know how it would evolve or for how long. 

I’d recently tasted a couple of Rocim’s more conventionally made Vinha da Micaela wines that shared the same old-vine source. These were more linear, showing, in a positive way, Alicante Bouchet’s fine-grained, extended tannic characters. Restasting Jupiter on its ninth birthday, it seems to have traded expansive power and flamboyance for grace and elegance, showing the depth and complexity of its fruit source. Having tasted many talha wines from the 1940s and 50s, I reckon this wine is destined to live as long, continuing to dazzle taste buds along the way. 

A final observation this year: I noticed a subtle, but steady growth of “talha tourism.” The local villages are increasingly widening the talha experience beyond St Martin’s Day and Amphora Day. New talha tavernas Adega Museu do Vinho de Talha (Canena/Pigarça), Geracoes, and Adego do Arcos have joined stalwarts, Adega-Museu Cella Vinaria Antiqua (Honrado), XXVI Talhas, and Howard’s Folly in providing extended talha tourist experiences, broadening the opportunity to explore the mystique of this very special winemaking tradition.

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In the latest in a series of articles going behind the scenes at some of the winners of the 2024 World’s Best Wine Lists Awards, Elisabete Fernandes, Wine Director at The Yeatman, explains how she and her team put together the Best Regional Wine List in Region—Europe.

What does Winning a WBWL award mean to you at The Yeatman?
Winning a World’s Best Wine List Award from The World of Fine Wine (Best Regional Wine List in Region—Europe) is a very important accolade for us, as it signifies the recognition of a very particular vision—the promotion of Portuguese wines—and the proof that our idea is unique and that our gamble on this concept is indeed a winning one, drawing the attention of the international public to the potential of these wines and to wine tourism in this country.

What are you trying to achieve with your list at The Yeatman? 

Our aim is to publicize the full potential and quality of Portuguese wines. We want to show how in such a small country, we have so much history, diversity, and style. Our wine list with 97% Portuguese references, when presented in a wine hotel like The Yeatman, visited by the most diverse international audiences, reaches this public and becomes one of the main ambassadors for promoting Portuguese wines, elevating their service and exposure when showcased with our incredible gastronomy and the art of hospitality.

What do you feel is the biggest strength of The Yeatman list?

The greatest strength of this list is the fact that it is eclectic and that we can find wines for the most varied types of customers, through the introduction of different wine styles and regions, with great depth of vintages, typical Portuguese grape varieties, and excellent price diversity. The range of wines on our wine list, together with the work of our team of sommeliers, is really what sets it apart.

What are three wines on your list that you feel best represent what you’re trying to do at The Yeatman?

Taylor’s Single Harvest 1896, Port—this wine represents history, rarity, and quality and is a tribute to the most internationally renowned and acclaimed of all Portuguese wines: Port.

Ilha do Pico Terrantez White 2020—from the second largest island in the archipelago of the Azores, with its rare and charismatic grape variety, this wine represents the rebirth of a Portuguese region and is an acclamation of the dramatic viticulture on this island.

Abandonado Alves de Sousa 2017, Douro Valley—this wine represents the old vines of the Douro Valley region (which are more than 80 years old), their limited production, and a blend that includes more than 25 indigenous grape varieties (all Portuguese), which is the main signature of this region's incredible wines.

What is your favourite wine and food pairing based on a wine and a dish served at The Yeatman?

I have two favorite pairings. One is listed on the menu in our Gastronomic Restaurant, and the other is a classic and an all-time favorite.

The first is our two Michelin star chef Ricardo Costa’s signature dish, suckling pig, paired with an aged red wine from the Bairrada region, for its incredible structure and complexity. Currently in The Yeatman’s Gastronomic Restaurant we are featuring Principal 2009, Bairrada, which represents the quality of this Portuguese terroir, with its blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Touriga Nacional. This is a wine of unique quality, rivaling the great and acclaimed wines of the Old World. 

And the classic choice? A very old Vintage Port with blue cheeses.

The post The World’s Best Wine Lists winners’ stories: The Yeatman appeared first on World Of Fine Wine.

Simon J Woolf visits the adventurous producers of Trás-os-Montes.

People here don’t want to sell their vineyards,” explains Frederico Machado. “They believe that their children will one day return home and want to work on the land.” As we drive through the barren highlands of the Planalto Mirandês, he smiles wryly. “It will never happen.”

Machado is one half of Arribas Wine Company, a boutique winemaking project founded in Trás-os-Montes ( “behind the mountains”) with his friend Ricardo Alves in 2017. The two met while they were studying winemaking in Vila Real. They make an interesting double act. Sporting John Lennon-style round glasses when I met him, Fred channels an almost Liverpudlian quick and sardonic wit. Ricardo is the straight man, often seemingly withdrawn and taciturn, but given to suddenly coming alive when the topic of conversation suits him.

Ricardo is originally a local, whereas Fred grew up farther west in Braga, part of the Minho, better known as Vinho Verde. Despite these differences, the pair share a passion and deep belief in the potential of Trás-os-Montes. If that sounds trite, it is anything but. Few of their colleagues in the Portuguese wine industry would have credited this massive, northeasterly backwater with much potential. 

It’s a tricky region to understand geographically, partly because the administrative, cultural, and wine-denominated areas are all significantly different—in some cases, overlapping with parts of the Douro. The Douro River itself continues into southeastern Trás-os-Montes and onward into Spain. The administrative region Trás-os-Montes is vast, occupying an area more than twice the size of the demarcated Douro region. It is bordered by Vinho Verde to the west, Spain to the north and east, and the Douro to the south. The easterly area around Miranda do Douro, Mogadouro, and Vimioso is perhaps the most culturally distinct because it has its own language—Mirandese—which, since 1998, has had official recognition by the Portuguese government. In terms of wine, only three relatively small “islands” within the region qualify for DOC status. These are clustered around Chaves, Valpaços, and the Planalto Mirandês, which traverses the easterly border with Spain. The rest of Trás-os-Montes is denominated by the overarching IGP (Vinho Regional) Transmontano.

Trás-os-Montes has always had a reputation for being poor and underdeveloped, even compared to the most rural backwaters of the Douro Superior or the simple farming communities in the Minho. It’s geographically cut off from just about everywhere, with historically bad road links to the westerly coastline and an impressive range of mountains separating it from easterly Spain. Ever more sparsely populated, and with little industry apart from farming, this is not a place where opportunity knocks very often. Fred, who lives in the village of Bemposta, where the duo also have their cellars, mentions that even the nearest ATM is a 12-mile (20km) round trip away.

The region’s reputation in wine terms is as a bulk-wine producer, with a mediocre sprinkling of cooperative cellars and a few large operations specializing in sparkling wine or rosé. Trás-os-Montes also claims to be the source of most of the grapes for Sogrape’s Mateus Rosé, still one of Portugal’s biggest wine exports. According to the Comissão Vitivinícola Regional de Trás-os-Montes, there are only 85 registered producers in the region, and 11,010ha (27,200 acres) of vines. Unlike all of Portugal’s other wine regions, Trás-os-Montes doesn’t have its own tasting panel to approve the wines, which are instead sent to the Douro’s IVDP. “Every Trás-os-Montes DOC wine effectively becomes a second-division Douro wine,” says Fred.

Not just hot

I didn’t realize back in 2019, when I first visited, but Trás-os-Montes’s second-division consignment had exerted its influence on me. I regarded it as a continuation of the Douro Superior, assuming it had a similarly hot and dry climate. Visiting Quinta de Arcossó near the town of Chaves confirmed my assumption. I tasted ripe, concentrated wines, high in alcohol and big on oak influence. Owner-winemaker Amilcar Salgado showed us some extraordinary old vineyard plots, with bush vines scattered among what looked for all the world like a wild desert garden. His commitment to working these treasures was admirable, but the wines did nothing to help me understand the region.

I could hardly have been more wrong about the climate. Trás-os-Montes has the coldest winters anywhere in Portugal, and it also divides into two distinct zones—the so-called terra fria (cold land) to the northwest, and terra quente (hot land) to the southeast. But even the warmer areas typically experience more evenly distributed rainfall and cooler winter temperatures than the Douro—a dry and fiery furnace by comparison.

Fred and Ricardo knew that the granite hinterlands around the Planalto Mirandês had a different story to tell, beyond being an also-ran to the Douro. Bemposta is just a few miles away from the Spanish region of Arribes, and the pair decided to name their project for its Portuguese translation, Arribas. There is no such denomination in Trás-os-Montes, but as Fred explains, the existing DOC feels so meaningless to them that the idea of Arribas held far more significance. Their concept also encompasses the idea of a cross-border growers’ association, and they are working actively with a small number of growers in Spain to create this partnership.

The pair had to circumvent considerable challenges to secure their first vineyards, because the locals initially regarded them not just with suspicion but also incredulity: Why would anyone want to work old vineyards that produce almost nothing? They currently rent around 30 different parcels scattered across six different villages. “Now people come to us,” says Fred. The plots are generally rented with long-term contracts, and in most cases Fred and Ricardo do the vineyard work themselves. Many of the parcels are very old, with bush-trained, 80- to 100-year-old plants the norm.

With so much of Trás-os-Montes’s existence hanging on the coattails of the Douro, it would be reasonable to assume that a similar range of grape varieties is typical here. But that also turns out not to be the case. Touriga Nacional, the poster-boy red of the Douro, was never historically planted in Trás-os-Montes. Tinta Roriz, aka Tempranillo, similarly has no place here. But that hasn’t stopped many old plots being grubbed up and replaced with these modern superstars. As in so many parts of northern Portugal, field blends have also been dominant, but the varieties you’d typically find would be Tinta Gorda (better known as Juan García in Spain), Tinta Serrana, Bastardo, or Verdelho Vermelho (red Verdelho). Most old vineyards have a substantial proportion of white grape varieties mixed in with everything else, with the likes of Malvasia Fina or Gouveio (here known as Verdelho), Bastardo Branco, and Porto Branco common. With a host of international grape varieties allowed in the Vinho Regional classification, it can be difficult to get any perspective on what was once typical in the region. Most sources of information merely trot out an Identikit list of Douro varieties, plus Cabernet, Sauvignon, Gewürztraminer, and so forth. 

Most of the vineyards worked by Fred and Ricardo are a mix of red and white grape varieties, as is reflected in their vinifications and bottlings. It’s a fair assumption that anything labeled tinto is going to contain at least a small proportion of white grapes. Cellar practice is low on intervention, with the aim of prioritizing freshness and vineyard expression. Maceration times for both reds and whites are kept very short, and most wines age for a year or more in used/neutral oak vessels (various formats) before bottling. Sulfur dioxide is the only additive. When I first tasted the Arribas wines, in 2021, I wasn’t sure what to make of them. The Saroto red and white blends felt feather-light and a mite simplistic given the backstory. Even the higher-level vineyard selections, such as Quilómetro, seemed somewhat insubstantial.

Two issues were at play here. The first was my misconception about Trás-os-Montes’s climate and terroir—I was expecting big, heavy wines. The second was something that Ricardo admitted to me in 2022: They had started out bottling and releasing their wines much too early. The output from these low-yielding old vines speaks of the region. The wines often have a lean, gnarly side that needs a year or two of barrel aging before it softens and integrates. Tinta Gorda, in particular, needs careful handling, since it can be a brutally tannic creature. With patience, the reds show bright redcurrant or cranberry fruit, often with velvety texture. A Saroto Branco 2018, with just 10.5% alcohol, has really hit its stride now, with delicate tarragon and lime scents and a Riesling-like hint of petrol.

Fred and Ricardo work out of two rather cramped cellars in Bemposta, but in 2023 acquired the use of a more spacious winery in the village of Vila Chã de Braciosa. Biliplana was an abortive project from a pharmacy owner who moved to the Douro in 2014. They’ve taken the opportunity to work with additional growers, and thus there are now separate bottlings of wines under a new Biliplana brand. The Bilaplana 2022 Tinto (actually a 60/40 blend with white grapes), tasted February 2024, shows gorgeous berry fruit, a nicely rounded, chalky texture and attractive herbal notes on the finish. It was produced from a vineyard where Bastardo dominates but has remained light and restrained; Bastardo in the Douro is renowned for its ability to give high sugar and alcohol.

The Biliplana cellar is also being used as an overflow by a colleague whom Fred and Ricardo have mentored. António Picotês comes from a family based in nearby Sendim that made continuously for generations. He had embarked on a career as a civil engineer, working in Porto, when his dad died unexpectedly from a brain tumor in 2018. “That was the only year that no wine has been made in this cellar,” he says poignantly, as we taste from the tanks and barrels in the high-beamed family winery. António decided he had to take up the challenge and now makes wine in his spare time. It’s a noble pursuit, since the family owns some wonderful old-vine parcels, one of which is situated right outside their living room. António’s first commercial releases were from the 2021 vintage. His wines typically show a little more ripeness than those of Arribas Wine Company, albeit with the same brightness and freshness. A 2022 Palhete (a traditional style with roughly 80% red and 20% white grapes) impressed me with its soft, raspberry kiss. Piçarrão is his top selection, unusually made from 100% red grapes. The just-released 2022 expresses wonderfully spicy berry fruit and has what Michael Broadbent MW might have termed perfect weight. It’s ripe but not in any way overbearing. It was aged in barriques, and the oak has integrated well. I was particularly taken with António’s Branco 2021, a blend of mostly Malvasia Fina and Verdelho (aka Gouveio). Clocking in at just under 13% ABV, it has a silken and inviting texture, with a sensation of ripeness and richness. 

The village of “Grape”

The vineyards near Bemposta can seem quite otherworldly, hidden far away from main roads and often accessed only by treacherously rocky tracks. Their elderly denizens seem to have achieved a kind of Zen state. They’ve endured for a century, sometimes more. Fred takes me to a stunning site he calls Horatio, for the similarly aging owner. It sits on a high plateau that then drops, canyon-like, down to the steep cliffs of the Douro River. Boulders and isolated cherry trees litter the landscape. A little farther north, in the village of Uva, the terrain feels yet more barren. Here at 1,800ft (550m), Trás-os-Montes is at its bleakest and most arid. The village itself has a mere 15 permanent residents, though there must be more than 100 houses, in various states of disrepair. Far outnumbering the residents—and probably the houses, too—are the pombais: whitewashed, squat, stone towers that provide a haven for pigeons, allowing the villagers to collect their excrement for use as fertilizer and (historically) the birds themselves for food.

Since 2017, the village has had two more inhabitants. Aline Domingues was brought up in France, but Uva is her father’s ancestral village, and it’s here that she decided to make her home and her wine. Her brand, Menina d’Uva—translating literally as “Girl of the Grape”—couldn’t be any more apt. Her Italian partner Emmanuele came to the region from his native Marche, originally as a volunteer at the local donkey sanctuary. He has now become an integral part of the winery project. Aline’s uncle and grandfather both own vineyards around the village, and she rents these and a number of other parcels. She also planted 2.5ha (6 acres) between 2020 and 2021. Working out of a minute stone cellar in the village, Aline’s total production is around 10,000 bottles—at least until those new vines come of age. She’s now also building a new dedicated cellar.

Her background is microbiology, with a master’s in the fermentation of cheese, beer, and wine, but Aline’s approach to winemaking is not in any way dogmatic or driven by science. She makes wine in pretty much the same way her grandfather might have done, without any additives, including sulfur. Her wines beautifully express the wild, barren nature of the land. There is a feeling of heat, but it’s nicely reined in by smart harvest-date decisions. The wines don’t lack ripeness, but they feel lithe and digestible. For anyone who wants to understand the character of Tinta Gorda, try her Palomba (“Pigeon”) 2021, made from vineyards in Uva, where this variety dominates. The wine suggests wild forest fruits infused with fresh Mediterranean herbs. It’s structured, with quite spiky tannins. Empusa is labeled as a rosé but is actually a blend of red and white, both directly pressed. Her Palhete Ciste 2021 reverses the normal proportions for this style and is 60% white and 40% red; it’s perhaps the most angular of her wines, with relatively lean, red berry fruit, a spicy, menthol hint, and grippy tannins. Lichien Branco 2021 blends mostly Malvasia and Bastardo Branco (like all of her wines, it’s a field blend) and shows plentiful ripe melon and fresh herbs.

Aline, Fred, Ricardo, and António form a slightly renegade bunch in Trás-os-Montes. All situated around the Planalto Mirandês, they radiate with collegiate spirit and are frequently to be found in each other’s cellars. They’re not the only artisan winemakers in the region, though. The aforementioned Amilcar Salgato continues his valuable work with old vineyards in and around Chaves, even if his more classic winemaking style doesn’t personally resonate with me. A little farther northeast, close to the town of Bragança, an IT consultant working for PricewaterhouseCoopers also joined this elite group.

In love with old vines

Jorge Ortega Afonso is the man behind Casa do Joa, a boutique winery created in the village of Parada. He was inspired to create the project in 2009, after spending years watching old vines being ripped out or vineyard land sold off. “Why didn’t anyone create a brand to market these wines?” was the question he asked himself, explaining, “I tried to understand if it’s just not a good wine or not a good region.” He came to the conclusion that “people here don’t have the spirit of entrepreneurship. They just make wine for themselves to drink.”

He now has 8ha (20 acres) of vineyard, some rented but some that he purchased outright. His oldest plot has vines of up to 150 years old. He planted new vines between 2016 and 2017 but was forbidden to use the traditional gobelet or bush-training method. Regulations enforced by the local commisão forced him to use guyot training, something that has no history in the region and little proven suitability for the varieties or the climate.

Entrepreneurship is certainly not something that Afonso lacks. Not only has he created slick branding for his winery and labels, he has also branched out into the business of dried-chestnut flower extract. Inspired by Fernando Paiva (Quinta da Palmarinha), a biodynamic grower in the Minho, he started experimenting with dried chestnut flowers as a replacement for adding sulfur. The extract has some effectiveness in terms of preventing oxidation. At least for this writer’s palate, however, it does not offer any protection against mousiness. Where Paiva initially worked with whole chestnut flowers that he crumbled in a powder himself, Afonso has taken a more business-minded approach to make an extract that can be mass-produced and sold. 

Although I am still to be convinced about the effectiveness or common sense of replacing one additive in wine with another, Afonsa has made some very convincing wines so far. He prefers a little more ripeness and body in his wines than his colleagues around the Planalto. Afonso’s vineyards are rich in Bastardo, Mourisco, Alvarhão, Jaen, and Cornifesto. His 2018 Alto do Joa Tinto, still in barrel when I visited in 2023, is particularly impressive, with great fruit purity and freshness. The 2019 (also currently in barrel) is from a much riper vintage but with the same fruit focus and well-judged use of oak. Alto do Joa Branco is a skin-fermented, or curtimenta, style. The 2019 is currently available and has wonderful lift and structure. The 2021, tasted from barrel, promises something similar—if anything, with even riper fruit. It is likely to be bottled just with chestnut-flower extract in place of any added sulfites.

“Maybe people forgot that we have a diamond here,” Afonso told me, adding a beautiful soliloquy to the old vines of Trás-os-Montes: “If the vines could speak, they could say they saw the First World War, the Wall Street Crash, the Second World War, and so on.” He added somewhat philosophically, “I will die—and they’ll still be here.” Frederico Machado’s dire warnings that no one will return to Trás-os-Montes to tend these vines in the future still echoed in my ear. But at least for the next few decades, there is a passionate clutch of individuals doing their very best to put the heritage from behind the mountains in a bottle. 

The post Trás-os-Montes: Behind the mountains appeared first on World Of Fine Wine.

Vinho Verde: Another green world

ALVARINHO

Soalheiro Revirado 2021 VR Minho (11% ABV)

Elevation (400m [1,300ft]) and relatively turbid juice inform the flinty Burgundian profile of this Melgaço Alvarinho (and explain its Minho VR classification). Fermented in a revolving barrel to mitigate reduction, it is restrained, taut, and twangy, with firm nectarine- and white peach-marked salinity and savory lees. Terrific mouthfeel, complexity, freshness, and length, with hints of fennel and green-tomato bite and incipient stem-ginger spice. 2024–40+. 96+

Anselmo Mendes Parcela Única 2016 DOC Vinho Verde (Monção e Melgaço; 12.5% ABV)

Fermented and aged in new 400l French oak barrels for 9 months with bâtonnage on gross lees, this single-plot Monção Alvarinho is tightly wound, with suggestions of mandarin and lime flower, a kiss of nougat oak, savory lees, and pronounced salinity to the coiled white peach and al dente apricot. Beautifully balanced, with wonderful purity and length. 2024–34. 96

Quinta da Pedra Milagres Purple Edition Alvarinho 2016 DOC Vinho Verde (Monção e Melgaço; 14% ABV) Extended bottle-aging produces a silky, even languid, Monção Alvarinho, with white-orchard-fruit-salad and hints of stem ginger. Deft use of lees preserves freshness and lends subtle savoriness. Matured in aged French oak barrels, some of which underwent malolactic fermentation; bâtonnage for 6 months. 2024–30+. 95+ 

Anselmo Mendes Curtimenta 2021 DOC Vinho Verde (Monção e Melgaço; 12.5% ABV)

Fermented on skins and aged with bâtonnage for nine months in used 400l French oak barrels, this impactful Monção Alvarinho cleaves pithily, tapering the trim, subtly bitter stone fruit with green-tomato and dried-herb accents. Beautifully structured, with well-integrated oak and a youthfully deliberative delivery. 2024–34+. 95+

Constantino Ramos Afluente 2022 DOC Vinho Verde (Monção e Melgaço; 12.5% ABV)

From a Melgaço vineyard at 200m (650ft), this is restrained, with tightly wound al dente apricot fruit, struck match, saline and whetstone minerality. Pillowy lees wed to lively, mouthwatering acidity make for a compelling delivery; naturally fermented and aged in seasoned 400l French oak barrels for several months on gross lees. 2024–31+. 95

Pequenos Rebentos Viagem ao Principio do Mundo Alvarinho 2020 DOC Vinho Verde (Monção e Melgaço; 13% ABV)

Foot-trodden and fermented on skins for one month, then aged in a Sherry barrel under flor for 18 months, this yellow/gold, bone-dry 1,000-bottle limited-edition Alvarinho from Melgaço has a Jura-like touch of aldehyde and smoky toast to both nose and palate, with stone fruits and flowers. Frisky, fresh-cut, green-apple acidity brings tension and twang. Lovely underlying minerality. Needs time/air to unfurl. 2024–34+. 94+

Quinta de Santiago & Nuno Mira do Ó Sou 2021 DOC Vinho Verde (Monção e Melgaço; 13.2% ABV)

From rows with, says Nuno Mira do Ó, “crazy acidity” and, with poorer soils, a touch of reduction, this early-picked Monção Alvarinho is 60:40 fermented on fine lees in stainless steel and used 400l French oak barrels, which element underwent malolactic fermentation. Poised and precise, with sluicing, oyster-shell minerality to the white peach and grapefruit palate. Finely honed, classy, and complete. 2024–32+. 94

Luis Seabra Granito Cru 2016 DOC Vinho Verde (Monção e Melgaço; 12.5% ABV)

Tangy, twangy, with just-ripe nectarine on the attack and marked salinity, this Monção Alvarinho’s silky white peach is seguing into tertiary mode, with notes of dried fruit and honey. Slinky lees and a pithy touch of grapefruit enhance mouthfeel. With persistent acidity, this retains a spring in its step. 2024–31+. 94

Quinta de Regueiro Maturado em Barricas 2019 DOC Vinho Verde (Monção e Melgaço; 13% ABV)

Elevated terraces in Melgaço produce Paulo Rodrigues’ charismatic Alvarinhos. Concentrated, well-structured, with muscular, vibrantly youthful stone fruit. Long and athletic, after 18 months in used 700l French oak barrels, the wood is well-integrated. 2024–34+. 94

Quinta do Louridal Poema Reserva 2015 DOC Vinho Verde (Monção e Melgaço; 12.9% ABV)

Pale yellow with green glints, this youthful, single-estate Melgaço Alvarinho spent 24 months on fine lees in 1,500l/3,000l vats. Complex, with petrichor minerality, the citrus-driven palate reveals ripe lemon and cusp-of-ripeness pineapple. With impressive acidity and well-integrated lees, it has lovely line and length. 2024–29. 93+

Casa do Capitão-Mor Alvarinho Sobre Lias 2020 DOC Vinho Verde (Monção e Melgaço; 12.6% ABV)

This powerful Monção Alvarinho was grown on pebbly granitic and calcareous soils. Heady lily, chamomile, hay, stem ginger, and fennel pops to the ripe, waxy stone fruits. Part-aged in barrel, where it underwent malolactic fermentation, part-fermented on skins and aged in seasoned French oak with the balance aged in stainless steel, all three components spent 31 months on fine lees, which sheath the creamy, well-balanced palate. Long and lithe, with notes of sourdough and salinity on the finish. 2024–32+. 93+ 

Vale Dos Ares Vinha da Coutada 2020 DOC Vinho Verde (Monção e Melgaço; 13.5% ABV)

Elevated for Monção, at 250m (820ft), this Alvarinho from a northwest-facing, 30-year-old parcel on poor granite soils is concentrated and well-structured, with firm acidity and a touch of bitterness to the pink grapefruit and just-ripe pineapple fruit. Neither oak (228l French oak barriques) nor alcohol detract from the fruit purity or minerality. 2024–30+. 93

LOUREIRO

Paço de Palmeria Royal Palmeira Loureiro 2009 VR Minho (Cávado; 12% ABV)

Bright yellow with green glints and a toasty nose and palate, with lemon curd, caraway, and curry-leaf hints, creamy white asparagus, tufa, and sourdough. Barrel-fermented and aged on the lees for 12 months in well-seasoned French oak barrels with bâtonnage, some barrels underwent malolactic fermentation. A triumph of freshness and texture, this single-estate Loureiro has aged beautifully. 2024–27+. 95+

Paço de Palmeira Royal Palmeira Eminência Loureiro 2015 Vinho Branco Portugal (Cávado; 14% ABV)

The estate’s best Loureiro imparts an impressive backbone of acidity and pithy phenolic interest, wearing the alcohol with ease. Pronounced whetstone minerality, with a creamy yet succulent, even limpid, palate, with ginger-spiced pear, pink-grapefruit peel and pith, and a “spicy” prickle of green-tomato-plant and rose-petal lift. 2024–30+. 95+

Aphros Daphne 2021 Vinho Verde DOC (Lima; 10.5% ABV)

Sourced from Vasco’s Croft’s original (inherited) estate, which is farthest inland, with shallow, poor colluvial soils. Following 14 hours skin contact it fermented in chestnut barrels and concrete “eggs” then aged on lies. Early-picked, it has terrific persistence and verve, shooting long and precise, with lifted lime blossom, crystalline minerality, and mouthwatering acidity to the intense, firmly clasped lime and quince fruit and an edge of cumin and Moroccan spices to the rapier finish. The 2011 remains in fine fettle. 2024–34+. 95

Pequenos Rebentos Loureiro Vinhas Velhas 2022 Vinho Verde DOC (12.5% ABV)

From a vineyard planted in 1989 between Ponte de Lima and Braga, the grapes for this 2,000-bottle limited-edition wine macerated for 8 hours then naturally fermented for 45 days without temperature-control and aged for 9 months on lees in seasoned barrels with bâtonnage. Initially the oak (a smokiness) detracts from the pebbly minerality, crushed cement, and florality. Dry, intense, and well-structured, it demands time in bottle. 2025–32+. 93+

Quinta do Ameal Solo Único Loureiro 2022 Vinho Verde DOC (Lima; 11.5% ABV) 
Fermented and aged in concrete to maximize terroir expression it reveals a touch of bay leaf to the fresh, lemony, mineral palate. Energetic, with a serrated blade of acidity and subtle chalky/leesy mouthfeel, it has Ameal’s signature clarity and purpose. 2024–32+. 93

AVESSO

Quinta da Lixa Private Collection Colinas do Avesso 2016 DOC Vinho Verde (Amarante; 11.5% ABV)

Aged five years on lees, this ambitious single-parcel Avesso is complex and beautifully textured, with an ephemeral fleetness of foot. Gently cocooned in layers of honey, nougat, petrol, quinine, and snuffed candle, the fruit—sensations of waxy pear, firmer quince, succulent star fruit and lime—is restrained. 2024–29+. 95 

Covela Avesso Reserva 2022 DOC Vinho Verde (13% ABV)
A suave Avesso from certified organic grapes, with attractively bitter almond and pear-skin traces to the soft-poached pear fruit and fresh ginger and tarragon hints. Impeccably balanced, with an undertow of persistent acidity, it naturally fermented and aged on lees in used 300l French and Austrian oak casks with occasional bâtonnage for several months. 2024–20. 94

A & D Wines Quinta de Sta Teresa Avesso 2019 DOC Vinho Verde (Baião; 13% ABV)

Sourced from certified organic vines at 180–400m (600–1,300ft), this elegant Avesso has lovely restraint and line to the white-peach fruit, with greengage bite, salinity, and subtle smokiness. Fresh acidity is skillfully balanced by creamy lees. Naturally fermented and aged in barrel for 12 months on lees with bâtonnage; bottled unfiltered. 2024–29. 93+

WHITE BLENDS

Carlos Raposo Vinhos Imperfeitos 2018 DOC Vinho Verde (12% ABV)

This ambitious unoaked Avesso, Arinto, and Loureiro blend is restrained, a touch reductive on the nose, with green tea. Elegant and pithy, with silky white peach, pronounced salinity, wet-cement minerality, and well-integrated lemony acidity, it has tremendous mouthfeel, precision, and finesse. Unoaked, it was naturally fermented and aged on the lees in stainless-steel tank. 2024–32+. 96

Quinta de San Joanne Herança 2019 DOC Vinho Verde (Amarante; 13% ABV)

Predominantly Avesso with Malvasia Fina, which brings body and a buttery, creamy, oyster milk mouthfeel to this complex, oxidative style. Notes of acacia honey, apricot kernel, and Brazil nut are cut with incisive acidity, making for a long, cleansing finish. 2024–30+. 94

Quinta de San Joanne Grande Reserva Brut Nature 2011 Vinho Verde DOC (Amarante; 12.5% ABV)

This sparkling Avesso/Arinto blend first spent four years on fine lees in stainless-steel vats, then six years bottle-aging on lees. Yellow-gold, with an attractive, high-toned edge, it is complex and flavorsome, with bruised apple, ozone, and subtle, savory, nutty, cheese-rind undertones. A charge of brisk acidity brings impressive freshness and drive. Linear, most intense. 2024–30+. 94

Sem Igual 2016 Vinho Verde DOC (Sousa; 13% ABV)

Well-exposed, south-facing slopes 40km (25 miles) inland produce this accomplished, highly consistent blend of 70% Arinto and 30% Azal. Lovely mouthfeel and balance, with ripe lemon, hints of lemon verbena, tertiary toast (it is unoaked), and creamy white asparagus. Dancing acidity prolongs the poised palate. 2024–28+. 93+

Quinta de Azevedo Torre Grande Escolha 2022 VR Minho (13.5% ABV)

This new 70/30 Alvarinho/Loureiro flagship blend from Sogrape’s restructured Cávado estate spent eight months in 500l French oak and 1,200l and 2,000l casks with weekly bâtonnage. Honeysuckle, honeyed peach, and dried stone fruits on a seductively creamy palate, with subtle oak-spice. Loureiro’s acidity makes for lovely persistence. 2024–30+. 93+

RED

Aphros Ouranus 2020 Vinho Verde DOC (Lima; 11.5% ABV)

This pale-garnet, unoaked, unfiltered Alvarelhão, fermented with 25% whole bunches, underwent one month’s skin contact. Bright with sappy acidity, red-berry fruit, fine, pithy tannins, and lifted incense, spice, and forest-floor undertones, this biodynamic red will appeal to Pinot Noir lovers in search of a serious but chillable light red. 2024–29. 93

The post The finest wines of Vinho Verde appeared first on World Of Fine Wine.

To claim that the time is ripe to discover Vinho Verde may sound oxymoronic. The name of Portugal’s northwesternmost DOC—its highest rainfall region—has been inextricably linked with the concept of wine (vinho) that is green (verde), in the sense of unripe. Then there is the stereotype born of 80% of Vinho Verde DOC’s production revolving around so-called “classic” white commodity wines, distinguished by low alcohol, added gas, and residual sugar. Let me challenge those misconceptions from the off. Vinho Verde produces some of Portugal’s finest white wines and fashionably light reds. There. I said it. Now let me tell you why.

The finest wines of Vinho Verde

A region, not a wine

True to its name, Vinho Verde is a verdant region, characterized by numerous smallholdings, whose high-trained vines traditionally formed the borders surrounding fields or covered pergolas shading drives and walkways. Fertile soils privileged cereal over grapes, pushing vine-growing to the perimeters. “In the past, most of our best plots used to grow corn,” observed João Camizão Rocha of Sem Igual in Sousa, whose hunch that the family vineyards “were maybe a diamond to be polished” was right. High-trained hence high-yielding, these traditional bordadura and ramada vines forged Vinho Verde’s reputation for low-alcohol, high-acid wines, a good deal of which was made for domestic and home consumption. They still dot the landscape and can be seen from the A3 motorway on the journey from Oporto to the Portugal–Spain border on the Minho River, which bounds Vinho Verde to the north.

Running parallel to the Atlantic Ocean, which forms Vinho Verde’s western border, this 75-mile (120km) motorway stretch traverses river valleys that function as conduits for the ocean’s cool, humid fogs and breezes. Inland, the maritime influence progressively diminishes, especially ascending into the amphitheater of Vinho Verde’s eastern reaches, whose mountains cast the rain shadows that account for the neighboring Douro and Trás-os-Montes regions’ focus on Port and red winemaking. To the south, Vinho Verde abuts Bairrada and Dão. Like Dão, Vinho Verde has predominantly granitic, well-drained soil, which is a blessing given its high rainfall. Two bands of schist offer a point of difference.

Given the latent potential of this large region’s diverse microclimates and 45-strong varietal range, Vinho Verde DOC was ripe for a makeover come the Portuguese wine industry’s technological revolution, which began in the 1970s and ’80s. This period saw investment in modern cordon and vertical shoot positioning (VSP) training systems—continuous vineyards—putting vines front and center (rather than on the polycultural periphery), and grape-growing on a professional footing. “When we changed from ramadas, when we were able to plant in the fields, we could do everything well for the production of dry wines, deciding where to plant, which varieties to plant, and using a cordon, now VSP” said António Vinagre of Quinta do Tamariz, a pioneering quality-focused producer in Cávado. 

Breaking out from the burden of tradition 

Modern wineries with pneumatic presses and temperature-controlled stainless-steel fermentation vats underpinned Vinho Verde’s swift transition from red, to predominantly white, wine production. Plowing a different furrow, however, from the low-alcohol, high-acid wines that have come to define Vinho Verde has proved less easy. Vinagre admitted, “35 years ago, when we decided to stop with gas and make dry wines, nobody wanted Vinho Verde without gas.” Summing up the situation back then, Anselmo Mendes explained, “[T]he region continued to innovate in enological and viticultural technology, but always with the burden of tradition, comparable to a speed limiter.”1

Not so for the winemaker affectionately known as Senhor Alvarinho, who has been one of the leading catalysts of change in Vinho Verde. Mendes and like-minded pioneers, such as the Cerdeira family (Soalheiro), Quinta do Ameal (founded by Pedro Araújo), and Vasco Croft (Aphros), have worked tirelessly over the past 20 to 30 years to showcase another side of Vinho Verde. It is a mark of the ambition and focus being attached to grape-growing that, in a high-rainfall region, their number includes pioneers of organic and biodynamic viticulture in Portugal (Quinta da Palmirinha, Aphros, Soalheiro, Covela, and A & D Wines).

Dispensing with the crutches of gas and residual sugar, new-wave Vinho Verde producers favor lower yields and balanced maturations for naturally balanced dry wines with no gas. For the most part, top wines are made by growers-turned-vignerons or winemaker-led projects making varietal and/or single sub-region wines. In stark contrast, grapes for big-brand, classic Vinho Verdes, such as Casal Garcia (Aveleda) and Gazela (Sogrape), are sourced widely, since blending varieties and vintages has been the basis for volume, consistency, and commercial success. 

Monção e Melgaço: Critical mass, critical success

Happily for him, Mendes was born in Monção, where the perfect conditions prevail to pursue new-wave Vinho Verde while, in the hillier east, the Cerdeira family planted the first continuous Alvarinho vineyard in 1974 in neighboring Melgaço. Together, these municipalities form Monção e Melgaço, one of nine sub-regions in Vinho Verde; it accounts for 1,821ha (4,500 acres) of Vinho Verde DOC’s total vineyard area of 17,000ha (42,000 acres). Home to 59% (1,521ha [3,758 acres]) of Vinho Verde DOC’s total Alvarinho plantings, it has paved Vinho Verde’s path to critical success championing the white grape variety known as Albariño in Rías Baixas across the border in Spain.

Tucked inland in Vinho Verde’s mountainous northeastern pocket, the sub-region enjoys a privileged location thanks to the unusual presence of western ranges, which provide a degree of shelter from Atlantic influence. With a judicious confluence of maritime and continental conditions, Monção e Melgaço’s summers are hotter and drier. By reason of its fretwork of rivers and elevated climes to the east, however, nights are cool, allowing Alvarinho consistently to ripen fully while maintaining Vinho Verde’s hallmark fresh acidity and aromatic intensity. Compared with most Rías Baixas (which comes from the Atlantic-facing sub-region of Val do Salnes), Luis Cerdeira observed, “Our terroir produces more fruity and fresh wines.” And it can do, and does, so much more.

Scaling Alvarinho’s heights

Since Soalheiro launched its first Alvarinho in 1982 and Mendes founded his eponymous label in 1998, Monção e Melgaço has attained a solid critical mass of 60 Alvarinho specialists with a sophisticated understanding of their grape and terroir. Their burgeoning ranges (and my tasting notes) reflect the nuances of aspect, elevation, and soil type since, as Miguel Queimado (Vale das Ares) puts it, “I have one grape. If I want different styles, I need to individuate,” which he prefers to do in the vineyard. His freshest, most structured, top-tier (oaked) wine comes from a north-facing vineyard, while his entry-level Alvarinho is mostly sourced from a lower, west-facing site that produces fruitier, higher alcohol wines. 

With 15ha (37 acres) of estate vines and a patchwork of around 180 growers working 80ha (200 acres), Soalheiro has the biggest range of all. Zooming in on soils, Cerdeira (who made the wines for 30 years before establishing his own project in 2024 with his son) contrasts the valley vineyards (below 200m [650ft]) with those on mountain slopes at 200–400m (650–1,300ft). He explained that because the valleys tend to have more fertile soil with more organic matter, their increased nitrogen levels are rich in the precursors that produce aromatic wines. In contrast, elevated sites with stonier, poorer soils tend to a more reductive, restrained, mineral profile, with marked salinity. Naturally, higher sites retain more acidity and, pushing the boundaries, Soalheiro has planted a new vineyard at 1,100m (3,600ft) on schist which, observes Queimado, is less susceptible to hydric stress than granite. His new highest vineyard at 300m (1,000ft) is also on schist.

Alvarinho every which way

Alvarinho is made in a range of styles in Monção e Melgaço—still, espumante (aka traditional-method fizz), and sweet. Within each style, diverse profiles reflect this classy grape’s versatility. Vinification occurs in stainless steel, cement, concrete, clay, or wood, be that French oak or Portuguese chestnut. Wines might be naturally fermented and, if labeled curtimenta, fermented on skins, which, says Mendes, enhances structure as well as the variety’s floral fragrance: “It makes perfect sense, when Alvarinho is high in polyphenols,” he adds (because of its high skin and seed to juice ratio). Aging on lees, with or without bâtonnage, is now common, as is the use of oak for top cuvées which, these days, is much more sympathetic to grape and terroir. Malolactic fermentation is uncommon but is creeping into earlier picked styles to enhance mouthfeel and texture, balancing the higher acidity. Continuing to push the envelope, Márcio Lopes, a protégé of Mendes, describes Pequenos Rebentos Viagem Ao Principio do Mundo Alvarinho as “perhaps the most challenging wine we have ever made.” It is fermented on skins for a month, then aged in a Sherry barrel under flor. Reflecting the different mindset of a new generation of winemakers, he is proud to say,“We make wines to open markets, not answer to the market.”

With creative juices at full spate in Monção e Melgaço, the extraordinary diversity of Alvarinho wines is the mirror opposite of Vinho Verde’s cookie-cutter volume brands. So, too, is their age-worthiness and gastronomic potential. Rich in polyphenols, Alvarinho has high resistance to oxidation. Even entry-level Alvarinho from Monção e Melgaço ages well; the best gain in complexity and texture for a decade or two. Pronouncing himself to be “sad” to have sold out of Gran Vicious Alvarinho 2020 (a one-off limited edition priced at €275/bottle retail), Emanuel Pesqueira (Group Head of Wine for Gordon Ramsay) reckons it would have evolved beautifully, like an old Nikolaihof Grüner Veltliner from Wachau. 

Lima: Loureiro land

Though located just south of Monção e Melgaço, the Lima sub-region’s terroir is very different, because its low-lying vineyards stretch all the way from the Atlantic, to the mountainous eastern border with Trás-os-Montes. Horizontally bisected by the River Lima, the Atlantic influence is emphatic here, which perhaps explains why the sub-region has Vinho Verde’s highest rainfall levels. Despite this and Loureiro’s high productivity, in the right conditions, it can scale the heights of Monção e Melgaço’s finest Alvarinhos, while retaining a delicacy that Croft captures beautifully, describing Loureiro as “filigree.” It is just a shame that Lima does not share Monção e Melgaço’s critical mass of ambitious producers. 

No-one had as much as grazed the quality potential of Loureiro when Pedro Araújo first produced Quinta do Ameal Loureiro in 1999. Elegantly structured, precise, and mineral, the wines that he made with consultancy from Mendes aged brilliantly. At a vertical tasting in 2021, the entry-point 2003 Loureiro’s exotic florals and tertiary spice put me in mind of a fine, mature Gewurztraminer from Alsace. True to Vinho Verde, however, it retained lovely energy and tension, thanks to its backbone of acidity. According to Mendes, “Although Loureiro has more fragrance, and Alvarinho has more structure, Loureiro’s acidity is more vibrant, so the capacity to age in bottle is the same—up to 25 years.” Elaborating on the point, Lopes observes, “Loureiro can have 12% alcohol with a pH under 3.”

Balancing this acidity requires the fruit to be picked at ripeness—hence Araújo’s draconian canopy- and yield-management regime. Moreover, Ameal is in a sweet spot according to José Luis Moreira da Silva, who took over winemaking in 2019 when the Roquette family (pioneers of Esporão’s new-wave Alentejo wines) acquired Ameal. Located 30km (18 miles) from the Atlantic, to the east of Ponte de Lima, the ocean’s influence is apparent in the acidity of the wines but, since Ponte de Lima is already continental (resulting in warmer days and colder nights), they are balanced, said the winemaker, “because you can attain full maturation and ripeness.” It also helps, he added, that Ameal is located on the Lima River’s sunnier, south-facing bank.

Fine-tuning Louriero

Ameal has divided the estate into six plots, based on two different soil types, with transitional soils in between. By the River Lima, relatively fine-textured fertile alluvial soils over clay retain humidity and water best. These parcels produce the exuberantly fresh, aromatic entry-point Loureiro. Just 30m (100ft) higher, there is no clay, and the sandy loam is coarser, with harder colluvial material (quartz, mica, feldspar). Well-drained, less fertile, these vines produce lower yields of concentrated wines with more body and structure for the oaked Escolha. Ameal Solo Único hails from a transitional plot that produces intense wines with marked freshness. 

Aphros is also located east of Ponte de Lima. Here, Vasco Croft has pushed the boundaries of viticulture and winemaking the furthest, cultivating his vineyards biodynamically and making minimal intervention wines. Aphros’s Phaunus label is made in his “medieval cellar” where, with no electricity, everything is done manually. “It was a huge difficulty moving the wall of prejudice created by the wine culture in my place,” said Croft who, like many peers, inherited a farm that was selling grapes to the co-operatives and negociants at unsustainable prices. A darling of the natural-wine scene, he observed, “I was a UFO arriving with fresh eyes and the freedom to make mistakes. Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined starting all this interest.” As exciting as it is eclectic, Aphros’s range encompasses unoaked Loureiro, Loureiro made with pre-fermentation and post-fermentation skin contact, in chestnut and oak barrels, in clay, sparkling, still, and orange. From a design background, Croft explained, “I think of a chair, how can it be, creating versions around the same idea… My default Loureiro has brightness and freshness and youthful energy, but you can tune it up and down like a melody—let’s hear the flute and the saxophone—the pitch can be higher or lower.”

Hyper-selective winemaker-led micro-negociants have found sweet spots elsewhere. Lopes’s mineral, old-vine Loureiro comes from a vineyard well south of Ponte de Lima, in Braga. Off-dry, floral, and mineral, with more than a hint of German Riesling about it, Portugal Boutique Winery Gorro showcases the relatively cool, humid conditions west of Ponte de Lima, just 5km (3 miles) from the ocean. Here, site selection is key and, explained Ricardo Sarrazola, blending two Loureiro vineyards “held the key to having the crisp and zesty notes typical of pebbly soils and the more structured, complex palate from rare schist/clay slopes.” 

Next wave 

In Baião next door to the Douro, where Covela and A & D have made the running, warm, dry conditions ensure that its varietal star, Avesso, ripens to full maturity while retaining excellent acidity. Other sub-regions have yet to surf the varietal/sub-regional wave of success or identify a USP. Not that varietal/single sub-region wines are the be all and end all. At £100/bottle, World Wild Wines Imperfeito 2018 is a high-end case in point. Sourced with scalpel-like precision from more than ten different vineyards averaging 45 years old, mostly located in Baião, Carlos Raposo blended Avesso (for body and a touch of bitterness), Loureiro (for complex aromatics), and Arinto (for freshness and line). The winemaker took just 500kg (1,100lb), or 300kg (660lb), or even less, from some vineyards. “I taste, taste, taste different blocks—it’s all about blending—salt and pepper,” said Dirk Niepoort’s former right-hand man, who took Domaine Raveneau Chablis as his inspiration.

As a rule of thumb, vineyards in the eastern reaches (meaning the entirety of Basto, Amarante, and parts of Cávado and Ave) can produce riper wine styles with more structure, body, and intensity because of a degree of continentality, poorer soils, and, sometimes, elevation. Mendes believes that Arinto, Azal, and Alvarinho in the Basto and Amarante sub-regions have great potential. With pockets of ambition scattered across Vinho Verde DOC, there is a solid (and fast-growing) rump of high-quality wines. Reflecting space constraints, my tasting notes are squarely focused on the most accomplished wines, which are predominantly from Monção e Melgaço, followed by Lima.

Red alert

For the most part, whites have been the focus of ambition, but growing interest in light reds has sparked a niche comeback for red Vinho Verde. Croft has led the quality-focused revival. “Instead of the traditional, rustic, harsh profiles, we look for elegance and levity,” he said. Having started out with Vinhão, whose dark, sometimes wild, high-acid, high-tannin profile he describes as “more irreverent and intense,” his eye has been caught more recently by Alvarelhão: “supremely light and ethereal.” A low-extraction, whole-bunch fermentation and post-fermentation maceration contributes to Aphros’s Ouranus’s Pinot Noir-esque notes. Croft has planted more, and, at Quinta de Santiago, Joana Santiago has replaced all her red grape varieties with Alvarelhão. 

In Monção e Melgaço, young guns Lopes and Constantino Ramos, another protégé of Mendes, have seized on old field-blend vineyards to produce fragrant, mineral, light reds or, in the case of Juca from a centennial vineyard at 400m (1,300ft), Ramos’ brooding, inky unoaked red. Researching the category, the winemaker discovered that the sub-region had a distinguished history for red winemaking. According to Charles Sellers, “[I]t was, however, from Vianna do Castello that the first shipments of Portugal red wines were made, when a company existed at Monção (the Vinho Verde sub-region of Monção e Melgaço) for regulating the exportation. The wines of Monção and Vianna [in Lima] are, when judiciously treated, very similar to those of Burgundy.”2

Highly investible

Today, Portuguese white wines attract acclaim worldwide, thanks in no small measure to Vinho Verde’s pioneering top wines. Their longevity, complexity, and finesse has confounded regional stereotypes and inspired others to follow suit, resulting in major investment. The impetus behind Alvarinho, in particular, has quickened since 2021, when varietal Alvarinhos from any Vinho Verde sub-region (and not just Monção e Melgaço) can be labeled DOC Vinho Verde (before, it could only be labelled Minho VR).

It is a measure of Vinho Verde’s growing cachet that big-brand Vinho Verde owners Aveleda and Sogrape now make high-end Vinho Verde from varietal Alvarinho and Loureiro. They also blend the two varieties for flagship wines made from their own vineyards in Cávado, as well as Aveleda’s new vineyard north of Ponte de Lima. Rare parcels of Alvarinho on schist have impressed the winemakers. From a viticultural perspective, although Quinta de Azvedo is located just 20km (12 miles) from the ocean, Diogo Sepúlveda observed, “We can get riper fruit because schist soils are warmer, so we start picking Alvarinho at the end of August.” Diogo Campilo (Aveleda) describes schist-grown Alvarinho as “austere with very good aging potential,” on account of its acidity, and remarks, “it is so mineral, citrus, and elegant.”

Hot on the heels of Esporão’s acquisition of Ameal, other big hitters from outside Vinho Verde have followed, including two famous Port producers. In 2022, the Symington family acquired an estate in Monção and formed a partnership with Mendes. The Fladgate Partnership acquired the ultra-ambitious portfolio of Ideal Drinks in 2023, whose built-to-age, top-tier Vinho Verdes come from Quinta da Pedra and Quinta de Milagres (Monção Alvarinhos) and Paço de Palmeira (Loureiro from the Cávado sub-region).

Optimistic about the transformation of Vinho Verde, Mendes believes the region is well-placed to benefit from climate change, especially when classic regions like Burgundy may be pricing themselves out of the market. He observed, “New producers, winemakers, and viticulturists know what they want—they’re very focused—and the Symingtons, Esporão, and other big companies are very important for the development of the region and our next step, increasing Vinho Verde’s profile and distribution.” While there is hot debate about whether the region should introduce new labels or regulations to differentiate premium wines from classic Vinho Verde, there is now no room for debate about Vinho Verde’s ability to produce wines of world-class quality and finesse.

Notes

1. Amândio Jorge Morais Barros and Nuno Pizarro de C Magalhães, Francisco Girão 1904–1973: An Innovator in Vitiviniculture in the North of Portugal 2 vols (Fundação Francisco Girão; 2011), Vol.2, p.88.

2. Charles Sellers, Oporto, Old & New: Being a Historical Record of the Port Wine Trade and Tribute to British Commercial Enterprize in the North of Portugal (Herbert E Harper; London, 1899), p.19.

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Born in 1952 but a product of only 21 vintages (1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2011, and now 2015), Casa Ferreirinha Barca-Velha—the original Douro red—has the ring of a riddle about it.

For the keepers of this vinous flame there is a simple answer as to why the Douro icon is long in the tooth but short on the ground. In the words of Luís Sottomayor, Sogrape’s Head of Winemaking, “Barca-Velha has its own identity. It is a wine to live for a long period of time. It is more exigent.” In the spirit of this raison d’être, the “new” 21st release from 2015 (“just starting to show its potential,” remarked the winemaker) was shown alongside a vigorous magnum from 1999 (“arriving at peak complexity”) and a remarkably elegant bottle of the 1982 (“on a plateau”). QED.

2015 Casa Ferreirinha Barca-Velha: A baby

“Launching eight years after the vintage and still being a baby sets Barca-Velha apart,” said Fernando da Cunha Guedes, President of Sogrape (Casa Ferreirinha’s owner). He does not exaggerate. While the giant that was to be declared Barca-Velha 2015 on February 19, 2024 lay in a deep slumber in Casa Ferreirinha’s cellars, the “New Douro” group’s elite producer members launched their 2015 Douro reds in November 2017. Much as the top-tier wines had good aging potential, their broachability was striking. Dubbed “the [20]11 and a half vintage” by Teresa Ameztoy of Duas Quintas, we had agreed that they combined the textbook balance of 2011 (which produced grapes big in sugars, phenolics, and acidity) with the charm of 2012.

On its launch this June, Sottomayor drew a different comparison for Barca-Velha 2015, remarking on “a strong structure that echoes the grandeur of Barca-Velha 2011, along with a vibrant acidity and elegance evoking the distinctive character of Barca-Velha 2008.” Compared with 2012’s charm-fest, Douro reds from 2008 were positively austere, hence Sottomayor’s conviction that Barca-Velha 2015 will age for even longer than its predecessors from 1982 and 1999. The winemaker attributes this ultra-impressive aging potential to the cocktail of hot and cool weather in 2015—which, he explained, accounts for the 2011-like mature aromas and grape tannins wed to a 2008-like tension in mouth—and also to the fact that the 2015 vintage—a 16,567-bottle release—produced around half the volume of the preceding 2011 Barca-Velha.

The generation game

In addition to highlighting Barca-Velha’s track record for aging, this rare mini-vertical showcased vintages from all three winemakers who have presided over the Douro icon since 1952. The 1982 vintage was bottled by Fernando Nicolau de Almeida who created Barca-Velha, but declared by his successor José Maria Soares Franco. Predominantly sourced from Quinta do Vale Meão (the original Douro Superior backbone), this willowy, red-fruited blend was dominated by Tinta Roriz (aka Tempranillo) and, like the 1999 vintage, aged in 100% new Portuguese oak.

Bottled and declared by Soares Franco, the 1999 vintage was the first to be sourced predominantly from Quinta da Leda in the Douro Superior, which has remained the backbone. Having overtaken Tinta Roriz, the lead variety of Touriga Franca and a higher proportion of Touriga Nacional most likely explain its darker yet elegant fruit profile and rich, structured tannins. Commenting on this shift, Sottomayor explained, “Nowadays, Tinta Roriz vines are too productive, so they have lost some intensity and quality in recent years, but the principal reason for increasing the Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional is because Tinta Roriz suffers from more hydric stress.”

In common with the other 21st-century releases, Barca-Velha 2015 was aged for longer in finer grained French oak, which has refined the tannins and better preserved fruit and freshness. A unique feature of the 2015 vintage is the debut of Sousão, an assertive, thick-skinned Portuguese variety that has become increasingly popular in the Douro. Bottled and declared by Sottomayor, he cautioned, “[W]e took our time to use it, first vinifying it alone to understand its potential and using it in Ports to see its impact.” Although he thinks it will never be a major component, he described Sousão as “a wonderful variety that really helps us because climate change means we need to maintain freshness.”

Climate change is on Sottomayor’s mind. “I am preparing Sogrape for the next generation,” he said, rolling off a list of initiatives, including acquiring higher altitude Douro Superior properties [Tapada do Castanheiro in 2014, Muxugata in 2018, and a neighboring vineyard this year], planting new vineyards and, at Quinta da Leda, planting new varieties, expositions, and elevations that are better adapted to climate change. The winemaker and Guedes hope that these developments will boost the quantity and/or frequency of future Barca-Velha releases, but there are no guarantees. Production rarely exceeds 30,000 bottles and, in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 (none of which vintages has been declared) the average annual production was 19,000 bottles and 2,000 magnums. As for the longevity that defines Barca-Velha, Sottomayor is certain that today’s wines are better… which is saying something when he reveals that Barca-Velha 1952 is still showing well and the 1954 vintage is “wonderful.” 

Tasting

2015 Casa Ferreirinha Barca-Velha (Douro DOC)

Vintage: Good winter water reserves allowed for a regular and homogeneous veraison, despite the dry start to the year, higher than normal temperatures from April to May, and a very hot summer. Temperature variations throughout August and September enabled optimal ripening, preserving great elegance and balance in the grapes.

Fruit source: Douro Superior—principally Quinta da Leda, with components from higher vineyards in Meda, including Tapada do Castanheiro.

Grape Varieties: 43% Touriga Franca, 40% Touriga Nacional, 10% Sousão, 5% Tinto Cão, 2% Tinta Roriz.

Aging: 18 months in French oak barrels, 75% new.

Analyses: ABV 14.5%, total acidity 5.5g/l, pH: 3.6.

The introduction of Sousão makes it mark on this assertive 21st release. With a charge of graphite tannins and parrying wash of mineral acidity, the inky, sculpted, blackcurrant and blackberry fruit is potent, polished, and formidably persistent. Notes of crushed coriander seed lend a floral, spicy edge to Barca Velha’s signature licorice and anise. Without an ounce of fat, the profile is drier (in flavor)—cooler, more classical—than one might have expected from the year. Intense, with a dynamic structure, this charismatic release holds you in its grip.  A tour de force with decades ahead of it. 2024–55+. | 97

1999 Casa Ferreirinha Barca-Velha (Douro DOC; magnum)

Vintage: A very dry winter and spring negatively impacted flowering and fruit set. Significantly higher than normal rainfall in August and September helped balance the ripening process. The harvest began on September 10 in the Douro Superior.

Fruit source: Douro Superior—principally Quinta da Leda, with components from Meda. 

Grape Varieties: 45% Touriga Francesa, 30% Tinta Roriz, 20% Touriga Nacional, 5% Tinto Cão.

Aging: 12–18 months in new 225l Portuguese oak barrels.

Analyses: 12% ABV, total acidity 5.30g/l, pH: 3.45.

Tasting note: From magnum, this 25-year-old wine—the first not to include grapes from Quinta do Vale Meão—packs a punch with its youthful purplish crimson hue and vigor. While concentrated, the primary black-plum and blackberry fruit is fleshy and juicy, with licorice, anise, and black-cardamom lift. Opening up, mellower linseed, cured leather, carraway, and roast-chestnut notes emerge, with hints of bergamot/orange. A plume of graphite tannins supports the fruit on a long, spicy finish. Plenty yet to come. 2024–40. | 96+

1982 Casa Ferreirinha Barca-Velha (Vinho Tinto de Mesa) 

Vintage: A very dry winter with higher-than-average temperatures. The summer was very hot and dry, allowing grapes to attain a high level of ripeness and concentration. The dry conditions prevailed at harvest.

Fruit source: Douro Superior, principally Quinta da Vale de Meão, with components from Meda and Quinta da Leda.

Grape varieties: 70% Tinta Roriz, 10% Touriga Francesa, 10% Tinta Barroca, 5% Touriga Nacional, 5% others.

Ageing: 12–18 months in new 225l Portuguese oak barrels.

Analyses: 12% ABV, total acidity 5.40g/l, pH:3.56.

Tasting note: Tinta Roriz shows its colors in this distinctly red-fruited vintage. A discreet backbone of ripe but mineral, bony tannins is elegantly fleshed out by silky plum and strawberry conserve fruit, with salted plum, graphite, red licorice, baking spice, and esteva nuances going through. Opening up, it reveals hints of pot pourri and tomato plant, but the abiding impression—indeed, most impressive aspect of this 42-year-old wine—is its purity, freshness and line. A class act. 2024–30+. | 96

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The Dão has improved enormously over the past 30 years, with the best wines now making good on their considerable promise, says Richard Mayson, after a tasting shared with Simon Field MW and Andrew Jefford and featuring additional commentary from Paul White.

This is an extract from an article first published in WFW84. For full tasting notes and scores for all 56 wines tasted by the panel, subscribe to The World of Fine Wine.

Anyone familiar with Portugal will know that the Dão region is capable of producing some of the country’s best, most characterful red wines. It is just that, in the past, all too often the region failed to live up to its reputation, which has now been eclipsed in both volume and status by the new wave of reds from the Douro and Alentejo. It was our mission in this tasting to look again at the region, after a 30-year period when the producers have been quietly rediscovering the intricate granite terroir of central Portugal.

Dão is named after a small river that runs parallel to the upper reaches of the Mondego, the largest river entirely within Portugal’s national boundaries. It is a broad valley, almost cocooned by mountains, with the Serra de Estrela to the southeast, rising to nearly 6,600ft (2,000m) above sea level, the highest point in mainland Portugal. The mountains have an important bearing on the climate, protecting the region from the excesses of both the Atlantic and the Iberian Peninsula. With an annual average of around 39–47in (1,000–1,200mm), rainfall is high but comes mostly in deluges from autumn to spring; the summer months are dry. Spring frosts are an ever-present risk. The underlying bedrock is mostly granite, which weathers to form a granular, often shallow sandy soil. Huge granite boulders punctuate parts of the landscape. Much of the region is heavily forested, planted with pine and eucalyptus, with stands of oak and chestnut among the evergreens. The region currently has around 20,000ha (50,000 acres) of vineyard.

The slow rediscovery of terroir

Dão came together as a DOC in 1908 but had previously flourished in the 19th century, when Touriga Nacional was the principal grape variety. It is possible that this, Portugal’s best-known indigenous red grape, originates here. Phylloxera came late to Dão but damaged the region’s vineyards, which were replanted in the 20th century with grape varieties (including American hybrids) that were intended to bolster yields. As in much of northern Portugal, “small” is the operative word in Dão, with thousands of minifundios, in complete contrast to the large estates (latifundios) in the south. American geographer Dan Stanislawski, visiting the region in the late 1960s, described the scene thus: “A continuous vineyard of 10 acres [4ha] is unusual; and a vineyard of a few dozen vines is not extraordinary. In fact, small vineyards, both in number and total production, are dominant.”

In order to make some sort of economic sense from this fragmentation, in the mid-20th century the region’s smallholders were effectively herded into state-sponsored winemaking cooperatives. This came with the draconian proviso that private firms were forbidden from buying in grapes; they were forced into buying ready-made wine. Quality suffered, especially at the top end, since co-ops provided little or no incentive for more conscientious growers to deliver better grapes. When I joined the wine trade in the mid-1980s, Dão was a byword for lean, austere, attenuated red wines whose fruit had often dried out from excessive aging prior to bottling. A minimum of two years’ aging was proscribed by law. The cooperative hegemony that produced this state of affairs lasted more than 40 years, until it was overturned following Portugal’s entry into the European Union in 1986. During this time, just three commercial names kept the region’s reputation alive: Casa de Santar, which made and bottled wines from its own vineyards; Bairrada-based Caves São João, which sourced wine directly from the privately owned Santos Lima estate at Silgueiros; and UDACA, which did its best selecting what it could from the co-ops. All three submitted wines to our tasting. Some may also remember that the Centro de Estudos Vitivinícolas do Dão (CEVD) at Nelas made small quantities of fine wine during the 1960s, including some of the first varietal reds from Touriga Nacional, Jaen, and Alfrocheiro. Some of these wines were remarkable for their longevity and were a herald for Dão as a fine-wine region.

Since 1990, when the cooperative monopoly was overturned, the growers in Dão have been rediscovering their terroir. It has been a slow process, hampered by the difficulty in putting together a vineyard of viable size from so many tiny holdings. Sogrape, Portugal’s largest group of winemakers, was first off the blocks, initially working in tandem with a local co-op before setting up on its own in the heart of the region between Mangualde and Nelas. Grão Vasco and Duque de Viseu are the two bestselling brands of Dão wine (neither of which was submitted here), but two wines from Sogrape’s 100ha (247-acre) single-estate Quinta dos Carvalhais were included in our tasting.

A real sense of place

Modern-day Dão is officially divided into seven subregions—Alva, Besteiros, Castendo, Silgueiros, Terras de Azurara, Terras de Senhorim, and Serra da Estrela—which may be designated on the label. Apart from Serra da Estrela, with its connotations of altitude and cooler climate, these are rarely used. The regional demarcation descends steadily, from around 3,300ft (1,000m) above sea level on the Serra da Estrela foothills, to around 330ft (100m) above sea level in the southwest near Santa Comba Dão and Mortágua, where the Mondego breaks free from the mountains as it flows toward the university city of Coimbra and the sea. Most vineyards are to be found at middle altitudes, with the highest planted up to 2,600ft (800m) on the Serra da Estrela foothills around Gouveia and Seia. The majority of Dão wine is red, based on Jaen (Spain’s Mencia), Touriga Nacional, Aragonez (Tinta Roriz), and Alfrocheiro, with support from Baga, Tinta Pinheira (Rufete), and Trincadeira. Cabernet Sauvignon has a historical place in the region, having long been part of the vineyards at Casa da Ínsua. We received one wine made entirely from Cabernet Franc and varietal wines from Touriga Nacional, Jaen, Alfrocheiro, and Tinta Pinheira, but the majority (and those that scored most highly) were time-honored blends. Those from older vineyards were field blends.

Producers were asked to submit a younger and older wine, to give us a clearer idea of their evolution and progress. There was general agreement among the tasting panel that this tasting was “hard work” but that, overall, it was thoroughly rewarding. Andrew Jefford concluded that it was an “exhausting, even stressful tasting,” with red wines that were “fierce, clenched, and forbidding […]; few other red wines are as intrinsically ‘difficult.’” Simon Field MW (whose average score was the highest) was more generous, remarking, “where I feared rusticity and austerity […], I was, more often than not, appeased by a subtly beguiling array of flavors, herbs and spices decking the halls of fruit, with no lack of charm and structural integrity.” I was rather more critical and marked down wines that I felt were austere, astringent, and sometimes one-dimensional, reflected in my lower average score. But there were flashes of brilliance here, and there were wines showing a real sense of place through their tight-knit restraint and mountain finesse. There was scant evidence of the dried-up, attenuated reds of yesteryear (even though we went back as far as 1980), but there was a common theme of acidity and astringency, which are the hallmarks of Dão. “Brutal” was a word that appeared in more than one instance. Andrew Jefford observed that “tannins from granite-grown fruit often seem to be harder and less pliant than those grown on marl, limestone, or gravels,” adding that parts of Cornas and Hermitage have the same problem. It is remarkable how many of our notes drew comparisons with great European reds, with tasters alluding to Cornas, St-Joseph, Pomerol, Pessac-Léognan, Burgundy, Languedoc, and Amarone, as well as general references to “claretty” wines. I frequently found myself writing “cedary,” in the mature bordelais sense of the word. Andrew Jefford concluded that there were some “splendid wines here, forthright, classical, in the great European tradition.”

Among the top-placed wines, there was no single year that stood out—though among recent vintages, 2019 and 2017 were perhaps the most impressive. The longevity of some wines was also notable, with high-scoring wines coming from 2013, 2011, 2001, and, in my case, 1980. One wine was almost “stuck in youth.” The scoring was often divergent, with high and rather lower marks being awarded to the same wine, which brought down the averages. It is clear that one man’s “purity,” “harmony,” and “essence of place” could be another’s “unyielding austerity.” Although Simon Field was “surprised by the well-judged oak treatment,” a few wines were marked by too much new oak, and I readily concur with Andrew Jefford that “new oak seems to be a serious mistake for Dão.” So, where does this leave us? The Dão region has come on in leaps and bounds since the dire old days of the last century. These wines, with their naturally high levels of tannin and acidity, will never be easy and will often be challenging. On the whole, producers seem to be recognizing and even celebrating their sense of place: “There’s no point repressing or denying place and trying to make something light, elegant, or frivolous,” said Andrew Jefford. The best red Dão wines are “profound” and “compelling,” ready to be ranked with the European greats in a sense that perhaps still escapes the more accessible wines from the Douro and Alentejo. In another issue, we will taste white Dão to see if we can draw similar conclusions.

The Top Five: The best of Dão

Quinta dos Roques Colheita Dão 2020 (13% ABV) |94

SF | Dense color—onyx, soot—and an appropriately Dickensian nose: tar, smoke, and dried fruit. Behind that, sloes and just a hint of eucalypt. A complete and satisfying mouthfeel, fruits both black and blue dancing a merry dance, the acidity keeping them in order and the soft, chalky tannins refusing to neglect the value of the moment in terms of gratification. Very Dão, very agreeable. Smoky bacon and black fruits, grippy acidity, and a broad, expansive peroration. | 93

AJ | Very dark, black-red: almost opaque. Earthy and fresh, with the memory of yeast, hyper-present aromas: clean, vital, very exciting. Forests and pressed leaves over dark sloe and damson fruits. A quiet mill of aroma. Excellent nose—one of the best in the whole tasting. It grows in refinement in the glass. Dense, close-textured, and uncompromising wine; severe (very high in acidity), with the usual brisk, mountain tannins; lively, vivacious fruits. Not an easy glassful but very, very good, and this is the place itself, delivered with great honesty and purity. Dão in all its brutal glory. Excellent wine. The lingering extracts testify to vineyard work and sacrifice. A distant cousin of a good Cornas. 2024–32. | 94

Osvaldo Armado Raríssimo Dão 2001 (13.5% ABV) |93

SF | Opaque at core, with an amber rim. Aging nicely. The palate is elegant, with charcuterie, spice, and hints of spice; fine balancing acidity and impressive length. | 92

AJ | Dark black-red still; little sign of age. Refined and classical—another almost “claretty” aroma of fresh blackcurrant and plum fruits, and just a little leafiness in settled and well-ordered guise. On the palate, a distinguished older wine with—as the nose suggested—ample classicism and refined reserve to it. Very good drinking still, and a very fine testament to Dão’s longevity. Beautifully crafted wine from the off, I suspect. 2024–27. | 92

RM | Mid-deep brick-red center, with a thin, browning rim. Elegant and lifted on the nose, with a vestige of berry fruit. Similarly elegant on the palate, retaining sweet berry fruit, a pique of firm tannin, and a long, structured finish. This has developed well and will continue to do so in bottle. 2024–35. | 94

D Daganel Grande Reserva Dão 2017 (13.5% ABV) |93

SF | Really impressive, imperious color, luminous and inspiring. Aromatics of crushed black fruit, generous, toasty oak, and soft spices are effortlessly transferred to the style; tradition flirts with modernity and wins the day. A real sense of place here, a robust, yet precise structure, real power, authority, and unassailable elegance on the finish. Quintessential Dão. | 95

AJ | Perhaps the darkest of all in what is a very somber 2017 flight: true midnight black, still. A terrific aroma, almost Pomerol-like this time, with truffle and blackberry and milk chocolate but also intriguing citrus notes and floral notes. An amazing scent-machine, this wine. Prodigious! But balanced and subtle, despite its command. Another off-the-charts 2017, on the palate, as well as in aroma. My notes on the nose actually track what the palate does faithfully. This astonishing wine manages to mine a seam of sensuality that is rarely accessible in Dão. The tannins are plump and fat—and even more important, aroma-saturated. The fruit has an almost decadent inner sweetness; the acidity is, just this once, almost sweet and soft in itself; there isn’t a trace of bitterness anywhere. The wine, too, has a drinkability and fluidity that eludes the astonishing [Quinta dos Carvalhais Unico Dão 2017]. It is an extraordinary achievement and—if this is what climate change might bring to this region—bodes well for the future. A total showstopper and a must for any Portuguese wine lover’s cellar. 2028–50. | 97

RM | Very deep and opaque in color. Ripe, fragrant, heady aromas, with big, bold, cherry fruit. Another big, rather overextracted wine, with the fruit overwhelmed by saline tannins. A fresh finish, but sadly lacking in definition. 2024–32. | 87

J Carbal Almeida Musgo Reserva Dão 2019 (13% ABV) |92

SF | Bright, deep ruby, plenty of grip on the side of the glass, then an equally attractive nose: plums, sloes, violets, and marzipan. Plush oak shrouds the palate, but in a benevolent fashion, with structural integrity unchallenged and the line of acidity strong and forthright. A modern style, for sure, but made in a positive and generous fashion. | 91

AJ | Dark black-red. Attractive fruit and floral notes here, plus a moist tobacco sweetness: complex and intriguing (Pessac-Léognan-like in the mixture of fresh fruit and herbal freshness). Dense, complex, and refined. As in the aromas, the palate brings a fruit freshness together with herbal-vegetal notes, but actually nothing at all is green, the wine has no coarse oak, and the balance isn’t at all brutal; rather, it is shapely, svelte, and convincing. An excellent Dão and easily one of the best in our tasting so far. It shows a grace and tenderness that I was beginning to think wasn’t possible here. Beautifully crafted. 2024–33. | 93

RM | Mid-deep, youthful hues, with a restrained but polished floral character on the nose and a fine, verging on lean, linear streak on the palate, with sour-cherry fruit and a lithe, seamless finish showing considerable finesse. 2024–35. | 93

Quinta de Bella Encosta Dom Bella Grande Reserva Dão 2013 (14% ABV) |92

SF | A typically deep color. Aeration defies the intimations of Brett or whatever else; thereafter, there is dark fruit, smoke, and charcuterie, the fruits and figs that have been left in the loft over winter, then a nudge of bitter chocolate. The palate is a little strained, a touch sinewy, but the inherent virtues of impressive husbandry and even more impressive raw materials are writ large and with no lack of elegance. | 92

AJ | Still astonishing depth of color for a 2013. Lots of oak still palpable, which is a bit disappointing; some inky fruit beneath. Dark and thrusting still, with ample, searching acidity. Still almost a primary wine, but in this instance I don’t see the inner resource needed for it to unfold profitably; almost “stuck in youth.” But lots to grapple with, if you open a bottle; it doesn’t lack excitement in that sense. 2024–34. | 89

RM | Very deep, opaque, and still youthful in appearance. A restrained, attractive, savory, cedary character on the nose and on the palate, with tight-knit, dark-fruit complexity. Well structured, with good grip, freshness, and length, this is developing really well in bottle and will continue to do so. 2024–40. | 94

Quinta da Bordaleira Serra da Estrela 1.993m Dão 2018 (14% ABV) |92

SF | Deep coloration, near-onyx at the core. The nose is dominated by crushed bilberry, bloodied meat, and dried violet. Austere once again. The palate is more approachable, however, with raspberry fruit, soft spice, and a hint of buttered toast. Some quite impressive oak in play here, methinks. Overall, the ensemble has appeal, harmony, and a finely poised purity on the finish. | 91

AJ | Saturated, dense black-red. Sweet and warm. It’s not often this granite-soiled, high-altitude region flirts with “baked,” but we are almost there with this wine; attractive but not complex. Very dense and sweet-fruited on the palate, flirting with raisininess, yet the acidic brutality never really leaves, and the drinker is left struggling to try to cope with this almost schizophrenic balance, which is shocking and hard to resolve. For all that, this is one of the better wines in the tasting: There is real purity, drive, length, and profundity here. On the palate, there is nothing baked at all; the acidity initially chases that impression off, and then the tannins and extracts provide real, lingering interest and provocation. There is even a holly-leaf and gentian-root freshness that I couldn’t get on the nose at all. Finally, for all my qualms, I feel that this is very good wine with a long life ahead. 2024–34. | 92

RM | Deep, nearly opaque, youthful color, with lovely Burgundian aromas: new oak (still a bit disjointed) and restrained morello cherry, with underlying intensity and depth. Overt, smoky new oak cuts through initially on the palate, but the intense fruit comes back to dominate on the finish, and I think this wine just needs more time to integrate, elegance and finesse showing on the finish. 2026–40. | 92

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Richard Mayson celebrates 200 years of Quinta do Vesúvio, an estate responsible for some of the greatest Single-Quinta Vintage Ports as well as increasingly fine table wines.

The year 1792 was literally a breakthrough for the Douro Valley. After 12 years of blasting and shifting huge lumps of granite, the River Douro became navigable for the first time, as far as Spain. The white-water rapids at Valeira had long been a physical barrier within Portugal, with the land upstream being isolated from the rest of the country. Indeed, inhabitants of the region (known as Trás-os-Montes, “Behind the Mountains”) were inclined toward Salamanca in Spain rather than Oporto, such was their remoteness. A tax of 400 reis per pipe of wine, aguardente, vinegar, or “any liquid” transported by river was used to finance the removal of the rapids. It effectively opened up a huge stretch of virgin country to vineyards and wine.

Among the first to take advantage were the entrepreneurial Ferreira family, whose eponymous Port-shipping firm was founded in 1751. The first recorded vineyard in the Douro Superior appears to have been Quinta do Silho at Barca d’Alva on the frontier with Spain, planted by Miguel António Ferreira in 1820. This was closely followed by a property called Quinta das Figueiras (the “Fig Tree Quinta”), which had been acquired by the so-called capitalista da Régua (“capitalist from Régua”), António Bernardo Ferreira. The property grew figs, corn, almonds, olives, and citrus fruit, but he planted the first vines in 1823 and embarked on an ambitious building program. He renamed the property Quinta do Vesúvio. Five years later, he was already able to write proudly of his new estate, “All the English have praised my warehouse […] adding that they had not seen another winery in the Douro like mine, which has reinforced their belief in my passion for good wines, so much so that they openly ay that nobody in Oporto or the Douro has better wines.” There were eight stone lagares, each with a capacity of 25 pipes, equipped with their own pissoirs, should anyone be caught short while treading grapes! 

Vesúvio and other new estates in the Douro Superior fell outside the 1761 demarcation, and the wines were technically illegal, though highly regarded for their quality. By the early 1830s, the Viscount of Vilarinho de São Romão wrote that “almost all the wines from Arnozelo upstream to Vilarinho de Castanheira [that is, above the Valeira rapids], as well as those from the other side of the river, are being brought each year into the Feitoria Demarcation. This wine is really very good.” This is the area that today we call the Douro Superior, the largest of the three subregions now integrated into today’s Port and Douro DOC. António Bernardo was clearly enthralled with his purchase, building an impressive house at Vesúvio, still the largest in the Douro, which was finished in 1835, the year he died. 

The Ferreirinha force

The property passed to his son (also António Bernardo), who had recently married his cousin, the diminutive Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira. Known locally by the affectionate, diminutive name Ferreirinha, she became a force to be reckoned with in the predominantly male world of Port wine. Born at Régua in 1811, over the course of her long life she became the largest landowner in the Douro, with a total of 24 quintas, including Vesúvio. All her properties are distinguished with elaborate stone-and-wrought-iron gateways, just like the one at Vesúvio that still stands today. Charles Sellers, writing in 1899, three years after her death, portrays Dona Antónia as “the richest of landed proprietors, but there are few ladies in the land who had seen so little or knew so little of the world. Her thousands of acres of mountain land covered with vines were her chief thought.”

She was sufficiently wealthy to be able to furlough her staff during phylloxera in the 1870s. Dona Antónia married twice—first to António Bernardo and, following his death, to her estate manager Francisco José da Silva Torres. Sellers goes on to record that “there were never two men who spent more money in the Douro than the two husbands of Dona Antónia. During her reign (for that seems the right word), Dona Antónia entertained lavishly at Vesúvio. It was after one such sojourn in 1861 that she survived an accident on the river (at Cachão de Valeira) in which her friend and companion Joseph James Forrester was drowned. By 1887, Vesúvio had its own railway station. When Dona Antónia died in 1896, her properties were producing more than 1,500 pipes of Port a year, and she left her company, AA Ferreira, with a stock of 13,000 pipes. At the time, it is estimated that Vesúvio had 140ha (350 acres) of vineyard. 

The modern renaissance

Quinta do Vesúvio continued in the ownership of the Ferreira family until the 1980s, by which time—
due to Portugal’s Napoleonic code of inheritance—there were so many individual shareholders that the property had become unmanageable. As a result of the damming of the river in the early 1970s, much of the best vineyard had been submerged, and little investment had been made either in planting new vines or in restoring the buildings, some of which were close to collapse. The area of vineyard had fallen to just 60ha (150 acres).

In 1989, the Symington family (already owners, at the time, of Dow’s, Graham’s, and Warre’s) came to the rescue—it was a “now-or-never purchase,” according to Johnny Symington, who heads the family firm today. The family already owned a property, Senhora da Ribeira, on the opposite, north side of the river, which supplied Dow’s, but decided to keep Quinta do Vesúvio separate from their other Port houses. Since 1989, Vesúvio has produced a Vintage Port nearly every year, 1993 and 2002 being exceptions, along with 2020 and 2021, when foot-treading was prohibited by Covid. Much has been done to revive the property in the interim, with about €3 million spent on the vineyard alone. Predominantly north-facing, the Vesúvio estate covers a total area of 326ha (800 acres), about half of which is now under vine. The vineyard rises from 360ft (110m) above sea level on the riverbank, to nearly 1,500ft (450m) at the top of the estate, affording a number of mesoclimates for different styles of wine according to the year. The enormous lagares are still in use, having been thoroughly revamped and equipped with temperature control, essential in this part of the Douro. The old azenha (mill) has been converted into an air-conditioned lodge for aging wines in cask. Selection is paramount, and the Symington family have come to know and understand the different vineyard plots that—like Lisbon, Rome, and San Francisco—spread over seven hills.

Knowledge and investment show in the improved quality, with unfortified Douro wines having been produced at Vesúvio since 2007. Capela da Quinta do Vesúvio, a super-premuim Vintage Port from the oldest vines, has been produced in five vintages so far: 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016, and 2017. I found that early Vesúvio Port Vintages sometimes showed a roasted character, reflecting the arid heat of the Douro Superior, where annual rainfall is frequently less than 16in (400mm) (viz the 1995 Vintage Port shown at the bicentennial tasting). More recent Ports have shown greater purity and definition, even in hot, dry vintages like 2017 and 2003 (see below). Vesúvio at its best is up there with the great, classic Vintage Ports—unlike most properties in the Douro, it is sufficiently large and diverse for wines from different parts of the estate to complement each other in a single-estate blend. With recent hot vintages and concern over climate change, altitude is now everything when it comes to making the best Douro reds—something that Dona Antónia cannot have imagined when she added these plots to the estate a century and a half ago.

In October 2023, father and son Johnny and Tom Symington, presented a selection of Quinta do Vesúvio’s wines (both Port and Douro DOC) at the St James’s Hotel in London to celebrate the property’s bicentennial. I have added one or two of my more recent Vesúvio Port notes (along with the date of the tasting) to the lineup, to share more of the flavor and character of this remarkable Douro Superior estate.

Tasting Quinta do Vesúvio

Comboio de Vesúvio 2020 Douro DOC

The train (comboio) has been a lifeline for Vesúvio for nearly 150 years, recognized on the label of what is effectively the third wine from the property, first produced in 2018. This is a roughly equal blend of Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, and Tinta Roriz, bottled without recourse to aging in oak, hence it’s fresh, up-front aromatic floral—hedgerow aromas and firm, quite tight-knit, sappy-herbal, berry-fruit flavors. Enjoy this as intended in its first bloom of youth. | 88

Pombal do Vesúvio 2020 Douro DOC

The second wine of Vesúvio, named for the dovecote, which is something of a landmark on the quinta. This is mostly Touriga Franca, from two separate vineyard plots, along with Touriga Nacional (30%) and Tinta Amarela (5%), aged for ten months in seasoned 400-liter and 225-liter French oak: very deep opaque color, with lovely, perfumed rock-rose and violet aromas, showing underlying depth. Little or no oak evident on the nose; it is the fruit that takes the lead. Ripe, supple berry fruit on the palate, backed by fine-grained tannins, with a finish that is firm but not astringent; nothing aggressive here and already very approachable. It will develop well in bottle over the next decade. | 94

Quinta do Vesúvio 2020 Douro DOC

Mostly Touriga Nacional (75%), from a west-facing vineyard at 1,500ft (457m) in altitude, with Touriga Franca (22%) and Tinta Amarela in a supporting role. The wine was aged (80%) in new French oak with a capacity of 225 and 400 liters. Still quite demure on the nose, needing time to open up; heady, scented, yet restrained (especially for Nacional); lovely, ripe, almost-exotic fruit, with firm, bold tannins, hefty but not massive in structure, and supple on the finish, with a lovely expression of fresh Douro fruit. Give this another five years in bottle before broaching. | 96

Quinta do Vesúvio 2015 Douro DOC 

Plentiful rainfall at the start of the year helped to sustain the vineyard during the dry summer that followed. This is a blend of 54% Touriga Nacional from a high-altitude vineyard, 42% Touriga Franca, and 4% Tinta Amarela, aged for 16 months in (75%) new French oak. Still no hint of age, with a lovely, still demure but ripe berry-fruit and black-cherry character on the nose, glorious richness on the palate, with ripe plum and cherry backed by firm gravelly tannins, and an elegant, raspberryish finish. Beautiful balance overall. Long and linear. Drink now and over the next 15 years. | 95

Quinta do Vesúvio 2012 Douro DOC

This was an unusually dry but relatively cool year in the Douro Superior. The wine a blend of 70% Touriga Nacional, 25% Touriga Franca, and 5% Tinta Amarela; 15 months in new and second-year French oak. Still deep and youthful in appearance after a decade in bottle; ripe, leathery-cedary fruit aromas, with well-integrated oak; deep, dense, bittersweet, herbal, black-cherry fruit, supported by bold, gravelly tannins. The finish is long and vibrant. Aging well. Drink now and over the next decade or so. | 94

Quinta do Vesúvio 2009 Douro DOC

This is only the third Douro red to be produced from Vesúvio; a blend of 70% Touriga Nacional, 20% Touriga Franca, and 10% Tinta Amarela, with 13 months in new French oak. 2009 was a hot year and it still shows; deep and dark at the center, just showing its age on the rim. Rich and rather pruney on the nose; similarly ripe, heady fruit on the palate, dense with supple tannins, kept alive by a streak of acidity on the finish. It lacks the finesse of more recent vintages. | 90

Quinta do Vesúvio 2019 Vintage Port

From a dry year, fortunately without any extreme heat, a blend of 35% Touriga Nacional, 33% Touriga Franca, 18% Alicante Bouschet, 8% vinha velha (field blend) and 6% Tinta Amarela. Very deep, inky color. Lovely, open, aromatic plummy aromas, opulent and exotic, with a hint of lavender. Soft, rich, and voluptuous initially, with tannins building on the palate, leading on to a big, broad, firm finish retaining characteristic opulence. “Suave” describes the wine overall. Ready to drink relatively early: 2030–50+. | 96

Quinta do Vesúvio 2018 Vintage Port 

An outstanding year in the Douro Superior after spring rainfall, a hot August, and harvest in mid-September under perfect conditions. This is a blend of 54% Touriga Nacional, 40% Touriga Franca/Alicante Bouschet (co-fermented), and 6% Sousão. Beautifully lifted, scented floral aromas (rose petals), vinous and overt. Sweet and suave initially; ripe but gentle blackberry fruit, backed by velvety tannins, leading to a finish that is both powerful and elegant at the same time. Great freshness and vitality; magnificent for drinking over the medium to long term. Just 965 cases produced, representing 3% of the quinta’s total production. (Note from a tasting in 2020.) | 98

Capela da Quinta do Vesúvio 2017

A field blend from centenarian vines at Vinha da Capela, together with Touriga Franca, Alicante Bouschet, Sousão, and Touriga Nacional. Lovely, lifted, floral aromas, with wild berry and green tea on the nose. Similarly exotic on the palate, showing great purity of fruit once again, licorice concentration wrapped around bold, spicy tannins. A massive finish, leaving fresh acidity from the Sousão grape. Just 472 cases in total. (Note from a tasting in 2019.) | 97

Quinta do Vesúvio 2003 Vintage Port 

A hot year throughout Europe, which produced some exceptional Vintage Ports, some of which are marked by the heat. Still retaining its deep, youthful color, Touriga Franca is to the fore here, with open, ripe aromas redolent of date and prune. Fresher but still opulent in style on the palate, with ripe morello-cherry sweetness, mouth-filling tannins, and good definition. Lovely now, and with 20-plus years of drinking life ahead. (Note from a tasting in 2022.) | 95 

Quinta do Vesúvio 1995 Vintage Port

Hot weather in August shaped these wines, which came along in the shadow of the widely declared 1994 vintage. Deep and opaque at the center, starting to brown on the rim. Rich and a bit soupy on the nose, with rather hot, pruney fruit, rich and heady, but lacks freshness and definition, with powerful, licorice-like concentration mid-palate and muscular tannins. Impressive but, to my mind, rather lacking in finesse. Drink now to 2035. | 89

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The Douro Boys, the pioneering club of Portuguese table winemakers, provided a spectacular reminder of their Port-producing roots at a celebratory tasting, reports Sarah Ahmed.

By design, not default, the Douro Boys have been game changers for the Douro Valley. Looking beyond the family tradition of growing Port grapes or making Port wine, the group was launched in 2003 with the goal of winning equal acclaim for the region’s Douro DOC light wines. As the name suggests, the Douro Boys were a bunch of (predominantly) young guns who, with the honorable exception of Niepoort (a shipper), owned Douro estates—namely, Quinta do Vallado, Quinta do Crasto, Quinta do Vale Meão, and Quinta do Vale Doña Maria (which has since been sold, but its owner, Cristiano van Zeller, and his eponymous company remain in the group).

Between them, the group now produce around four million bottles of Douro DOC wine, which are distributed in more than 100 countries. The Douro Boys have not, however, thrown out the baby with the bath water. Indeed, Miguel Roquette’s ritual of anointing his newborn babies’ lips with Quinta do Crasto Port wine speaks volumes about the talismanic hold of Port. As do the Luxury of Time bottles and casks of rare Port being nursed in the Douro Boys’ cellars, and their fast-growing roster of new Port brands and labels. 

As if to remind us of the group’s roots, the 20th-anniversary celebrations began with a spectacular, once-in-a-lifetime tasting (for them and for us) of ultra-rare and fine aged examples. Surrounding us with slumbering Ports in cobwebbed casks and dusty bottles, Niepoort’s atmospheric lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia provided the location. The following day, we tasted mature Douro DOC wines, but the group’s show-stealing Ports are the focus of this feature; only the Douro wines to which I gave my highest scores are reviewed here. As one would expect, the mature red flight had a better strike rate than the shorter white flight. It was not just a numbers’ game. My pick focuses on the fresher, more complex mature whites, with integrated oak.

Returning to the Ports, while Vintage Ports have traditionally garnered more attention, the Douro Boys—on trend, as ever—focused here on ultra-premium wood-aged Ports. The category’s growing importance was underscored in 2022 by three “new” classifications: 50-Year-Old Tawny Port, 50-Year-Old White Port, and Very Very Old Tawny Port, for wines more than 80 years old. Because the 19th-century Ports under review preceded this new classification, they are labeled as “Very Old Tawny.” Though some are vintage-dated, they are not classified as colheitas because the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto (the certifying body for Port wine) was not created until 1933. Rather, explained Cristiano van Zeller, the vintage is based on growers’ or Port houses’ private records, “and their quality and tasting age confirm their antiquity.”

Having spent extraordinary periods of time in wood, the intensity and complexity of the Douro Boys’ vinous “antiques” impressed. These were attention-grabbing, charismatic Ports. Broadly speaking, the non-vintage Tawnies, or those Tawnies aged in Vila Nova de Gaia’s cooler, relatively humid, Atlantic-influenced location, tended to be fresher, lower in residual sugar, and lighter in body. Prone to higher evaporation, the Douro Valley’s traditionally warmer, drier storage conditions produced the densest styles, with higher, viscous sugars, some almost concentrated to an essence, like a reduction sauce. Traditionally, a soupçon of these blockbuster vintage-dated Ports would have been deployed in non-vintage blends; bottled solo, they are extraordinary supping wines. 

The Douro Boys tasting

WOOD-AGED PORTS BY THE DOURO BOYS

Quinta do Crasto Colheita Tawny Port 1997
(Bottled in 2015; 20% ABV; 4.5° Baumé)

This is Crasto’s first colheita (single-harvest) Tawny Port. Having spent 18 years in 550-liter Port pipes, it is initially smoky, quite pungent, with esteva (gum rockrose) undertones. With time in glass, it unfurls to reveal much more delicate flavors of dried pear, pear skin, and cedar, with a lick of candy apple. Cleansing acidity and a firm backbone of tannin and minerals make for great structure and a well-focused finish. 93

Quinta do Crasto Honore Very Old Tawny Port
(Bottled in 2015; 19.7% ABV)

On acquiring Quinta do Crasto in 1918, Constantino de Almeida transferred his private collection of Ports to Constantinos, the Port house he founded. Honore, a 400-bottle release from this collection, was launched by his great-grandsons (Miguel and Tomás Roquette) in 2015, to commemorate the estate’s 400th birthday. It is believed to be a blend of 127- to 135-year-old Ports, whose concentrated, spicy Medjool dates, quince jelly, and honey flavors are propelled by two pillars of preservation: sugar (304g/l, no less) and acidity of the high-toned, volatile variety, which acts as an accelerant, bringing no shortage of pace to the palate. The long finish is nutty and intensely toothsome. 96

Niepoort Very Old Tawny 1863 Pipa
(Bottled into demijohn in 1970, then bottled in 1992; 21.5% ABV; 144g/l RS)

From one of Niepoort’s record-breaking 1863 casks, which was transferred to demijohn in 1970 to maintain freshness. Bottled to commemorate the birth of Daniel Niepoort, Dirk Niepoort’s oldest son, it is lifted, lingering, and layered, with great intensity and richness of flavor. Unfurling elegantly, it fills up the senses with the most harmonious crescendo of cedar and tamarind spice, spicy chutney fruit, and salted caramel, with a subtle edge of green tomato. Buoyed along, rolling acidity exquisitely animates the flavors. The finish has tremendous carry and back-palate resonance. Sublime. 99

Niepoort VV Tawny Port 170th Anniversary Port
(Bottled in 2012; 20.5% ABV; 135.3g/l RS)

Dirk Niepoort’s fingerprints are all over this. And I can confidently say so, because his grandfather’s original VV (a late 1960s/early 1970s bottling) shares the same base of 1863 Tawny Port but was much more explosive, with a firm backbone. But I also have the other blend components in mind—namely, the youngest 18-year-old Tawny Port and a splash of white Port, “to make it lighter, less sweet,” said Dirk, who favors precision and drinkability over power. Harmoniously integrated, the aged component makes for a rich, concentrated core of bolo de mel (Madeiran honey cake). Even of delivery, very complete, yet with tension and a subtle edge of green, it is drinking beautifully but, with this intensity and balance, still has great aging potential, too. Long, long, long, with cleansing mineral acidity to the finish. Incidentally, bottled solo in Lalique decanters, the above-mentioned 1863 (a pre-phylloxera Port) smashed auction-house records for Port in 2018 and again in 2019. 98

Quinta do Vallado 50-Year-Old Tawny Port
(Bottled in 2022; 19.5% ABV; 137g/l RS)

Vallado launched its fortified range with an impressive suite of age-dated Tawny Ports, and it was among the first to launch a 50-Year-Old Tawny Port. Glinting topaz, it is ultra-refined and mellifluous, with lovely freshness, purity, and nuance to the silky, caramelized orange and crema catalana palate. Notes of fennel, cinnamon, vanilla, pistachio, and milk chocolate-coated praline bring complexity and balance. Older components include an 1880 Tawny (8 percent) and a 70-year-old Tawny (2 percent). 97

Quinta do Vallado ABF Very Old Tawny Port 1888
(Bottled in 2016; 19.5% ABV; 296g/l RS) 

Launched in celebration of Vallado’s 300th anniversary, ABF pays homage to António Bernardo Ferreira, who bought the estate in 1818. This 933-bottle release hails from three 650-liter casks of 1888 Tawny Port acquired from a Baixo Corgo grower, which was blended without refreshment. Correspondingly, it is dark in hue and flavor, exceptionally concentrated, with the texture of molasses and rich, decadent flavors of Medjool date and dried-fig fruit, black cardamom, espresso, and bitter chocolate. Sour and tangy tamarind paste and antique-furniture flavors are the foil, but—make no mistake—this is an unctuous feast in a glass, with a hedonic level of residual sugar. 97

Quinta do Vallado Adelaide Tributa Very Old Tawny Port 1866
(Bottled in 2012; 19.5% ABV)

Named for the formidable 19th-century Douro landowner Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira, who owned Vallado and from whom the current owners are descended (as is winemaker Francisco Olazabal). This Port’s sheer density and viscosity prompt the question of whether it might be better in a blend, rather than bottled on its own. Undeniably impressive, it has flavors of dark raisins, slightly bitter cardamom, high-toned balsamic/furniture polish notes (ullage and oak), and “third extract” molasses that, less sweet and higher in minerals, make for a savoriness on the finish, despite the 283g/l of residual sugar. Like Vallado’s 1888 ABF, the Port was sourced from another cellar, whose original batch of five chestnut barrels concentrated over time, leaving only two barrels of 550 liters each. Left on ullage for at least 40 years, these two casks were bottled without any correction or refreshment; 1,300 bottles were made. 94

Quinta do Vallado Very Old Tawny Port
(Bottled in 2023; 19.2% ABV; 190g/l RS)

Gaping age differences are much remarked on in marriages. Happily, though, this blend of Ports, ranging from 40 years old to 140 years old, is a marriage made in heaven. Its depth of (mahogany) color, sheer weight, and intensity of concentrated raisin and prune fruit herald the aged component. As does the acidity, which, following a sumptuous entry, animates cascading layers of flavor, with burned toffee, caraway, black cardamom, licorice, almonds, espresso, and a hint of leavening mint. For savoring, sip by sip, it is a vin de méditation. 98

Van Zellers & Co Colheita White Port 1940
(Bottled in September 2022; 20.5% ABV; 5° Baumé)

While Tawny Ports are all moreish charm, with dialed-down fruit and firmer acidity, white Ports tend toward austerity, especially when they have spent this long in cask. Doubtless influenced by an exceptionally dry, low-yielding year, this colheita’s pedigree is revealed in its intensity and structure. Complex, with high-toned (but controlled) tertiary notes of chutney, nam pla fish sauce, smoked almonds, and pickled walnut, with a balancing lick of barley sugar. A firm backbone of acidity carries a resonating finish with dusty, antique wood and warming spirit to the tail. 92

Van Zellers & Co 30-Year-Old Tawny Port
(Bottled in February 2023; 20% ABV; 3.6° Baumé)

For Cristiano van Zeller, 30-year-old Tawny Ports are the tipping point for the tertiary characters of cask aging, especially with a splash of significantly older Port—in this case, from 1958 (van Zeller’s birth year). Here, wood (100+ years old) is good—part of this Port’s patina of age, which, together with a green-tomato edge, contributes to harmony and elegance. It reveals textbook flavors of milk chocolate-coated praline, grilled hazelnuts, honey, and caramel, with suggestions of khoobani ka meetha, the silky, sumptuous, stewed Hunza apricots with pistachio and coconut cream served at Asma Khan’s acclaimed Darjeeling Express restaurant. 93

Van Zellers & Co Very Old Tawny 1860
(Cask sample bottled April 14, 2023; 20% ABV; 135.85g/l RS)

With a relatively low level of residual sugar and cleansing, mineral acidity, this elegant cask sample has remarkable nuance and restraint for its age. Pâtisserie notes to both nose and
palate beguile, with fresh-baked madeleines, apricot-glazed pain au raisin, and delicate scents of lavender, cardamom, and saffron, as well as Fernet-Branca and classic Douro notes of esteva, licorice, and black pepper. Ever so lingering, with a tapering, poised finish. Lovely. 97

VINTAGE PORTS BY THE DOURO BOYS

Quinta do Crasto Vintage Port 2000
(Bottled in 2002; 20% ABV)

The Roquette family first launched a Vintage Port in 1978, but, said Miguel Roquette, Quinta do Crasto Vintage Port 1994 is regarded as “the first real declaration.” The 2000 Vintage Port is true to the south-facing Cima Corgo-based estate’s plush, fruit-driven style, with bergamot and orange-peel lift to its ripe but muscular fruits-of-the-forest palate, and smooth milk chocolate to the finish. Filigree-fine, iron-filing tannins add mineral nuance and inform the line and length. Hard to resist, it was sourced from 70+-year-old field-blend parcels. 2023–30. 93

Quinta do Vale Meão Vintage Port 2000
(Bottled in 2002; 19.5% ABV)

Quinta do Vale Meão launched with a 1999 Douro DOC red. Once the Olazabal family assumed control of all their fruit (which had been contracted to AA Ferreira), the first Vintage Port was made in 2000 (a generally declared year)—and almost every year since. “All the wines come from our own vineyard… We can make great wines in ‘off’ years, too,” reasoned Francisco Olazabal. With good intensity, definition, and length, the red-cherry fruit at the core remains vibrant and is laced with dried herbs, licorice, a warming touch of kirsch, and a “cooler” graphite edge. It is a blend of Touriga Franca (which predominates), Touriga Nacional, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Roriz, and Sousão. Following poor flowering, the harvest averaged a measly 300g per vine; 8,000 bottles produced. An impressive debut. 93

DOURO DOC WHITE WINES BY THE DOURO BOYS

Niepoort Coche 2018 Douro DOC
(11.4% ABV)

Sourced from 80+-year-old field-blend vineyards at 2,000–2,500ft (600–750m) above sea level, Niepoort’s flagship Douro white is tightly wound, intense, and scintillating, with cordite, sencha green tea, fresh grated lime zest, minerals, and classy structuring oak. A rapier-like backbone of mineral acidity informs the precise, persistent finish. Thanks to its intensity of flavor, partial malolactic fermentation, and deft lees’ work, Coche is elegant, rather than austere, with great finesse. Following the coolest July of the 21st century came the hottest day in August, when temperatures spiked, delaying ripening; the grapes were picked between September 5 and October 2. After a gentle pressing, the must settled for approximately 48 hours, then fermented in 228- and 550-liter French oak barrels (50 percent new). Matured for around 12 months in barrel, prior to bottling unfined and unfiltered. 97

Niepoort Redoma Reserva Branco 2007 Douro DOC
(13.44% ABV)

This blend of several 80+-year-old field-blend vineyards at 1,500–2,500ft (450–750m) has a great track record for aging. The 2007 is no exception, not least because it hails from a relatively mild year, with a long, slow ripening period. Subtle notes of pine resin and nuts mingle with fennel, litchi, and minerals. Radiating pebble-in-a-pond ripples of white peach, it has mid-palate presence, yet a lightness of being. Silky lees make for a lingering, harmonious finish. This beautifully judged, unshowy wine fermented and aged for nine months on lees in 228-liter French oak casks, without stirring or malolactic fermentation. 95

Quinta do Vallado Reserva White 2019 Douro DOC
(13% ABV)

From a hot year with cold nights during the lead into harvest, this is a full-bodied estate blend of Rabigato, Gouveio, Viosinho, and Arinto, with succulence and fatness—a delicious mouthfeel. It reveals ripe citrus and lemon-peel fruit, with savory undertones of poached salsify and creamy oak. Super-saline, with fresh acidity, it throws long. Fermented and lees-aged with bâtonnage for several months in 500-liter French oak barrels (40 percent new, the balance second use). 93

Quinta do Vallado Reserva White 2011 Douro DOC
(13% ABV)

Yellow-gold in hue, this blend of Gouveio (50 percent), Arinto (35 percent), Rabigato (10 percent), and Viosinho (5 percent) nonetheless shares the salinity and bright acidity of the 2019 Reserva, which brings balance, life, and length to the lime flower-edged, creamy white peach and spicy, toasty oak. Reflecting the exceptional vintage, this powerful Douro white is showing well now and will keep for a few years yet. It was fermented and lees-aged with bâtonnage for several months in 500-liter French oak barrels (37.5 percent new, the balance second use). 93

DOURO DOC RED WINES BY THE DOURO BOYS

Quinta do Crasto Douro Vinha da Ponte 2012 Douro DOC
(14.5% ABV)

Vinha da Ponte and Maria Teresa—Crasto’s flagship single-parcel reds—have a tremendous track record for aging. Ponte excels in cooler years, like 2012, according to Crasto’s winemaker Manuel Lobo, because it attains full phenolic maturation. And the proof is in the pudding. With fine, seamless tannins and strikingly fresh, incisive acidity, Ponte throws long, revealing bright bergamot and orange peel-edged blackcurrant and berry fruit. Concentrated and plush, yet with terrific poise, it barely shows its age. Sourced from an east-facing 97-year-old field-blend parcel, the wine spent 20 months in new 225-liter French oak barrels. 96

Niepoort Turris 2021 Douro DOC
(13% ABV)

Uncommonly light in hue and body, this wine, from one cool, east-facing site, was aged for 15 months in two 1,000-liter 60+-year-old barrels from the Mosel. It hails from elevated 130+-year-old bush vines (a field blend) and, a touch high-toned, has an attractive wild edge to both nose and palate, with violet-edged kirsch and slivovitz fruit (but without the body or spiritous warmth), pine-needle, mushroom, and forest-floor notes. Crunchy acidity and sandy, almost granular tannins make for a direct and vital wine. Delightfully different. 96

Quinta do Vale Meão 2011 Douro DOC
(14.5% ABV)

Ever candid, Francisco Olazabal admitted that, in this powerhouse year, he was initially disappointed with this “big” wine, which had shut down after bottling. Now he is happy, and with good reason. It is a swooping, silky, seamless affair, all blackberry and plum fruit, with a lick of dried herbs and bergamot. Really hitting its stride now, it is a blend of 55 percent Touriga Nacional, 34 percent Touriga Franca, 6 percent Tinta Barroca, and 5 percent Tinta Roriz. Great finesse. It matured in 225-liter French Allier oak barriques, 80 percent new. 97

Quinta do Vale Meão 2008 Douro DOC
(14.5% ABV)

In a milder year—4.5°F (2.5°C) below the growing-season average, said Olazabal—this release is lighter than usual, and the tannins and acidity are dialed up a notch, which makes for a dynamic, lively structure. It reveals tertiary notes of decaying rose petals, sweet bergamot, and savory oak to the juicy blackberry and plum fruit. The oak brings a certain creaminess, but the mineral acid line carries the day, emphasizing the freshness of the year. This blend of 55 percent Touriga Nacional, 30 percent Touriga Franca, 10 percent Tinta Roriz, and 5 percent Tinta Barroca was bottled in July 2010, following maturation in 225-liter French Allier oak barriques (80 percent new). 95

Quinta do Vallado Adelaide 2015 Douro DOC
(14.5% ABV)

The flagship is sourced from very old field-blend parcels, planted to more than 30 different grape varieties, of which around 30 percent is Touriga Franca, as is evident from the deep hue and pretty bergamot and violet perfume. Reflecting the even ripening period, this is beautifully balanced and fine framed, with seamless fine tannins, persistent acidity, and elegant length. Intense dark-berry fruit effortlessly absorbs the oak (it spent 20 months in French oak, 100 percent new). Youthfully primary still, it should develop well in bottle. 96

Van Zellers and Co CV Curriculum Douro Red 2008 Douro DOC
(14.5% ABV)

Compared with the 2012 vintage (also shown), which was also a mild, low-yielding year, the 2008 is positively corseted. Firmly structured, with ripe but imposing tannins, the fruit—spicy plum and kirsch—is concentrated but well defined, with layers of savory oak, graphite, and iodine, and meaty (beef carpaccio and silverside) undertones. Good line and length. Predominantly sourced from north-, northwest-, and west-facing 80-year-old vineyards in the Torto Valley, the wine spent around 20 months in French oak (90 percent new). 96

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