Vila Real, Douro, Portugal
I took part to 6-day press trip in the Douro in Portugal, this was a good opportunity to discover this small wine region at the western tip of Europe which is home to a deeply-rooted wine civilization dating back to at least 2600 years ago. Our group was vibrant and our guides Rita & Pedro very efficient.
As said, Portugal has a long wine history and the Cistercian monks, who started their mesh of monasteries in Molesme, Burgundy and expanded through the whole continent, built quite several large monasteries in Portugal in the 12th century (Salzedas, São João de Tarouca and São Pedro das Águias) bringing along their viticulture & winemaking expertise (don't consider this as French wanting to take credit -;) ). But what put the wine region
on the European map was the treaty of Windsor which allowed some kind of bilateral free exchange between Portugal and England. Special
accords allowed English traders and merchants to setlle in Viana do Castello
from where they could both look for wine and ship them. The problem is many of these wines were made in the upper Douro, a remote region, and in order to make the wines still drinkable after a long journey to the merchants warehouses in Viana do Castello and then in sailboats to England, the Douro wines were often blended with brandy. There were no fixed rules on how to make this in the beginning, but the growing success of Port wine in England and the growing threat of fraud led to the creation of basically the first Appellation rules for a wine production : Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, Marquis of Pombal set up the first appellation rules in Europe, this was september 10th 1756 (the 1st in France were in 1855 in Bordeaux) regarding where the grapes could be grown and how the winemaking and fortifying stage could proceed.
The problem with the success of Port is that the Douro wines from which it all originated were relegated in the dark if not shunned completely. We've seen this drawback in other regions like Champagne where they can (and are allowed to) make still Champagne wines but won't because the bubbly business is so juicy without effort. Same thing in Douro, making plain white or red wines was an uphill battle, especially when the trade is dominated by the négoce, but with 250 indigenous varieties complanted on a 40 000-hectare surface, the region couldn't but bring their regular wines back on the front seat. This wasn't easy, many producers were comfortable with the almost-guaranteed cash flow from Port and considered making regular wine was risky, possibly [my suggestion] because without the residual sugar and brandy they were not confident in the sound quality of their base wines. But this is changing thanks to opinionated people like for example Dirk Niepoort.
Our small group was very international with writers, importers coming from both Europe (Holland, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, Germany and France) and the Americas (Brazil, Canada and United States), I don't think I missed any country, and I was the only French. the only other French i came across during this trip was Roberto Petronio, a writer/photographer for la Revue du Vin de France
who was paying a visit to Dirk Niepoort whom he knows well as a friend. The region is certainly best to be
visited in the mild season, remember that in the peak of summer it's pretty hot here.
You usually begin your trip in the region with Porto (or Oporto), a nice 2,5-million-people town where the hills on both sides of the Douro river bring a visual contrast and healthy breeze. This is a tourist magnet of course but the place has not been too much damaged by urban planners (at least in the center of the city, around the city constructions are often dryly functional and lack charm) and you can visualize how the barrels full of wine from upper regions along the Douro were delivered here to the English merchant houses, using these light, flat-bottom sailboats (barco rabelo is the proper name here) that are now used to fly the flags of mainstream Porto brands or ferrying tourists. The major brands keep their original cellars and buildings here in Porto along the river but condidering the huge volume of their production and shipping/truck access imperatives, they have other facilities elsewhere. The beautiful, daring bridge over the Douro in the background was built in 1876-1878 by Gustave Eiffel.
You may remember that in order to make a great wine, vines must alas suffer and fight for their life to survive. Like Marcel Deiss told me beautifully when I
visited him years ago in Alsace, if you want a great wine you must have before that a vine that sort of says "I'm not going to make it", it has to be always on the edge and fight with its deep roots to find the meager nutrients and humidity to survive. Then you can make a great wine, and conversely you'll be unlikely to make great wines if you comfort your vines with a rich soil, fertilizers and irrigation (but the commercial wineries around the world count on the technology prowesses of the modern additives to (try) avoid the consequences of their inadequate farming conditions). Whathever, here you don't risk spoil your vines with excessive water or rich soil, look at this geological section typical for the Douro soil, a picture says more than a thousand words, these are the perfect conditions to keep vines on the edge : ultra-thin layer of soil, this endless schist mass underneath and add to that a dry, hot summer and the vines will certainly have to fight to survive....
We had first a wine tasting dinner with Jorge Alves at the Doc restaurant right along the river in Folgosa, 128 km through a winding road inland deep in the Douro region. Jorge graduated in 1995 from the Viticulture-Oenolgy school at Vila Real (the only such school in Portugal is in the Douro region) and subsequently worked for Quinta de La Rosa all the while since starting his own boutique domaine on the side, Quinta do Poeira with a
handful of hectares partly planted with old vines.
__ Terra a Terra Reserva 2014, a white Douro, blend of local varieties (Gouveio, Viosinho, Rabigato) like usually in the Douro, here planted in high altitude (600 meters). High acidity, very fresh. 12,5 % alc. Somedy says it's considered
one of the best 20 whites in Portugal. The soil is mostly schist here and that may be a problem for whites because the ph gets up and acidity falls and in high altitude the soil turns granitic which helps in that regard. Nice palate touch, with energy and a hint od white tannins. Goes well with the fresh, aromatic salad we get from chef Rui Paula. Jorge says that surprisingly when this cuvée first came ouit they had difficulty selling it in Portugal because people were used to wines that sport 14 % or 14,5 % and somehow they didn't trust a wine making 12,5 %. Piotr (the Polish guy who speaks fluent Portuguese and knows the country's wines well) asks if it was easy to get the approval of the Appellation authorities for this cuvée, Jorge says no because they want the wines to get an élevage in oak and get the marked taste; this one had had very little oak élevage, you don't feel the oak.
__ Quanta Terra, Grande Reserva Douro Branco 2016. Minerality, solid structure with oak imprint, more predictable wine, mainstream. 13 %.
__ Quinta do Tedo, Grande Reserva Savedra
Douro 2013 (a red Douro). Jorge works for several Quintas (domaines) and this one was set up by a heir of the Bouchard Père & Fils family (Vincent Bouchard) from Burgundy (they invested here in 15 hectares and make both Port and Douro wines).
Relatively light color for a red of this region. Super fresh, with milky, dusty tannins, obviously (beautifully) unfiltered. Silky feel with freshness, very nice. 4000 bottles, sells for 25 € retail (tax included). Stayed 24 months in new French oak. Blend od many local red varieties complanted on 2,5 hectare parcel planted in 1946 close to the river (alt. 150 to 200 m), small yields. No commercial yeast, he says he dosn't use them anymore, at least not under 14 % potential, over that they help the wine finish the primary fermentation. Excellent red Douro, illuminates the palate. Delicious with the tiny and savory lamb ribs (meat is often excellent in Portugal). Jorge says that 2013 is one of the best vintage for minerality & fruit extraction. Really a pleasure, sip after sip...
__ Quinta do Tedo, Port wine vintage 2007 poured from a carafe. Same producer than the wine, the Quinta makes 75 % Port and the rest in Douro wines. Still a young Port, the blend of the spirit with the wine part is not fully integrated in the mouth.
Between visits in wineries we enjoyed the lansdscape which is very scenic with all these terraced slopes going down to the river. An option is to take the train like we did along the Douro river, it's an aging commuter train that stops in small stations on the way, the one we took hadn't had its windows cleaned recently but I managed to find a window that was useable for picture (the train was quite empty, a good point when you want to look alternatively to the right or to the left). From the train you could spot here and there what seems to be old farms and you could guess their operating surface, the one here is partly planted with olive trees, the river being the natural way to ship the production of the farms. Beyond grape growing the other assets of the region are olives and almonds. And I got several versions of almond cakes in the different restaurants, and they were all really delicious.
We had lunch with the owner of Bulas, his wife (sitting on right) and the winemaker Joana Duarte, this took place at the São Leonardo de Galafura restaurant near the namesake Belvedere which is a vista
point near a chapel with gorgeous
sights on the Douro valley and its terraced slopes. The Bulas family estates has a 45-hectare spread on two wineries.
__ Bulas Douro white (vinho branco) 2016, 4 local white varieties, Codega de Larinho, Malvasia Rei, Rabigato Moreno, Viosinha. Syrupy side in the mouth but pleasantly aromatic and sustained by energy.
__ Bulas Reserva Tinto, Douro 2012, a red. Bottled in 2016. Powerful wine (14 %) with thin tannins, the alcohol being still a bit overwhelming (just lightly). But very complex and with enjoyable sweet-spices notes. delicious with the baby goat we eat, served with potatoes & rice and cooked with garlic, I love it, plenty of tiny bones you suck to get the gelatinous side of cartilage. I ask about the yields, I understand it could be around 30 hectoliters/hectare for the reds and 40 or more for the whites.
__ Bulas Port Tawny 20 years. Nice turbid tile color. No word here, it's a superb Port, it illuminates your throat, going down easy, long lasting, everything. It awakes you, my stomach approves, with its signature noise, lovely Port wine, superb stuff ! 40 €, good deal. And here is a link to the picture of the bottle, if you come across one, don't let it pass... On the picture on right you can see the beautiful color of this Tawny, and the historic wine facility of the Bulas winery is sitting right along the river below.
We had a reception at the city hall of Vila Real with mayor (Presidente da Câmara Municipal) Rui Santos explaining to us about the qualities of his Douro region, its ideal location between the ocean and Spain and its good road infrastructure. Vila Real the largest city of the Douro region hosts the lone viticulture/enology of Portugal at UTAD and most Douro winemakers graduated from there.
Paulo Russel-Pinto of the IVDP (the Appellation authority for Douro & Porto) then added more interesting details and statistics about the wine issues here.
Paulo Tinto of
the IVDP explains history of the Appellation here, it's the oldest, having had its set of rules edicted by law in 1756 (Bordeaux classification is 1855), the rules
dictating the geograpgical limits, plus additional rules, the aim of the organization being to supervise the production of Port in all stages of winemaking from harvesting to winemaking to aging and finally shipping. Like in Bordeaux, the English played a large role here, the rules being meant to police the strong flow of wines to England and maintain quality. Some of the rules set in that time are still in use today, we're told. The Portuguese word Feitoria, the name given to the négoce house in Porto comes from the English word factory. The best parcels inside the geographical limits were signaled by feitorias, high carved milestones. Among the rules, the wine spirit added to the wine has to be completely neutral, have no color & no smell and make 77 % in alcohol content. The grape spirit is not produced in the region and is mostly important from various countries including France. The spirit has to be delivered in advance and its batches approved beforehand by the IVDP for their neutral quality.
Paulo Pinto also pointed to the different intarnational markets for both Port wine & Douro wine, with France being the first buyer of Port in volume outside Portugal but with lower price-per-liter (Reino Unido or the UK being just behind France) and Canada the first for Douro wines outside Portugal (France being to my shame the last of the 10 listed countries for the Douro wines...). The united States (EUA) is at mid couse more or less on the two charts, but progressing. Another chart was very interesting, the one pointing to the preferred type of Port wine in the major markets, with France centered narrowly on Tawny, the UK on both Reserve and Ruby and the United States focused evenly on several types of Port.
The Douro region is more stone & rocks than agricultural land, meaning that the roots of the vines have to find their nutrients and humidity deep between the rocks. There's a large difference in the volume of rainfall in the lower Douro and the eastern-most tip because the clouds come from the ocean and spend their water early in their inward march, means that some areas are more subject to water stress. The landscape was transformed along the centuries by hand labor, farmers creating narrow horizontal terraces to put a couple of rows of wines and keep the meager soil from going away down the slope, and with the stones they moved to create these terraces they built walls that helped keep the next terrace above from sliding. Today when a slope is remodeled for a vineyard planting you don't build walls anymore but the ancient walls are protected and you can't tear them away. You can find on this page the different types of terraces found in the Douro valley.
The light slopes under 30 % can accommodate vines without a terrace system, even in some instances with rows going down to the river instead of being planted in parrallel, the advantage is having more vines as there's no wasted surface with the embankment (but you may need a low crawler tractor then). Here the slope seems moderate but the owner chose to carve terraces on this hillside, possibly for the benefit of preventing the risk of erosion.
According to this document about Land terracing in Spanish vineyards (page 8), the down side of mechanized terracing as opposed to the slow traditional ways used in the past with patient human labor is that it implies the detachment and displacement of a huge amount of soil particles, parent materials and rocks that result in the loss of the original soil profiles [...] The study continues and points to the EU responsability, having vastly encouraged the practice through its subsidies : Land terracing accelerated after the introduction of the EU Council Regulation policy for vineyards’ restructuring, in 2000, which subsidizes up to 50% of the construction cost. This particularly affects some mountain environments of the Mediterranean region. The cost of land terracing, representing 34% of the total costs for starting a new terraced vineyard, is the operation receiving the maximum EU subsidy (up to € 18,752). This has encouraged growers
in the Priorat region to create new plantations, increasing significantly the transformation rate from 7.5 ha year between 1986 and 1998 to 36.1 ha year in the period 1998–2003.
This type of terrace began to be put in place using heavy machinery in the 1980s', these are two-row patamares. There's no stone walls and the earth banks are unsupported, being thus exposed to erosion. It is cheap to implement such a terrace system using earthmoving machines like bulldozers. This can be done only on virgin slopes or slopes that had no walls. there are only two rows per terrace but a tractor can pass between and do its spraying or haul the grape boxes at harvest.
Here you can see a slope near the river that has been reshaped by the bulldozers and is ready for replantings. There seems to be old terraces above this parcel, but they are apparently abandonned and shrubs have taken over. On the right there are still rows with grass on the ground, no herbicide seems to be used there.
Speaking of herbicide there's not much communication on the issue from the wineries we visited and I frankly admit I didn't ask but the lookout of many terraces make it likely that the use of herbicide is widespread. You have some information (in English) about the issue on this IVDP page (the IVDP is the public institute overlooking the viticulture & winemaking in the Douro region) and it underscores that the topography of the region makes it difficult to avoid chemical weed control, it states that few farmers do not apply herbicide, but implies some have chosen not to. The chart on the page says that the spraying period for herbicide in the Douro is february-march, then june-july, the rest of the summer I guess being so hot that the weeds don't come back. In such an arid soil where the vines root so deep it seems to me that it may not be problematic to have some weeds at the surface, I'd have liked to have time to address the issue with someone in charge of the vineyard management.
This is certainly where the viticulture in the Douro region will try to find a solution without making it unbearable in terms of manpower costs. While the water tables are certainly less polluted than in Champagne and Bordeaux, a recent study found residues in the water of the Douro estuary and all the regions through which the river flows including Spain will have to ponder about improvement directions on this issue.
We had a visit & tasting at a big player in the region, the Adega Cooperativa de Vila Real which was founded in 1955 to help defend the interests of the small producers of the region. It recently opened its brand new facility and we were basically the 1st foreign visitors to have a look at it. The facility is fitted with state-of-the-art equipment with an indoors vatroom using gravity and vast wine-storage tanks
lined outside. The grapes arrive in gondolas that are weighed outside and checked for quality and sugar before being processed through the screw/conveyor to their respective fermenters. Sulfur is sprayed on the grapes already at this stage. They use special fermenters that can re-use the CO2 produced by the fermentation and store it.
The visit was led by Nuno Borges (on right), marketing/export director who is also the son of the Coop president Jaime Borges. On the picture you can see the winemakers Ana Araújo and Luis Cortinhas, both graduated at UTAD. The coope buys grapes to a thousand of growers of the region, last year it produced over 6 000 000 liters, or 4,6 million bottles, the rest in bag-in-box.
Port wine represents 1/3 of the production. There is a quality parameter in the grapes to determine the payment received by the grower. Nuno's father Jaime was present during this visit, Nuno says humorously that he is the one who knows everything about who owns which parcel all over the region and when some outsider needs some information on these subjects he's like an encyclopedia to consult. I'd say he's like these living national treasure in Japan, they should create this title here too...
They use selected yeast for the fermentation, choosing from 4 to 6 types of yeast and experiencing how yeast behave. The grapes from different varieties are fermented together, that's central to Douro wines and Port wines. They do thermovinification to augment extraction in the juice, heating it a brief moment to 80 ° C (176 F) and they say that thanks to thermovinification they can afterwards have low-temp fermentations because the color extraction has already
been done.
Their Reserve Red 2013 was included in the Wine Enthusiast's top 100 Best Buys 2017 [No 59], which was great for a first try in the competition.
Speaking of the bag-in-box
market they started selling wine in them 12 or 13 years ago, they sell them mainly to the domestic market (Portugal) but also in what they call the Saudade market or mercado da saudade which are basically the Portuguese communities settled since a long time in countries like France, Switzerland, the UK and Brazil, saudade being a typically Portuguese word implying something like nostalgia or homesickness. It is very common indeed to see Portuguese products sold around the year in certain shops and even in certain supermarkets (I saw that in Paris, including on street markets, and also in small towns in the Loire) when a sizeable Portuguese community lives there. Outside this Seudade market they sell lots of bag-in-box to Switzerland
As he was showing a parcel of old vines along the modfern facility, Nuno Borges said that speaking of the old parcel there has been maby growers that have been financially encouraged by the EU subsidies to uproot their old vines and replant for the sake of bigger yields. There isn't much he can do against it other than advising a conservative approach, because the growers are paid by the weight and quality parameters don't correct enough to compensate for the low yields of venerable old parcels. I see here also another facet of the prejudiciable big-government overreach of the EU in agriculture issues and how subsidies are literally destroying the agricultural heritage in the name of economic efficiency. Even if many growers look for higher yields, the subsidies are the trigger because without them many would have postponed the uprooting.
They try to bring back the youth in the domestic market to appreciate Port wines and Douro wines and for this purpose they iniated a few cocktails with a bartender, using Port with either a bubbly. There's for example the Granisado or frozen wine Port wine with crushed ice and bubbly with some small fruits in the glass. Very enjoyable indeed, easy to sip with its sweetness and light bubbly side, should make a killing... We were the first to taste these cocktail tries and from what I saw around me we all liked it, although some were careful about not drinking too much of it (the day was not finished and more wine on its way). I understand that the Port wine used for these cocktails is a new, sweeter version of Port so as to get the right result in tast after the dilution in the bubbly and crushed ice. They had other cocktails tries using Schweppes.
The following evening we had dinner at a restaurant named Quinta do Paço where we had an excellent meet from Maronesa, a local breed, and the quality of meat in good restaurant was another high point of this
trip. We're told that this region is known in Portuguese to have 2 seasons : 3 months of Inverno
[winter] and 9 months of Inferno [hell], and I believe these harsh conditions make for a great quality of meat from these free-range local-breed cows...
We had also during the dinner a few entry-level wines from the coop as well as Port from Caves Messias, a large company founded in 1926 that makes wine and Port from hundreds of hectares.
__ Ana Urbano the winemaker at Messias spoke about the Port vintage 2011 which we had first, she says 2011 was an outstanding year, it was bottled two years after the harvest, the élevage being conducted in bottles. The grapes made of the 5 popular varieties in the region are estate grown, they wanted the Port to be deep-colored with aromas that are less on the fruit and more on tobacco leaves, tea and pepper. We had this Port with a chocolate dessert (a small hot chocolate cake), pairs well indeed, developping aromas of eucalyptus and dry leaves, very nice. The back label says violet and pepper, that's right too. Good length, with alcohol still standing a bit out, maybe. We're told vinification is in stainless-steel vats at 28 C so as not to burn the aromas and flavors. They buy the brandy to make their Port from Portugal, Spain and France (Bernard Lucien).
__ Messias Port 1966 Tawny. Aged in wood like Tawny, this Port stayed 52 years in old barrels and was bottled in 2017 (they stretch the bottlings, printing the bottling date on the back label for each batch) Ports Man, that's a strong Port, a Tawny for men... Single harvest 1966, but they don't know the exact varieties used for the blend, they didn't keep records at the time. Ana says that after so many years the wine sometimes turns green. This Port is on the dry-fruits style of aromas. They still have 6000 liters of this Port in large-capacity barrels right now. No topping up for the vessels because at this stage the wine is safe with the mutage. We have the wine with a terrific dessert made with squash and almonds. Total SO2 in this Port is at under 60.
Although I'll make a separate story devoted to Niepoort, I'll present this winery briefly because this was undoubtly a high point in our press trip. Niepoort is an old family and player in the region but somehow Dirk Niepoort brought a refreshing wind in the region where the guaranteed renenues of Port wine made it difficult to dare making table wine, and he was a pioneer in insisting making the region known for its regular wines first. He began with an experimental wine in 1991 and has been looking for good terroirs and conditions for the wines he crafts. He din't go into this as a fashionable fad, he's been digging on the issue for very long and with his rebel and non-conformist approach he did certainly a lot to bring Douro wines back in the spotlight. He started working with his father in 1983 but when he came back to the family business for good in 1987 after studies and work in Switzerland and the Napa Valley he brought new ideas and foremost the will to make regular wine. He is curious of other ways and things and loves Burgundy and Mosel, regions which he knows well. More about Niepoort later...
We tasted some wines from Lavradores de Feitoria at the Casa San Mateus, a historic palace with beautiful gardens and period furniture & paintings (can be partly visited) as there's a small chai on the historical palace grounds that is still used
for some of their cuvées. The word feitoria comes from the English word
factory, it had the meaning back then of winery. Lavradores de Feitoria which started in 2000 is a group of 15 farmers who bring their grapes to make terroir wines, it's not really a coop where farmers sell passively their grapes for an income, it's more like a collective work focused on quality, and Dirk Niepoort who shares this passion for terroir wines is part of the 5-member board. In addition to the 15 growers who have together a total surface of 600 hectares, the feitoria buy grapes from 20 more farmers if I understand, reaching thus a total vineyard surface of 1000 hectares. The grapes come from 3 sub-regions of the Douro that are really fit for winemaking : Baixa Corgo, Cima Corga and Douro Superior. This Feitoria makes only Douro wines, no Port.
The family-owned Mateus Palace comprises some 30 hectares of vineyards if I read correctly my notes, most planted with whites. They vinify some of the cuvées (Quinta da Costa & Meruge) in an old outbuilding along the palace, doing the foot stomping in small lagars the traditional way. The chai has such an authentic feel, you feel the patina of the years, and still enough room to stock barrels a vats; look at the cute lab cabinet on the right, still in use today...Jose Carlos, the Palace manager who showed us around in the chai says it is more difficult nowadays to find people to do this job, it looks fun when people try it for a few minutes but in the real world it's a job you do in several alternating shifts.
__ Lavradores de Feitoria, Douro Branco 2016, an entry level wgite, no wood, just stainless steel, blend of 3 varieties. Kiwi notes. They look for freshness first.
__ Lavradores de Feitoria, Tres bagos, Douro 2016, white again, blend of other varieties. 7 €.
__ Lavradores de Feitoria, Meruge Douro white 2016. Single variety white (Viosinho). Best white for
our Polish friend Piotr who knows them all. Very nice, unctuous wine indeed. They tried different type of oak but use here Portuguese oak which make a good job
with a white with a good, solid structure. 20 €.
__ Lavradores de Feitoria, Red entry level red. Blend of the 4 major varieties of Douro. Nothing on the nose. Meant to be a simple, fruity, an everyday red. In the mouth, astringency and fruit.
__ Lavradores de Feitoria Tres Bagos 2015, blend of several red varieties; half of the wine stayed 12 months in barrels (used barrels), they use only French oak for the reds. Appealing nose; the winemaker says it is still very young to taste.
__ Lavradores de Feitoria, Quinta Da Costa Das Aguaneiras 2015, a red with 12 months in barrels; deep, meaty nose, mouth on the same line with a saline freshness feel & silky tannins, super good wine. They all say it's still too young but I managed to warm the glass in my hands a couple of minutes (the wines are often poured too cold) and it gets damn so good... Great to go with red leat, he says, I don't doubt it. 18-20 €, worth it.
__ Lavradores de Feitoria Meruge 2015. For white meat. Very difficult wine to make he says, this wine is very atypical for the Douro region. There's indeed here a rare balance between fruit, a chalky palate touch and this warmful feel down the thoat, plus these sweet spices notes that are very on the front. Goes down easy, and again, this is supposed to be a very early stage to drink this vintage... 18-20 €.
The same evening we had dinner at Chaxoila, a restaurant located just outside Vila Real, there was some sort of conference in Portuguese by 4 men involved in traditional cheese making, part of it being translated for us, with the convergence of the approach between real cheese
(made from raw milk) and wine. , aPortugal is a
cheese countryll the cheese we had there was from sheep and goat, very nice ones. The local sheep cheese is named Terrincho and is made from a local breed bamed Churra da Terra Quente. Too bad I don't understand Portuguese, part of the room was filled by people from Vila Real who seemed to be passionate about these issues. We had some wines from Lavradores poured as well as wines from a winery named Lua Cheia em Vinhas Velhas which translates like "Full Moon in Old Vines". Francisco Baptista the winemaker at Lua Cheia was pouring the wines.
__ Lua Cheia em Vinhas Velhas Secretum 2012, a white. We have this wine with an aged goat cheese. Very subtle wine, balanced and with a minerality feel. You ask for a refill.
__ Lua Cheia em Vinhas Velhas Andreza 2017. Codega do Larinho. From a native white grape variety, we have it with sheep cheese. Very nice, saline & aerial.
__ Lua Cheia em Vinhas Velhas Andreza Gran Reserva 2014. A red. Enjoyable wine with notes of nuts, coffee or mokka, makes 14 % but very harmonious with a silk-paper-tannin touch on the palate, the whole thing supported by freshness, nowhere you'd think it's 14 % alcohol. The mouth is not very long though, it seems to me, but that may have with the strong goat cheese (an old one) I just had. This wine costs 15 € retail.
__ Quinta da Costa Port vintage 2005, bottled december 2007, we had it with the dessert.
Carm is a big winery totalling something like 200 hectares of vineyards spread among different farms and planted at different altitudes, up to 550 meters. The winery we
visited (they may have others) is brand new
and overlooks the valley with the Douro river in the far. The whole harvest for all their parcels lasts one month and a half because of the extended
range of the ripeness time window, starting on low altitudes and finishing at the highest, at least that's the order for the reds. We're told in the summer with temperatures reaching 45 C (113 F) the maturation stops which is a parameter they take into account. Acidity and freshness is something they look for in their wines. The yields are generally low, like 2 or 3 tons of grapes per hectare on average. Since 2008 they changed their style of wine and looked for freshness and elegance. Antonio Ribeiro who tours us around says he likes the mix around here with olive trees, vineyards, almond trees and wild expanses of woods garrigue. The soil in their vineyards is schist and also granite in some areas which is good for the whites.
We visited the facility, the vatroom aswell as the élevage cellar and they had these modern alternative to the traditionnal lagars for the foot-stomping of the grapes : these stainless-steel tanks on the left can reproduce the human action of the feet and legs on the mass of grapes without the hazards of manpower and recurrent difficulty to find available workers capable to do the work and at all time of the day. these facilities are often remote in the mountain, far from villages, making this workforce issue more acute.
During our visit we saw also the elder of the family winery, Celso Madeira (pictured above) who is not only a pioneer in the organic viticulture in the region (he converted the vineyard in 1995) but is also the first to have had the idea to remodel hillsides with earthmoving machinery like bulldozers, this was in 1965. I asked him how it happened, he told me he was managing construction work at the time with these machines and thought about trying using them for terraces, which ended up opening new perspectives for the Douro...
Now they're since 2008 making also 2 cuvées without SO2 (read this report here), something that seems to me rare in the region, they make a white and a red and this works well. We alas didn't taste them. For
the reds thay choose the best grapes for this SO2-free wine, they make lots of extraction in order to have the polyphenols protect the wine thereafter. They sold the last bottles of the SO2-free 2011 at the end of 2017 and it was tasting fine, no faults.
Carm is also producing olive oil with the same philosophy, using stone mill in order to achieve the same traditionnal quality. We had lunch with Celso as well as well as Antonio Ribeiro and had a few wines along the dishes.
__ Carm Reserva 2017, a red which Celso finds still too young. Nice freshness and balance, this sums up the wine, plus I must say that I've been filling my glass again now and then all along lunch and had no adverse effect.
__ Carm CM Douro 2013, a 94+ points for Robert Parker, made with a selection of the best grapes from Casa Agricola Robodero Madeira, in Almendra; Majority of Touriga Nacional plus Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, 24 months in barrels. THe back label adds Vinho natural sujeito a criar deposito com a idade, servir com cuidado, we all begin to read Portuguese... 4130 bottles total (this one was No 124). 14 % alcohol. Very nice wine, I'm not shy to say it in spite of the praise of Parker it's fashionable to despise, I take the risk to be excommunicated here... Sweet spices, some buttery feel but rather harmonious, with freshness overall, pretty drinkable at this stage though I prefer the other wine whith which I have no problem refilling my glass (I hardly could with this CM). And I'm told it's still young even if from 2013 (and costs 150 € retail...). The empty bottle is extremely heavy, looks even heavier than a sparkling one.
The evening we had a tasting with several winemakers at the city hall of Vila Real, a beautiful historic building, each winemaker presenting a couple of their wines.
Daniel Fraga Gomes is a viticulture engineer, he graduated from UTAD and worked in viticulture and oenology in several Portuguese wine regions.
__ Cronica No 1, Douro white made with varieties of the south of Douro (purchased grapes here). Fruity wine with light bitterness. 10 €.
__ Cronica Pinot Noir, Deca 2014 (Vinho Regional Duriense). Schist soil, vines on high altitude (550 to 600 meters, exposed west), vinified in stainless steel. Relatively clear color. Interesting variety under these latitudes, parcel planted in 2009 (was very young when the harvest 2014 occured). 15 €. (bottled pictured above)
__ Cronica No 0 2013. A red with a peculiar, chalky feel in the mouth.
Alvaro Martinho is passionate about his work and he knows the vineyard and the terroir, loving particularly to work with old complanted parcels. Alvaro has an artist approach, by the way he's a musician like you can see in this video. he follows several projects and is part of a 4-winemakers/growers group that looks to promote artisan wines in restaurants. I understand he works as a viticulturist for a large winery and tends his own parcels in Baixo Corgo from which he produces 10 000 to 12 000 bottles. If I understand his vineyard surface makes 6 hectares.
__ Mafarrico Douro 2016, white.
__ Mafarrico Douro 2015, red. A couple dozens varieties complanted life usual. Very nice wine, complexity, some astringency but manageable at this stage. He uses barels just for the oxygen, between 12 and 18 months, depends. This wine costs 9 € tax included.
__ Mafarrico, A Minha Vinha (means my vineyard) 2015. 1460 bottles, 25 € tax included. Quite good, chalky style tannin touch, you know, these luminous types of tannins that make for a beautiful chew.
Elisa Pimentel and Miguel Monteiro are both oenologists and have been doing consultant work for quite a few years from what I understand and they started their own production in 2011 on a 8-hectare vineyard surface which they farm organic, naming their domaine Montel, which is a combination of their two family names.
__ Montel Douro 2011, their first wine, 5000 bottles. Vines at an altitude of 400-500 meters. Quite extracted for me but still pretty good. They say they actually started to manage the vineyard in 2003 and converted it to organic farming in 2007. Vinification in stainless-steel tanks with temperature control, 10-day spontaneous fermentation. The sugar is finished here there remains maybe 2 grams, he says. Aromas like coffee, Mokka. Price is 8,5 € without tax. they plan to make white wine later.
www.montelwine.pt
Before making wine at the Quinta dos Lagares, Isabel & Pedro were working in agronomy and forestry before settling back in the Douroand founding Vitavitis through wich they managed their wine farm. They remain forest wise and keep
woods around their vineyards and olive trees for a better diversity. Vineyard surface 33 hectares but they only vinify the equivalent of 2 or 3 hectares which leaves them a margin to augment their wine production.
__ Lagares Marco 86, Douro 2014, a red made with two varieties. Marco means milestone. Aromas of leather, quite refined and concentrated with saline end. The vines are 15 years old here. This is the first vintage for this cuvée, they made 2000 bottles. Sells 5,5 € tax included in Portugal, very good deal.
__ Quinta dos Lagares 2013 (red cuvée domaine, we'd say, red label). Vines at 550 m altitude. List of varieties for the blend, vines planted in 1974. Old oak for the élevage. Very nice, lovely ampleness, it has a good breath in the mouth, and noticeable freshness.
__ Quinta dos Lagares Reserva 2013. Old vines 70 years, majority being Terriga Nacional (50 %) and the rest a long list of other local varieties. The wine is a bit tight in the mouth, I feel like it's in a cage, it may be the SO2, they put some starting on the grapes at harvest, and add some several times during the vinification following regular lab analysis.
__ Quinta dos Lagares VV44, Vinhas Velhas (old vines, plenty of different varieties). Aomas on the coffee family, intense feel, good length going down the throat, nice dusty tannins. 21 € tax included.
Afonso is oenological assistant for Duas Arvores and he graduated from UTAD in Vila Real.
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__ Avidos 2014, red made with 9 local varieties, 18 months in French oak. 1st vintage of te domaine if I understand well. 30 € . They don't export yet beyond Brazil. The wine has aromas of spices, with pepper notes. the vinification is simple here, not too much extraction, he says, they taste every day to see if the extraction level is fine, during 1 to 1,5 week and stop when they feel it's OK. Malo happens in barrels, then they rack the wine in other barrels, addinf SO2 in the process.
__ Anonimo Douro 2014, same vinification but only 2 varieties. Bottled in 2017. Elevage in barrels and bottles. Very fruity, smooth and balanced, approved by my stomach. 25 €. Nice wine. 3600 bottles.
__ Apaixonado Douro 2015, mostly 5 local red varieties. Elevage in barrels of different ages. Vines 15 to 25 years old. Easy drink, smooth, thin tannins. 19 €. 9000 bottles.
__ Amavio 2015. 3 red varieties, bottled may 2017. No oak here. Picked early to keep green character and tannins that are more outward. 6000 bottles. 9-10 € tax included.
We visited the small domaine of Gil ans Laura Regueiro, Quinta Casa Amarela. Among the domaines we visited in the Douro it may be the closest in size to the ones I visit usually in France, they have a vineyard surface of 16 hectares and produce about 60 000 bottles. Gil presents us the region and the domaine, it's on the left bank of the Douro between Regua & Lamego, this is in the family since 1885, they make both Port and Douro wines, focused on terroir and they like to keep the environment
the way they found it (i like this sort of approach, if everyone had hold to this for 50 years we'd
be in a better world, works better than all the environmentalists' overreach). Gil says they have a small niche market for their wines, which they export to a string of countries, Brazil, Angola, Luxemburg, Spain, Nicaragua, Canada and Puerto Rico (and from there to the continental US if I understand well). The barrel room is plain dirt floor, like it was in the past, Gil says he wants to keep it that way, it's much better to keep the humidity level appropriate for the barrels full of wine, he just has the ground hosed down with water to keep it humid when necessary, it's good for the aging of Port. They have in this room a large capacity barrel with a 80-year Port inside, he says.
Gil explains that he worked for 27 years in an international company and then decided to come back to the countryside in his family quinta with his wife when he retired, the quinta back then was only making Port wine (he still has a few unopened bottles of Port wine made by his ancesters in 1831, 1875, 1878). From the late 1980 he began to make Douro wines and had lots of success with his respectful traditional style. He and his wife received us in a very gentle way, you could feel the simplicity and authenticity of their approach which perspired also from the house and surroundings where you wouldn't find any flashy modernization ruining the atmosphere, you could really feel at home here, with the orange trees and the grassy vineyards overlooking the house/facility.
Gil showed us the humble, unpretentious lagar room right behind the house, with a group of small stone rectangles, nothing fancy but just the original thing. There was also a basket press on the side, I guess for small batches not sizable
enough filling a lagar. They employ 6 full-time staff on the winery and vineyards, plus a French oenologist (Jean-Hugues Gros). We then tasted a few wines
back in the barrel/foudres room.
__ Casa Amarela Douro 2016. Made from 4 varieties, Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta marela and Tinta Barroca (if I heard correctly). 4000 bottles Very easy drinking. Gil says the acidity is fine as well as te tannins, it may not be very complex but he call this wine the wine of "confidence", when you come back home and settle back in the quiet homely atmosphere, this wine fits in, he says there are many wines he produces which he likes, but as an everyday wine, this is his choice, because it'ssimple and easy. I couldn't agree more, this is all wine is about.
__ Casa Amarela Douro Reserva 2014. Silky tannins, beautiful eucalyptus notes coating the side of the palate, very fresh also. 14 % alc. New french oak. Also an easy-drinking wine. No thermovinification obviously here.
__ Terroir Velho Mundo XV. Table wine because blend from 2 regions. Petrol notes on the nose. 13 % alc. Rich and full-mouthed, a bit too much for me, but heathy vividness nonetheless. 13 €.
__ Port Tawny 10 years old (pictured on left in the glass). Lovely Port, pretty enjoyable mouth for a 10-year old, alcohol/spirit part almost integrated., with still this youngster's energy. I happen to be the one lucky enough to finish the bottle after another pour : man, I correct my judgement, just a terrific 10-year Port, shines down along the throat, great deal, buy it ! [I realize that if I hears the bottle price that day, I didn't note it, sorry... but I found it on the Web for 32 €].
More to come on the Douro...
I love the Douro. Yes, the wines are great. But, I loved traveling in the Douro. It's so beautiful!
Posted by: Amber | April 11, 2018 at 02:36 PM
I think that Jorge Moreira is winemaker of Quinta de la Rosa and Poeira - not Jorge Alves.
Kind regards
Blofeld
P.S.: This blog is one of the best wine blogs that you can find! Thanks a lot!!!
Posted by: Blofeld | April 12, 2018 at 09:52 AM
Thanks, That's actually the name I had initially but then I thought it was a mistake and had changed it for Alves. I'm backtracking right now...
Thanks for your comment !
Posted by: Bertrand Celce | April 12, 2018 at 06:27 PM
How might I get in touch with Alvaro Martinho (Mafarrico), I'd love to visit and try his wines on upcoming trip to Portugal?
Posted by: Will Ives | September 17, 2018 at 12:08 AM