Portable Scotland

Misty scene @Vila Nova de Gaia

Below: the Douro Valley

Having two Portuguese friends visiting Scotland for the first time we thought that, despite the beauties of the Scottish Highlands and the West Coast, they might come to feel a little homesick, especially with the shock of coming from 35˚-40˚C Faro to 20˚C max Scotland. With this in mind we laid in a trio of Vintage Ports to entertain them.

Two came from Taylor and one from Cockburn, so two from a company founded by an Englishman – Peter Bearsley – and one founded by two Scots – Robert and John Cockburn.

Cork from the 1970 Vintage Port, Taylor 

We drank the three Ports in turn over several days – moderation always ensuring that we could try them again on the second night.

Our 'Portable Scotland' began with the 1970 Vintage Port from Taylor. The two wines from Taylor are part of a generous legacy from one of my godfathers. The label had disappeared. I could only identify the bottle by the stamped on details on the top of the lead capsule and then by the cork, which remarkably came out complete – a rare occurrence I find with an old Port. All too often the last part of the cork snaps off. Yes, I do have a cork fork remover but unfortunately I left it behind in London.

The 1970 Taylor was still quite youthful but on the first night the alcohol in the finish was surprisingly noticeable. This lessened the longer the 1970 was in the decanter. It also opened up. Drinking the rest on the second night the whole balance was better with additional weight but still some alcohol in the finish.

1970 Vintage Port, Cockburn
Bottled in 1972 by Berry Bros & Rudd, Ltd, London

The 1970 Cockburn was the big surprise. I had assumed that the Cockburn 1970 would be the least impressive of the trio, so had sandwiched it between the two Ports from Taylor. In fact it was quite the reverse as the Cockburn was sensational with lovely balance between the fruit, alcohol and acidity. Initially the fruit seemed a little two-dimensional but it rapidly opened up and broadened up. A great Vintage Port with the potential to last many more years from a time when companies were still allowed to bottle Vintage Ports outside Portugal.

1966 Vintage Taylor bottled in 1968

The main label of this 1996 Vintage Taylor's Port has been missing for a while. This may be, like the Cockburn Vintage, a London bottling. This 1966 had impressive, concentrated, supple and decidedly youthful cherry fruit – long and seductive – but like the 1970 from Taylor the alcohol in the finish was quite present and not seamlessly integrated as it was in the Cockburn. Again on the second night the alcohol was in better balance.

Summing up the 1970 Cockburn was clearly the best of the trio, followed by the 1966 from Taylor and then their 1970.

Two fine Boxing Day wines

2006 The Standish Single Vineyard Shiraz, Barossa Valley, 

The Standish Wine Company 

(above and below)

Being away for Christmas has meant that I haven't been choosing all the wines, so there hasn't been a great emphasis on the Loire. For Boxing Day dinner we had a magnum of 2006 The Standish, a single vineyard Shiraz from the Barossa Valley. It was very well balanced – concentration of black fruits but not a head banging Ozzie Shiraz with some freshness in the finish. Decidedly impressive and at 11 years old this still has plenty of life left in it – although it was a magnum. The Standish is a 7.6 hectare vineyard planted in 1912 on its own roots.     

1970 Vintage Port, C. da Silva 

We opened a bottle of this 1970 Port from C da Silva a few weeks back. It was relatively light and I thought it was time to drink up any other bottle we have over the next couple of years or so. The bottle we opened yesterday was considerably more concentrated, more complex with a long finish. A fine bottle indeed. Interesting that even with vintage Port there appears to be considerable bottle variation. 

Tim Stanley Clarke – Rest in Port

Very shocked and saddened to hear that Tim Stanley Clarke, one of the great characters of the UK wine trade and great Port lover and expert, died last night. Tim had a great sense of humour and enjoyed jolly japes. On a personal level he was very supportive of my exposure of wine investment frauds.

I have fond recollections of a memorable trip with Tim to visit Bouchard Père et Fils following its takeover by Henriot. We flew back from Dijon and it was some time before the ban on taking liquids on planes. Since our flight departed around lunchtime Tim had bought various patés etc plus at least two bottles of Bouchard Burgundy – a well chilled white and a red plus glasses – allowing us to have a very enjoyable lunch at the back of the plane!   

Here are a series of photos I took of Tim at the Circle of Wine Writers' Christmas Party in December 2013 hosted by Swiss Wine. I hope they capture some of the essence of TSC.  

Tim's bio on Linkedin 

News report in The Drinks Business. 

We will certainly miss you Tim!   

7th July – funeral arrangements: Tim's funeral will be at 2pm on Thursday 27th July at Blythburgh Church in Suffolk (also known as 'the Cathedral on the Marshes'). There should be extra parking but advice is to get there in reasonable time as it could be a packed house. 

 

A portable Christmas

1970 Vintage Port, Taylor's 

An excellent way to finish off a very good traditional Christmas dinner – a glass or two of Taylor's 1970 vintage Port. Still youthful and vibrant with delicious soft cherry fruit and now very well integrated fruit.  

#winelover – Port immersion September 2016 – another remarkable Port tasting

The line of Ports going back to VV Niepoort 

based mainly on 1863

 

 Bento Amaral

Following on from the very good Port tasting we were privileged to enjoy on Friday with Tania Oliveira we had another remarkable Port tasting on Saturday at Niepoort's Quinta de Nápoles, a little upstream on the Douro from Regua. This was brilliantly tutored by Bento Amaral, the director of technical services and certification for the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto (IVDP). 

Before the tasting we had a walk through the vineyards of Nápoles, which counts 115 different grape varieties. We also had the first session of the #winelover 1st Symposium (#IWS16).  

 The line-up of Ports 

Niepoort VV

The tasting (includes climate etc. comments from Bento Amaral)
Bento Amaral commented at the end of the tasting that all of these wines are great, as indeed they were – such a privilege to taste them especially with a fascinating commentary from Bento, who wears his knowledge so lightly and humbly.

Many thanks to André Ribeirinho for organising this tasting and to Dirk Niepoort for hosting the event at Quinta de Nápoles, even though this is the middle of the harvest. In addition he very generously opened some large format bottles over lunch including a stunning demijohn of 1948. 

Ramos Pinto Vintage 1982 

Very dry winter and summer. Mid red colour, cherry nose, soft, cherry texture, still some spirit, split vintage by declaration with some houses opting instead for 1983.

Quinta do Noval 2011 
Classically good year. For some people best year ever - eg Symington.

Youthful purple colour, slightly fishy smell, dense, quite noticeable tannins, but softness there. Length and texture. 'Very extracted Ports'. Main grape varieties used Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca and Tinta Roriz.

Quevedo 30-year-old white tawny Port 
Mid-golden colour, floral, lightly nutty, lovely texture, dried apricot, length and delicacy. Citric notes. Very attractive. Just 1000 bottles produced. 100€ for 50cl bottle.   

Exports of Port from the Douro valley were banned until 8th May 1986. Prior to that all Port had to be exported from Vila Nova do Gaia and, as there was no demand for white Port at the time, growers were left with stocks of white Port, which the Port companies wouldn't buy. Oscar Quededo explained that he and his sister had recently decided to bottle a small quantity of this lovely 30-year-old white Port. 

It was the accession into the EU that forced the change in the Port laws including the right to export which has allowed independent producers like Quevedo to become established in their own right.     

Poças Colheita 1976 
Mid-gold a little darker than white Port. Delicate, a little spirit is noticeable, length. Orange peel and charm.

Very dry winter, very hot dry summer. Light rain in September. 23rd September saw the start of harvest.

Vasques de Carvalho 40-year-old tawny 
Considerably deeper colour than 1976. Walnut colour,  spirit and spice on nose, nutty, raisin, quite austere in the finish, lovely length of spice. Very fine.

144 grams residual sugar, 5.92 acidity. Company based in Regua.   

Niepoort Colheita 1957 

Deepening walnut colour, nutty, dried apricot, some raisin character, precision and length, white pepper. Delightful! Bottled 1972. 

Dirk Niepoort is convinced of the potential for tawnies and colheitas to age in bottle whereas many in the Port trade prefer that Tawnies and Colheitas are consumed soon after they are bottled. For this reason these wines are bottled in small batches according to demand.   

Kopke white tawny Port 1935 
Climate: Dry winter, some frost, irregular summer. Split vintage declaration with some houses preferring to declare 1934, whole others plumped for 1935.  

Bento said that the 1935s are keeping better than 1934. 

Mid-walnut colour, similar in colour to Niepoort 1957. Wood spice on nose, quite sweet initially but very soon attractive austerity comes through, citric, orange notes, lovely length of wood spice present. Bottled last week – the opposite policy to that of Dirk.

Niepoort VV 
Very deep gold, spice dominant, wood spice, rich dried apricot character, extraordinary concentration and austerity and length, dried fruits. 999 bottles produced with 1863 main constituent.

VV old vines. Mainly aged in Gaia. Bottled 1972. 1863 was the year phylloxera arrived in the Douro, so this VV is from pre-phylloxera vines. 

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Dirk Niepoort

      The remarkable 1948 – what a complex treat!

Harvest in progress at 

Quinta de Nápoles 

 

#winelover in the Douro – pics from two great days

 Line up of a remarkable and brilliant tutored tasting 

at the Niepoort quinta in the Douro

(24th September 2016)

Niepoort VV – main constituent 1863 

Very old tawny Port

 

Demijohn of 1948 Port very generously opened by

Dirk Niepoort for #winelover seminar

 Douro at sunset

 

 

Christmas 2015 Adegga Lisboa: some highlights from the Premium Room

Highlights from the Premium Room  
Here are my standouts from the Premium Room:

Two reds: 

2006 Charme Niepoort  

This certainly lives up to its name –

lots of charm!

2002 Colheitas Antigas, Mouchão 

– sweet concentration, texture but 

still youthful and tannic in finish 

Series of lovely wood aged Ports: 

30-Year-Old from Sandeman –

rich floral, nutty, raisiny texture 

1986 Colheita, Quinta do Noval

– orange peel, lovely ripe citric texture 

1967 Colheita, Pocas –

walnut colour, quite austere with length and complexity 

1965 Colheita Kopke –

a real stand out this 1965 

fabulous texture with a touch of 

austerity in the finish 

Very Old Tawny (50 YO) Barros   

Sweet fruit then a little austerity in 

the finish with some wood spice 

 1937 Colheita Niepoort 

Very deep walnut colour – lovely texture and finesse

Coleção da Familia Moscatel Roxo, Quinta do Piloto

– from 100-Y-O solera from just a 50cl bottle 

lovely caramelised texture, great delicacy, super length

 

 

#winelover 3rd anniversary @Lisbon Monday dinner

Luiz Alberto

#winelover chief + chief bait of #fishlovers

On Monday night (9th February) Nanci Bergamo, Patrick Farrell MD MW, and Luiz Alberto came to dinner. It was a great evening and we enjoyed some wonderful wines – see below.

 Patrick Farrell MD MW with the empty bottle of 

1955 Colares – Patrick's birth year

 Looking after Luiz clearly takes its toll!

A light training session to aid Luiz Alberto's MW studies

The wines: 

2007 Bucelas Quinta da Murta –  fine complex white which has aged well. made from 100% Arinto and fermented and aged for a year in French oak barrels.

2001 Escolha Branco, Minho, Quinta de San Joanna – initially quite oxidised (markedly golden) but freshened up with time in glass.

2011 Quarto Caminhos, Alentejo, Heredade do Monte de Ribeira – youthful butch red made from Alicante Bouschet, Cabernet Sauvignon and Touriga Nacional.

1999 Colares, Viuva José da Silva & Filhos (50 cl) – made from 80% Ramisco. Light coloured and delicate after the Alentejo with good fresh acidity in finish

1955 Colares Reserva Viuva José da Silva & Filhos  – kindly brought by our guests. Lovely wine complex and delicate. Still with a potential to age further. Believed that Patrick and Luiz have now bought up all the remaining stocks of this wine. 

1998 Bairrada Reserva, Casa de Saima – kindly brought by our guests, excellent softly textured, nicely mature but still youthful.

2008 Late Bottled Vintage Port, Grahams – young cherry fruit which was a great foil to a rich chocolate cake.