The Douro Boys are the energetic, quality-focused crew behind Quintas do Vallado, do Crasto, do Vale Dona Maria, do Vale Meao and Niepoort. You’ll find a detailed dossier about each producer here on their website.
I’ve visited and met with the Douro Boys collectively and individually many times so you’ll find plenty of tasting notes on my Portugal Regional Report page together with a very detailed report of my visit with them in 2009 here, covering the release of the 2007 vintage (and featuring notes on some eye-opening vertical tastings).
The 2008 vintage
Last July I met with the Douro Boys in Oporto for my first glimpse of their 2008 wines. I must say I loved the 2007 vintage for its flowers, fruit and elegance but I think 2008, which like 2007 had a relatively mild summer, is more elegant still. I was bowled over by some particularly refined, mineral sluiced wines with lovely definition and freshness to their bright fruit.
My tasting notes are based on this July visit but also the New Douro tasting in London on 26 October where I had the opportunity to taste the wines once more. Before launching into my tasting notes, here’s a quick summary of the 2008 vintage which I’ve taken from the New Douro 2008 tasting booklet:
“2008 was an excellent year in the Douro. There was enough rainfall during the spring and at the beginning of summer, which allowed the soil to maintain good water levels until harvest. However, humid weather during the flowering season led to very low yields, which happily guaranteed high quality fruit, with great acidity and balanced sugar levels at harvest time.
Overall, the 2008 vintage in the Douro brought fine wines full of spiciness, freshness and subtle aromas. The wines of 2008 show lighter alcohol than previous vintages and therefore are immediately attractive and are great food wines.”
The 2009 vintage
Though 2009 was similarly mild during the summer, from 12 August, a heat spike accelerated the ripening process and harvest started earlier than usual. Unsurpisingly, the whites were more forward than the 07s and 08s, with powerful fruit.
Quinta do Crasto
Quinta do Crasto White 2009 – Crasto’s plantings in the warmer upper Douro or Douro Superior are quite recent but, at some 600m, their vineyard must be one of this sub-region’s highest. At any rate, it lends itself to making white wine and, as Miguel Roquette puts it, to “explore the acidity and make a fresh vibrant Douro white with no oak, just the purity of the varieties – Gouveio, Rabigato and Roupeiro (Codega)” (though he told me they also experimented with a barrel fermented white last year). At any rate, this blend includes 20% of very old vine component and, I’m not sure if this was the case for the maiden vintage in 2007 but the 2009 seems to have a bit more depth of flavour than the first two vintages. Of course, it could reflect the heat spike which started on August 12 2009. It shows honey hints to its ripe pear, melon, fresh fig and citrus fruit with steelier grapefruit notes. 13.5% £8.99 at Adnams
Quinta do Crasto Red 2008 – though it looked quite reduced at the New Douro tasting on 26 October, it was much more expressive in Oporto in July, so this note is from July: an inky, deep hue with violets, black cherry and almond notes supported by ripe, present tannins. Well done. £8.50 at Adnams. (NB this is also sold under Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference label).
Quinta do Crasto Superior 2007 – this, the maiden vintage from the Quinta da Cabreira vineyard in the Douro Superior (hence the name), was focused on the US market and perhaps correspondingly, showed a fair whack of vanilla oak to its dark spicy fruit. A little toasty for my palate, it was aged in French and US oak for 12 months.
Quinta do Crasto Superior 2008 – once again looking reduced in London but much more expressive in Oporto in July – here’s my July note: a fresher nose and palate than the 2007, with slightly creamy, blackberry, black currant and baked cherry fruit with a hint of salt lick. Aged in 70% French oak, 30% US oak for 12 months, the oak is much better integrated. Good plus. £12.99 at Adnams (in store only)
Quinta do Crasto Reserva Old Vines 2008 – Crasto did not produce its top single vineyard wines Maria Theresa or Vinha da Ponte in 2008 which is good news for those of us on more modest budgets since the fruit goes into this consistently impressive wine (see here for my notes on a vertical tasting)! Very tight on the nose and attack but it reveals an impressive depth and concentration of still tightly coiled fruit on the mid-palate supported by an impressive backbone of tannin. Very long. Tons of potential – a star buy. The (also excellent) 2007 is £17.99 at Adnams who will no doubt stock the 08 in due course.
Niepoort
Niepoort Tiara 2009 – mainly Codega do Larinho together with other old vine fruit slow fermented (over 4-5 months) on the lees until bottling in 2 500 litre barrels or stainless steel tank. It was harvested much early than usual, in early not mid September, on account of the heat spike which accelerated ripening. It showed upfront ripe, tropical notes on nose and palate when tasted in July, with minerality to the soft but quite long, rolling finish. In October the emphasis was more savoury with leesy, nutty notes. Lots to savour here already – a forward vintage.
Niepoort Redoma 2009 – this blend of native varieties (mostly Rabigato but lots of others) comes from 40-50 year old vineyards at 450-700m. It’s 100% barrel fermented in mostly 225l French oak barrels (40% new), with some 500l barrels. The wine didn’t undergo malo and was aged on the lees for 9 months (no batonnage). It shows quite smoky oak, minerals too and, in the mouth, it’s rich, leesy and corpulent with ripe, honey tinged stone fruits, (attractive) vegetal notes and a saline finish. Good, again quite forward.
Niepoort Redoma Branco Reserva 2009 – a best barrel selection, though Luis Seabra (Dirk Niepoort’s right hand man on table wines) observed that these barrels can typically be traced to the best (higher in altitude, higher in granite) vineyards. It explains why the Reserva is always more structured than the “basic” Redoma though, in this vintage, it’s certainly more structured but has a gossamer-like delicacy about it too, especially when you take into account the vintage. It shows delicate cedar, smoke and flint on the nose which notes follow through on the palate which has the most beautiful, sensual texture to its poached pear fruit and a subtly mineral sluiced long finish with a low-pitched hum of acidity. Gorgeous.
Niepoort Drink Me 2008 – well endowed with fresh’n bright fruits of the forest with a lovely creamy, leesy texture and tang – the best vintage I’ve tasted of this entry level Douro red. Nice buy for £11.95 at Robersons
Niepoort Vertente 2008 – fermented in stainless steel and, after, 12 -24 days of skin contact aged for 18 months in barrel. It shows really well defined black fruits and red cherry fruit (Seabra puts this down to the very cold nights) and, though there’s a leesy creaminess to the mid-palate, it finishes fresh and bright. Lovely. Tasted in October, the oak showed a little more, adding a dash of spice and toast.
Niepoort Redoma 2008 – this had just been bottled 2 weeks previously when I tasted it in July. Apparently the larger format barrels used last year were in short supply so this was aged in 228l barrels, 35-40% new for 20 months. But given the vintage and the fact that there’s been a shift towards less extraction and racking anyway (which Seabra says accounts for better integrated tannins and better maintains fruit and aroma), it’s still an elegant wine like the 2007 which made the cut for my 50 Great Portuguese Wines 2010. Indeed this has a wonderful freshness and mineral sluiced quality to its juicy, black fruits, floral lift too. Very persistent with terrific length. Excellent.
Niepoort Batuta 2008 – very dark with a narrow bright pink rim – concentrated as well it might be after some 2 months’ skin contact. It’s tightly furled on the nose, though less so on the palate, indeed showing a fabulous fluidity when I tasted it in October. With less new oak than usual it shows tremendous purity to its dark berry fruits and, the hallmark of this vintage, has that mineral sluiced quality, though here there’s the chiselled, subtly textured minerality that I always associate with Batuta too – Seabra reckons it might be related to an element of blue slate in the vineyard which he describes as lending an almost chalky quality to the wine. Outstanding.
Niepoort Charme 2008 – while most of the reds showed better in July, the Charme looked a little flat footed though it had been bottled some months previous, in April. In October it was much more expressive with savoury toast and spice notes to its palate saturating, lingering red fruits and suede textured tannins. Good but, for me, not as exciting as the other top tier wines.
Niepoort Robustus 2005 – bottled in 2008, I first tasted this wine in September 2005 when I suggested perhaps it had outgrown its name, such was its elegance (see here for more details and my earlier tasting note). On this tasting, it’s more savoury on nose and palate and broader textured if still juicy and animated – this time I see the connection with the 1990 which I had the good fortune to taste twice in 1990 – it put me in mind of top Hermitage or Cornas – Chave, Clape. Look forward to seeing how this wine develops! Tons of potential.
See here for my recent notes based on October and November 2010 tastings of Niepoort’s “off-piste” Projectos portfolio – wines from the Douro and elsewhere.
Quinta Vale D Maria/Van Zellers & Co
Both tastings were presented by Mariana Brito, viticulturist, who explained that no vintage port was made in 2008, only late bottled vintage, ruby and reserve ports because, although 2007 was also a relatively mild year, the August heat in 2007 combined with humidy meant the vines kept photosynthesising whilst, in 2008, August’s cooler weather delayed the ripening process to the point they even had to leaf pluck!
VZ Branco 2009 – made from grapes bought in from the Murca district from a 70 year old vineyard, planted mostly to Codega, Viosinho, Gouveio and Rabigato, it sees 100% new French oak and shows Graves-like smoky, lemon oil notes on the nose which follow through on the palate. In the mouth, the generosity of the vintage comes through with ripe, perfumed Canteloupe melon and sweet talc, though there’s good structure and freshness too, so it’s persistent/long. Good.
Van Zellers Rufo Red 2008 – a new release made from bought in grapes, this is part aged in tank, partly in old oak making for a lively, peppery red with lots of upfront juicy dark, briary fruit. £9.95 at Whole Foods
Van Zellers Red Reserva 2008 – from a young vineyard planted to Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Ririz, Tinta Cao and Tinta Barocca this is foot trodden then fermented in stainless steel before being aged in 1 year old barrels. Very floral, mineral and salt licky – a good expression of the vintage.
Quinta Vale D. Maria 2007 – a creamy, ripe fruited nose leads onto a sumptuous palate with sweet raspberry, strawberry, red and black cherry fruit and a hint of savoury kid glove/dried fig. Very soft in the mouth, though it retains nice acidity and has an underlying minerality to the finish.
Quinta Vale D. Maria 2008 – though the tank sample I tasted in July was very mineral with cool fruit spice notes the finished article tasted in October couldn’t have been more different – rich and quite savoury, a little bloody even, though long and persistent with fine tannins.
Quinta Vale D. Maria 2008 CV – the exposure for this single vineyard wine is very different from Quinta Vale D. Maria – it’s on the other side of the Torto Valley, facing north which means you can wait longer before picking without risking shrivelling. The 2007 made my cut for 50 Great Portuguese Wines and the 08 is also very impressive – long, layered and mineral with cedar kissed spicy, bright red/blackcurrant and crushed bilberry fruit. Excellent.
Quinta do Vallado
Quinta do Vallado Red 2008 – very fresh, bright, vividly fruited wine with red and black berry and currants. Good. C. £10 at Bibendum
Quinta do Vallado Reserva Field Blend 2008 – fruit is sourced from 70-75% old vines and 25% Touriga Nacional vines with a dash of Sousao. Though there’s a veneer of oak which needs time to integrate, beneath lies lively, sappy and succulent black berry and cherry fruit. Long, persistent finish – good freshness here. Very good.
Quinta do Vallado Adelaide 2008 – this super-concentrated flagship wine is tight coiled and mineral chiselled. Needs lots of time. Seemingly lots of potential. One to review.
Quinta do Vale Meao
Quinta do Vale Meao Meandro 2008 – 35% Touriga Franca, 25% Touriga Nacional, 25% Tinta Roriz, 5% Sousao, 5% Tinta Amarela, 5% Tinta Cao. Deep red in colour with a smoky, toasty quality to its chocolate edged red berry fruits, kept in check by crunchy redcurrant and firm but spicy fruit tannins. Good.
Quinta do Vale Meao 2008 – a sweet vanilla nose with plum and the orange blossom quality I associate with this wine. In the mouth quite firm but ripe charry tannins are fleshed out with succulent red and black berry and bramble fruit and riper baked cherry and chocolate orange notes. Nice length – no shortage of spice or flavour here.
Incidentally, you’ll find two previously posted reports of my July 2010 Douro trip here (a tasting with the Douru4u group) and here (a visit with Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo).
Sarah Ahmed
The Wine Detective
(Wines tasted 21 July and 26 October 2010)
