Quinta do Vale Meão

Translated to mean “of the valley in the meander,” Quinta do Vale Meão is situated in some of the best terrain in the entire Douro River Valley. Quintas are wine houses in Portuguese, Hacienda in Spanish. The Quinta here is on a peninsula where the Douro River makes a 90 degree turn from west to north, then 180 degree turn south, and then a 90 degree turn back to the west towards Porto.What makes the vineyards here so exceptional are, basically, everything. The soil is rocky, forcing the grapes to send their roots down deep, resulting in profound complexity. The climate is dry and sunny but with good ground water. This is essential for disease prevention and good growth…mature grapes at harvest. This combination allows for the best possible product.I chose to visit Quinta do Vale Meão for three reasons. First, I have never been and have always loved their wine. Second, they produce extremely high quality wine and are located not far from my small vineyards. Third, they export most of it to the United States, so we can actually find it back home! Like almost all high quality Douro red wine, it will need age, a minimum of seven years in my opinion. Ten, up to Fifty is even better! It is worth the wait!They produce two relatively easy to find levels; a very good “Tinto” (red table wine) around the $25 a bottle range, and a high end Estate-Grand Reserve level. Expect to pay $100 plus a bottle for those. And of course they make Port Wine, with some of the best Vintage Port in the industry. Good luck finding those, as I was only able to obtain one bottle on this visit for myself.If you find yourself in the high Douro, near the Spanish border, definitely reserve a tour and tasting. They also have a helicopter pad for true ease of movement. Next, on to Spain and some grapes grown inside an internationally recognized nature preserve, very much off the beaten, touristic, path.

Why Portuguese Wine?

“Let’s just go to Porto now.” After one night in Madrid we decided to visit more of Spain at the end of our trip instead of in the middle and head to Portugal.

Everyone that knows me, and most of our readers know, that I am partial to Portugal and Portuguese wine, and for good reason. Family ties aside; few places in the World of Wine can do what a good Portuguese wine can do.

What can it do and why?…should be everyone’s question.

There are two special things happening here; the land and the indigenous grapes.

There are books written about, what the French call, “Terroir.” People have gone to blows about what it actually means. Once you, if you can, scrape away the emotions and marketing you do get to a truer sense of the word. It should not surprise anyone that if you grow two identical things the same way in two different locations (say an apple) they can, and often do, taste different.

The Terroir of Portugal, especially of the Douro, is unique on this planet. Between the steep slopes of Schist and Granite flows the River Douro (translated from low-Latin to mean “Of Gold”). Growing on those slopes are varietals of grapes, many indigenous to the Douro, that have still not been fully explored by the palate of the Wine World at large. The future of Douro wine is bright.

When most people hear Porto (only bad tourists call the city Oporto) only one wine comes to mind, Port Wine. I do love a Vintage Port! If you have had Port and perhaps didn’t care for it go back and read the multiple previous posts titled “So you think you’ve had Port.” Yet it is the red blends that I am after this trip. With the capacity to bring the drinker both the complexity of deep ripe fruit, elegant tannins, balanced acid, and a formidable, long finish. What many call the holy grail of wine.

Not every Portuguese wine on the shelf will give you that experience. Most bottles that do can fetch a very high price once the word gets out, so I do my research and go to the source. One of my favorite shops (of which I mentioned last year in a post of how important a few key translation words are) always has some of the hardest to find bottles at very good prices.

Next week we will travel into the high Douro, the Alto Douro Superior, nearly untouched by tourists, and continue to explore why the wines here have abilities unique in the World of Wine. Until then; A té logo.

So you think you have had Port. Part 3

I love Vintage and Crusted Port. I also really enjoy a quality red blend of “table” wine from the Douro. It can be super easy to get lost in the world of Port Wines. And how do you know if you have a quality red Douro blend? I spoke for just under two hours as the presenter at this February’s tasting of our local chapter of the American Wine Society, tasting and explaining how to navigate Portugal’s premiere wine growing region, the Douro.

Can you explain the difference between the four bottles in the photo? If you were presented these wines at dinner which would you choose? With a little knowledge on Port wine you can pick a quality Douro red. The key to begin to unlock quality wines from the Douro, the world’s first Wine Demarcated Region by the way, is Vintage Port. In the Douro, in the world of Port, not every year is a Vintage year. Vintage years must be declared by the vineyard and then approved by the Port Wine Institute located in Porto Portugal. To be a vintage year the growing conditions must be excellent all the way through harvest, ensuring an exceptional wine. If you know the Vintage years, and find a non-Port wine from a particular Vintage year, you are almost (nothing is every “certain”) guaranteed to have a quality Douro “table” (non-fortified) wine. Then you will need some time. I recommend almost any Douro red to have at least six, preferably eight years of age to make for a fantastic drinking experience.

So, Vintage year, 6 years of age, and you have a quality Douro Red. Simple enough. We sampled three Douro reds before moving to Port during our tasting. The next part in our series, Tawny Port.

Napa Valley, Day 1, Part 2. Gandona Winery and Vineyards.

Wow! It is all I could say as I drove back down the unmarked, potholed, steep and winding driveway back into the valley. I had done a significant amount of research before going to Napa this year. My first visit was a year before, at which point I realized how little I knew even though I had done a lot of research prior to that trip as well. So I had a decent plan of where I wanted to go after my tasting at Robert Craig. I also did not have any reservations (an outcome of my fluctuating work schedule) which is bad and good. Good, in fact, great in this case.

Disclaimer. Unless you have some serious connections, of which apparently I do now, DO NOT expect to just walk into this experience!! I HIGHLY recommend having reservations for anywhere that you really want to visit!

SO, at the end of my Robert Craig tasting, KC (read part 1) asked where I was going next. I told him my ideas and rough plan. His next question; “Do you have any reservations?” “No.” I answered and explained my crazy work schedule that can change day to day. So he recommended a Winery owned by a man from Portugal, and not just Portugal, from the Douro, which is where my mother is from! A quick phone call to the Winery was not answered so he said to try and drive up (up is the key word) there and maybe you can find someone. A Wine Safari, I liked the idea.

Gandona has no fancy sign, is mostly unmarked, off of the main roads inside Napa Valley. This is not a place that you would just happen upon. Even with Google and Apple Maps it took me 40 minutes to find, even after they both said that I “have arrived at your destination.” Determined, and after driving up, up, up, up the third unmarked, rutted and potholed driveway, I reached the top and found it! There was only one other vehicle in the small gravel parking area. I stepped out and start walking towards the winery which had its big barn-like door open when another gentleman walked out. This gentleman, Adam, turned out to be The wine maker at Gandona. After a “Who are you and why are you here” question session; with me, very humbly, explaining my story he invited me in. And I am not trying to sound like some kind of elitist here, but it was during this “who are you” questioning that everyone else would have been turned away. Take the time and make reservations if at all possible.

As I walked in to the winery with Adam we discussed their wine making philosophy, and their techniques for different varieties. He showed me their wine presses, their different wine storage areas, and their barrel room. Outside we toured the main estate vineyard, discussed the soil, the different valley winds, the specific clones of their varieties. Note: and to not get into the weeds here; after the phylloxera outbreak in the mid 1860s, almost all European grape varieties in the world are clones and or hybrids. Back inside we got back on the topic of his wine making approach, especially with Port Style wine. Gandona is one of the few vineyards growing a Portuguese Native grape Touriga National, one of the main varieties in Port Wine. Gandona makes a Port Style wine, a vintage no less. You cannot call a wine a Port Wine unless it is from Portugal. It must be labeled “Port Style,” or just “Dessert” Wine. I had the privilege to try their 2014 vintage Port Style wine and it was incredible! Definitely a Wine of Note. Finally I was lucky enough to buy some as they do not sell to the general public. If you are interested you must contact them and sign up to be on their allocation list for a chance to buy some.

At the end of my three hour visit and tour of Gandona I thanked Adam graciously. He ended the visit with “Yeah, we don’t do this kind of thing [visit], but you didn’t seem entitled to it, it was a pleasure.” Thank you Adam! Stay turned next week for Day 2 of Napa.

So you think that you have had Port Wine…Part 2

"Isn’t Port a wine you just have with dessert?"

I got that question just last night at my neighbors’ birthday party from one of her friends. Four days after Hurricane Sally we amazingly had just gotten our power back on. Most of our neighbors were still without power. To celebrate we opened a bottle of Crusted Port, a unique, obscure, and rather rare style of Ruby Port. One of friends/neighbors without power came over to do their laundry. Day four without power and three daughters can take its toll on a person. As her laundry started I offered her some of this Crusted Port. She has been talking about it, how good it was, ever since. So for her birthday I brought a bottle, one of only two that I could find on our recent trip to Portugal. The bottle was finished along side of a few expertly cooked steaks prepared by her husband. It’s deep tannins, vibrant fruit, strong alcohol, and sweetness, paired amazing well with the steaks and a corn risotto. The tannins in red wine attach to protein molecules. So even this “sweet” Port can pair well with your main course. Dinner ended with the reassurance that I had one more bottle for a future great dinner.

And; so how many types of Port are in this photo?

A “family” run vineyard, Quinta do Panascal

Just an eight or so minute drive down the Douro River to where the small Tavora River flows into the Douro, up on the side of the river valley is Quinta do Panascal. This Quinta is still “family” run but is owned by Fonseca, the Flagship brand of the Taylor’s. It is a very different feel than the bigger ones right in Pinhao and is definitely in the running for most picturesque vineyards in the Douro, and it produces some of the best wine! One of the best parts about Quinta do Panascal is you can walk up and see the stone vats where they crush the grapes, by human foot! We, humans, have not invented a technology or technique to crush grapes without crushing the seed better than the human foot. If you visit Pompeii you will see the same looking stone vats, called “lagares” in Portuguese. The grapes are crushed in early fall by teams of stompers, usually to music. If you are coming to the Douro during the wine harvest, contact the Quinta ahead of time to get a chance to see wine being made the same that it was over 2,000 years ago!

Quinta da Roeda, one of the oldest in the Douro

Just two minutes up the road from The Vintage House Hotel (almost literally next door to the Symingtons) is Quinta da Roeda, one of the oldest Quintas in all of the Douro. Quinta da Roeda is the flagship vineyard for Croft, which is owned by Taylor’s. You can do just about the same thing here as you can at Quinta do Bomfim except the view is even more magnificent. You also get a different taste of how some of the best wine in the Douro is made, and of course the opportunity to buy some. Again, definitely worth a trip!

So you think that you have had Port Wine…

Here we have a Tawny Port, Reserve Tawny Port, Reserve Ruby Port, Late Bottle Vintage from 2014. So, is that four different types of port, or just two? If you answered two then you're ahead of the game. There are six (almost seven depending on who you ask and how you think about it) types of Port Wine. Then within those types there are multiple kinds of port. Stay turned as we head from Lisbon to Porto, then back up the Douro and dive into the world of Port and Vino Tinto wines, home to the best least-known wines in the world.