Big news in the steep Douro Valley! Symington Family Estates, owners of internationally renowned Port brands Dow’s, Graham’s, and Warre’s is converting their three Vilariça valley vineyards entirely to organic farming. Quinta do Atayde, Quinta de Assares and Quinta da Canada, consisting in total of 146 hectares, or 361 acres, will gain their official “organic” certification in two years time. However, an organic Altano red wine has already been made from the 7 ha fully certified as organic at the Quinta de Assares vineyard in 2007 that is currently in barrel and will be released later this year.

Having read this press release yesterday, what perplexed me was why these 146 hectares were chosen to be organic in their 900 ha. portfolio? What makes the Vilariça valley different? Like any successful business, the valley was chosen on the basis of location. As opposed to their vineyards banking the main Douro valley, the Vilariça valley enjoys colder winters and drier summers, in addition to schistous soils which allow for optimal draining. Couple this with an ideal pH range and balanced mineral nutrition in the soil that naturally produces low-yielding fruit, and you’ve got yourself a perfect spot for organic farming, or so Symington hopes.

Another interesting factoid to note is that Touriga Nacional accounts for only 3% of the total vineyards planted in the Douro Valley. 3%! Considering that this is one of the main grapes in your basic port blend, that statistic is a little shocking. And of that 3%, Symington can boast that Vilariça valley is organically growing 31% of all Touriga Nacional in the Douro. Not a bad marketing angle!

For the record, Touriga Francesa is the most widely planted grape in the …

“Do you want to try something else really good?” Dirk Niepoort says to me just after pouring a 1977 Garrafeira Port into my wine stained glass. Of course, there is only one answer to such a question, and with port still sitting in my mouth as I restrained from swallowing what is perhaps one of my new favorite wines, I nodded vigorously and followed him out onto the terrace of our restaurant to a beat up old cardboard box holding half empty bottles with corks sticking out their tops. Haphazardly grabbing a 1957 Colheita out from the depths of the box, I watch intently as he tipped the bottle into my glass as waves of eager anticipation crept into my belly. Savoring the sensation as the wine touched my lips, I was in love. This was the end of what turned out to be one of the better wine experiences I can remember and a recurring theme when hanging out with the infamous Douro Boys!

On this particular evening of our trip to Oporto, we were originally supposed to taste all of Douro Boy wines at small restaurant; but here in Portugal, a schedule is a mere suggestion and adaptation is not so much a conscious choice as a crucial part of any evenings on the fly coordination. Consequently, we ended up at a small and intimate café that serviced the Modern Art Museum’s Botanical Garden, and whose sign at the counter stated, “It is prohibited to sell or consume alcoholic beverages in this area”, a warning that held very little meaning with so many fine ports sitting next to it! With …

Birthdays for me are a bit arbitrary. One year I feel younger, the next older. No matter the date, tomorrow means I’m one day older than I was the day before, another notch on the bedpost. So I wonder why wine geeks get so wound up about birth year wines. The idea is simple, I was born in 1975 and therefore, all vintage wines of that year are deemed to be extra special due to the fact that it was that year I decided to join everyone else on this small blue rock rotating around a ball of fiery plasma within an infinite universe. For me, 1975 was not the best year to be born a wine geek. Many regions had so-so vintages, and correct me if I’m wrong, but there doesn’t seem to be a wine region who had a phenomenal vintage in ‘75.

Last week, I had my 2nd birth year wine of my life time. The first was a uninspiring Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Spatelese, that a good friend, and at the time, co-worker of mine, offered to uncork before I moved to Spain. I remember the ceremony of pulling the wine-soaked cork, and the anticipation as we prayed for a clean wine, free of cork taint and oxidation. Carefully pouring the Spatelese into the appropriate glasses, we dipped our noses deep into the bowl to find, not cork odors, but rather, enough oxidation to have left the wine with little to no character. Simple flavors of apples and light honey notes gave us a wine that, while not stellar, was drinkable enough for us to finish the bottle while reflecting on my coming journey. The fact that it was a wine from 1975 …

It’s 20 pages of girth, containing 40+ tasting notes, 2 interviews, a wine profile and so much more! All you need to do now, is see if it’s in your inbox. If you thought you signed up for our newsletter, but you haven’t received it yet, well then you fell victim to our conversion to a better newsletter program. When we switched software, some of you probably didn’t receive the second confirmation email, and will need to re-register. No worries, because anyone who registers before the end of December will receive this months newsletter free of charge. So make sure you’ve signed up! Here’s a list of wineries whose wines we wrote about:

Taylor Faldgate
Fonseca
Quinta de Quevedo
Ramos Pinto
Sandeman
Quinta de la Rosa
Croft
Quinta de Ventozelo
We have an interview with David Fonseca Guimaraens, winemaker for the Fladgate Partnership. A special profile of a Douro table wine called, “Secret Spot”, and reviews of all the styles we wrote about throughout the month of November. It’s got some weight behind it, but we hope you like it. And please let us know what you like and dislike, as we truly appreciate the feedback!

In other news, we’d like to point out a few articles that might be of interest to you.

Beppi Crosariol at Globe and Mail, emphasis the wide range of choices you have this holiday season when hunting for quality sparkling wine at an affordable price.

Adrian Murcia at Blame it on Rioja provides us with a recipe for Lamb Tagine that not only sounds absolutely delicious, but which could also come right after a crisp and refreshing glass of Cava in preparation for the feast!

Cheers,
Ryan and Gabriella Opaz

PS just to remind everyone, today we’re busy at the DO of Cava, where we’re asking all sorts of questions so …

Hah! How about these photos to wake you out of your lazy Monday slumber! Makes you think twice before making a big toothy grin at someone after drinking a few glasses of port, doesn’t it? Ahhh, but it’s worth it. If you should find yourself with a purple tongue from firm tannins completely saturated in inky, dark colors, we encourage you to smile; because hopefully, you’ve just drank the nectar of the Gods.

Over the month of November, we’ve had an incredible experience learning about the history, the culture, the winemaking practices and the various different styles of port such as ruby, tawny, vintage, LVB and Colheita.

We also had an opportunity to discover two very different Port houses: Sandman and Quinta de la Rosa. While Sandeman is an internationally renowned port house currently under the portfolio of a large Portuguese wine company called Sogrape, Quinta de la Rosa is an independent, family-run quinta that aims to both produce quality port wine, and at the same time, provide opportunities for wine lovers to learn about the port making process.

Finally, we chatted about one of our favorite food pairings with port wine chocolate, and how this rather unlikely pairing lends itself to some of the worst and best experiences depending on both the style of port and the type of chocolate.

So, what’s next? Throughout the month of November, we eluded to a PDF containing all of our port wine recommendations, which we would release at the end of the month; however, in light of some late participants, we’ll be releasing the PDF at the end of the week. Additionally, we would like to offer our deepest …