The
new Douro: part 11
The
New Douro tasting
London, November 9th 2004
A fitting end to my series on the New Douro was
provided by this tasting. Most of the significant 'new Douro' wines
were being shown together for the first time. Here I've concentrated
on the estates that I didn't visit on my last Douro trip.
Barca
Velha/Quinta da Leda
Casa Ferreirhina’s Barca Velha deserves respect for
being the first top-quality Douro table wine, created for the first
time back in 1952. It has also become a bit of a celebrity wine in
recent weeks: in February 2005 Jose Mourinho presented Alex Ferguson
with a bottle of the 1964, after Ferguson had complained about the
quality of wine offered to him by the former on a previous encounter.
[For the benefit of the non-footie audience, the former is a
Portuguese chap who is the manager of Chelsea, the latter is the
manager of Manchester United. Ferguson hasn’t yet reported on how he
found the wine.]
The wine bearing the Barca Velha label traditionally
hailed from the Douro Superior estate that now makes Quinta do Vale Meão,
and has only been released in top vintages. Sogrape, who now own Barca
Velha, have shifted its source to the Quinta da Leda, a 105 hectare
estate in the same part of the Douro.
While Barca Velha is a very traditional wine in a
slightly old-fashioned (if complex and worthy) style, the newer wines
from Leda seem to be very skilfully fashioned in a modern mould.
Barca Velha 1983
Open, earthy, spicy nose showing some evolution. A traditional
style but very appealing. The palate shows nice structure: it is
earthy and quite dense with a minerally streak and firm, spicy
tannins. An elegant, mature wine that is full of appeal. Very
good/excellent 93/100
Quinta da Leda 2000
The current vintage. Sweet elegant supple ripe red fruits on the
nose. The palate is quite dense and rich with smooth red fruits, some
elegant soft tannins and some subtle woody notes. An expressive wine.
Very good/excellent 92/100
Quinta da Leda 2003
Lovely ripe, supple fruit on the nose, which is forward, open and
elegant. The palate is spicy and fresh with good fruit in a forward
style. Very good/excellent 92/100
Qinta da Leda 2004 (cask sample)
Very ripe, forward and quite elegant. Great structure and fruit.
Quite forward, ripe and supple. A lovely wine.
Altano
Reserva
I was a bit disappointed by these wines. The Symingtons, who make
fantastic Ports, have lately turned their attention to table wines,
but the Altano range has never really lived up to the same sort of
standards that the other new Douro producers have attained. However,
it should be pointed out that these wines are quite a bit cheaper than
most of the others reviewed here.
Altano Reserva 2000
Not a big wine, but quite elegant in a Claret-like sort of way.
Expressive savoury nose with an earthy, minerally edge. Chewy, spicy
palate with some freshness. Very good+ 87/100
Altano Reserva 2001
Ripe, structured nose is fresh and slightly herby. The palate is
structured and quite ripe with good balance, but just a touch dilute.
Very good+ 88/100
Altano Reserva 2002
Thin, tight and a bit charmless. Very savoury with a spicy,
high-acid edge. Very good+ 85/100
Niepoort
Things are always changing with Dirk Niepoort’s
wines. While I’ve been impressed with what he’s been producing
year on year, I always come away thinking that the best is yet to
come. Dirk and his winemaker Jorge Borges parted company last year and
Dirk’s now taking a less interventionist approach in the cellar,
making wines more naturally. For 2004, for example, he has used no
added yeasts and no enzymes.
The two whites from 2003 are both super wines. The
Redoma Branco is a wine that has a great track record for ageing –
the 1996 tasted blind recently was a dead ringer for a top white
Burgundy. These wines offer great potential, also.
Niepoort Redoma Branco 2003
Rich, toasty nose is quite intense and very full, with a bit of
minerality. The palate is rich textured and full with lots of fruit
and good intensity. Nutty, minerally finish: potentially fantastic.
Very good/excellent 92/100
Niepoort Redoma Branco Reserva 2003
Complex, elegant, intense nose is rich, toasty, smooth and very
fine. The palate is smooth and concentrated
with a creamy, mineralic edge. Fantastic effort. Very
good/excellent 94/100
Now the reds. Vertente is a fresh, fruity style but
with a bit of Douro seriousness to it. It’s considerably cheaper
than Redoma and Batuta, but still no snip at £14 in the UK. However,
on this showing (I’ve rated it marginally higher than I have in the
past), it may be worth it. Batuta 2001 is a wine I’ve had several
times now, and is a very exciting effort that I’m just beginning to
understand. I reckon this is Dirk’s best yet, and I’m reasonably
confident that this will be a stunning wine in a decade’s time. 2002
Charme is very different in style: suave, elegant and stylish – a
surprise from this difficult vintage. 2001 Redoma wasn't tasted here,
but it's the best Redoma yet in my humble opinion.
Niepoort Vertente 2001
This is beginning to show really well. Vivid dark, spicy, fruity
nose. The palate shows lovely savoury berry and black fruits with good
acid and a minerally edge. Very good/excellent 90/100
Niepoort Batuta 2001
Very dark intense, spicy chocolatey nose. Very fine, with complex
spicy red and black fruits, although it isn’t fruit dominated. The
palate is concentrated, chewy and dense with very firm but fine
texture, and some wood in the background. Great acidity. This is a
remarkable wine with a long future ahead of it. I wouldn’t open it
for a decade. Excellent 95/100
Niepoort Charme 2002
Sweet elegant ripe fruits dominate the nose of this rather
enigmatic wine, which Dirk makes in more of a Burgundy mould compared
with the rather structured, Bordeaux-like Batuta. It’s very fine and
surprisingly accessible for a young wine. The palate is full yet
smooth with seamless spicy red fruits backed up by sweet oak. Very
accessible but with some seriousness. If you have some, I’d monitor
its progress over the coming years to see how it is developing. Very
good/excellent 93/100
Lavradores
de Feitoria
This innovative project brings together 15 different
estates in a joint marketing and winemaking effort. As well as the
blended wines (under the Três Bagos label), some of the individual
estate wines are bottled separately if they are particularly
successful. Good value for money here.
Três Bagos Sauvignon Blanc 2003 Tras os Montes
Sauvignon from the Douro? Yes – it comes from 15 year old vines
at Casa Mateus, which is located near Vila Real in a rather cool
subregion. One third is fermented and matured in oak, the rest in
stainless steel. It’s a very successful effort. Aromatic, grassy
nose with an appealing herby character and almost a smoky edge. The
palate is reasonably complex with dense fruit, good concentration and
nice acidity. Very good/excellent 91/100
Três Bagos 2002
Bright, fruity nose leading to a fresh palate with good fruit and
a nice spicy structure. Very drinkable. Very good+ 87/100
Três Bagos Grande Escolha 2001
The nose is bright and fresh with spicy, tarry red and black
fruits. Lovely density and structure on the palate with expressive red
and black fruits, and some minerality. Nice. Very good+ 89/100
Quinta
da Terra Feita de Cima/Poeira
Jorge Moreira’s Poeria has already been covered in
depth on wineanorak, but here I had a chance to try the first three
vintages side-by-side. 2001 is fantastic and will age very well; after
an initial flourish it’s beginning to close down. 2002 is a bit
tougher, will probably live longest of the three, and despite the
tricky vintage is a very serious wine, 2003 is the most approachable
and will be the one to drink first.
Poeira 2001 (from magnum)
Closing down a little. The nose shows elegant fresh fruit with a
lovely mineral structure on the palate: chewy and dense. Very
good/excellent 93/100
Poeira 2002
Dense, spicy and full on the nose. Taut and quite complex. The
palate shows great concentration and structure with some smooth but
very firm tannins. Slightly earthy, minerally undercurrent and good
acidity. Elegant with fantastic potential. Excellent 95/100
Poeira 2003 (cask sample of a blend made a week
earlier; slightly oxidised)
Rich with lovely fruit, but still fresh and elegant, with good
acidity. Will likely be approachable sooner and perhaps not as long
lived. Potentially excellent.
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