I’ve arrived in Porto for the Climate Change and Leadership Conference: Solutions for the Wine Industry. I’m on the speaker panel, but rather than me talk about ideas, I’m here…
Quinta do Noval Vintage Port 2016
Quinta do Noval Vintage Port 2016 Douro, Portugal 19.5% alcohol. There’s been a lot of talking up of the 2016 vintage in the Douro, so I was pleased to try…
Dona Berta: traditional, restrained, delicious Douro wines
There’s something very traditional about the labelling of these wines from Douro estate Dona Berta: pure and classic. This is reflected in the winemaking style, which shows admirable restraint and…
Video: Pinhão station and its famous tiles
Ever since I first arrived at Pinhão station in Portugal’s Douro Valley, I’ve been amazed by its beautiful blue tiles (azulejos). Overall, there are 3024 of these hand-painted tiles, arranged…
Quinta da Romaneira Vintage Port 2015
I’ve been enjoying this wine over the last few evenings. It’s a superb expression of a very fine year in the Douro, the 2015 from Quinta da Romaneira. I have…
Quinta do Vale D Maria, one of the Douro’s best Quintas, is sold by Cristiano van Zeller
Sad to learn that Quinta do Vale D Maria, one of the Douro’s top quintas, has been sold by Cristiano van Zeller to the Guedes family of Aveleda Vinhos, one…
Quinta do Noval Vintage Port 2015
Quinta do Noval have lately become known for what the English wine trade describe quaintly as ‘eccentric’ declarations. They released a vintage Port in 2013, for example. Now they’ve released…
Niepoort’s Clos de Crappe: an unusual, remarkable wine
You can’t put Dirk Niepoort in a box. He’s not your standard winemaker. Who releases a wine called ‘Clos de Crappe’ with the description ‘technically a disaster’? (See above from…
How Port wine is made: a film from the 2016 vintage
By Jamie Goode and Treve Ring (Gismondi on Wine) In mid-September, we visited the Douro Valley in Portugal during harvest. We spent quite a bit of time chatting with the…