Notes from the San Francisco IVDP dinner and tasting

[David Spriggs]

The IVDP was in San Francisco and hosted a very nice dinner followed by a tutored wine tasting session and general tasting the next day.

I was greeted by Louisa Fry representing the IVDP, a long time friend and colleague of Mario Ferreira (who works with Roy and I at FTLOP). Also attending were Nuno Mathias - the Consul General of Portugal, Rui Falcão - wine writer and educator, and a small gathering of wine writers and bloggers from the Bay Area. My friend and wine importer Ayesha Trump was also in attendance. The intent of the dinner was not only to showcase Douro wines, but show how well they matched with food. That was clearly met as the food really made the chosen wines shine! The aperitif upon arriving was the:

2015 Quevedo “Oscar’s” Douro Branco - clear, pale color. Lemon curd nose. The nose makes it seem like this is going to be a lightweight wine. On the palate there is certainly more body than the nose suggested. Make up of Viosinho, Ribigato, and Goveio. Medium length finish. This is a great aperitif! A great match with the food that followed. Excellent acidity, but not too much. This not a complex wine, but just young and delicious. Drink now and over the next year. Honestly, I usually don’t get exitedQuevedo wines, but this one is fantastic for what it is. Shockingly, I preferred this wine with the food rather than the Niepoort Branco Reserva that followed. A great value! 88 points

The Quevedo above and the Niepoort and Romeu below were paired with the appetizer:

2014 Niepoort Reserva Douro Branco - Slight straw appearance. Very subtle nose. Big entry! The wine at this point is all about mouthfeel. Solid acidity and quite balanced. Very dry, medium length finish, with subtle hints of lemon and almost no wood showing. I have been a big fan of this wine for years. This particular vintage is much more subtle compared to previous vintages, and my guess is that it’s a bit shut down and needs a few months or maybe a year or so to unwind. 87+ points

2014 Quinta do Romeu Reserva Branco Douro - An Organic wine. Very pale appearance. Fruity, earthy, nose showing some subtle barrel influence. Big palate presence! Lemon and yogurt flavors. Very very good acidity that really balances the richness of the food. I quite liked this! 89 points

With the main course was served:

2011 Quinta do Romeu Douro Red - Dark color, earthy nose. A very typical Douro wine. Medium concentration, but also a bit rustic. Drink now. Decent finish. Oh! But after sitting a while it started to open up! The palate is definitely more medium bodied and quite floral. The structure has come into balance now and is actually quite Pinot-like. There are some substantial but fine tannins that could use a year or two to resolve. But this is certainly drinkable now with heavier meat dishes. Medium length finish with a strong suggestion of red sour cherries. I liked this a lot! This was very popular with the group. 89 points

2013 Quinta do Crasto “Superior” Douro Red - Dark color. Black cherry nose. Straight forward. Big black cherry entry. Touch of oak. Some obvious tannins, but they are not corse. Medium length finish. A bit foursquare and monolithic right now. I expect that this would be better with several years of aging. Right now it is very good, but not great. If I had to decide now, I would say that I prefer the 2011 and the 2012 Superior over this vintage. 88+ points.

And then the dessert! And with that would be…. Port!

S. Leonardo 40 Year Old Tawny Port - I know that wine very well. The color is red and brown and yellow and all the variants in between. Looks quite old. Wonderful complex caramel and cinnamon nose. Big, big entry! Very complex butterscotch and fruit cake spices. Dried fruits, dates. This is quite complex. The acidity is always there keeping things light and lifted. It’s not a big, ponderous, heavy wine at all. Wonderful! 94 points.

1947 Feuerherd Colheita Port - Medium dark bronze color. Maple nose. Big entry! Very complex on the palate. Not screaming acidity, but extremely well balanced and showcasing the complex fruit and spice. Delicious and very very drinkable. Very clean palate for such an old Colheita. Fabulous. This is the best Feuerheerd that I’ve had. A great old Colheita! 95 points

Everyone enjoyed the wines and the dinner. I enjoyed it so much that I lost track of time and almost missed the last train home!


The next day, I attended the moderated wine tasting. Rui Falco gave a excellent talk educating people (mostly wine merchants) about all the different kinds of port and what the different designations meant. That is a very complex subject where you can end up going down rat holes and losing your audience. He did an excellent job of keeping the class on track and everybody understood the different types of Port at the end. The following wines were used as reference samples for a certain type and style of Port.

Warre’s Otima 10 Year Old Tawny Port - Pop and pour. Quite tawny for a 10 year old. Subtle Vanilla and Maple nose. Nutty palate. Quite dry on the medium length finish. Decent acidity. Very good. 87 points

Graham’s 20 Year Old Tawny Port - Pop and pour. Clearly older than the 10 year old Warre’s. Earthy nose. Almond, raisins, and smoke on the palate. This is quite a bit sweeter than the Warre’s. Good acidity. Honey and cinnamon in the long lemon finish. Excellent! 91 points

S. Leonardo 30 Year Old Tawny Port - Pop and pour. Smokey wood and maple nose on the nose. Gorgeous nose! Striking orange peel and roasted hazelnut flavors. An excellent Port! Surprisingly, today I preferred this wine to the 40 year old S. Leonardo. I was really very impressed with the 30 year old! 93 points

1963 Feuerherd Colheita Port - Bottled in 2016. Pop and pour. Very subtle smoke and wood nose. Wow! Huge concentration. Big palate presence. Screaming acidity. So juicy! Very long finish. Super complexity. There is a bit of coarseness to this wine, so not as clean as the 1947. Still an excellent wine! 94 points

Dow’s 2011 LBV - Pop and pour. Hard to follow the 1963 Feuerherd Colheita. Quite dark ruby. Intense cherry nose. Subtle spirit. Probably could have used some decant time.Some very fine tannins. Medium length finish. Very good acidity. This is a solid LBV, but not a great one. 87 points

2013 Quevedo Vintage Port - Pop and pour. Opaque. Unfortunately my glass has substantial sediment. Heavy sullen nose. Big wine. Very young. Really good acidity. Not as concentrated as I expected. I get a celery seed character in the finish. This absolutely needed to be properly decanted in advance. Pulling the cork out and the walking around the table trying to poor into 20+ glasses from a single bottle is not a good way for the wine to show what it has. I’d like to revisit this port in the future. Because of the dirty pour I’m not going to rate this.

2011 Niepoort Bioma Vinha Velha Vintage Port - Pop and pour. Subtle cherry nose. Big red cherry entry. Lots of power. Great wine! Needs 15 years to come around. Great “Jolly Rancher” cherry finish with a nice squirt of lime acidity. 92+ points


We left the classroom and went directly to the walk around tasting. It was packed with people and very difficult to take proper notes. It was difficult to get to the tables to get sample tastes. So I gave up writing formal nots and wrote down my quick impressions on the wines later than evening.

Quevedo
Loved the whole line up. I loved that Oscar was there pouring his wines!
2015 White - still liked the white as much as the night before. A super value!
2015 Rosé - On the brink of bone dry. Not too highly flavored. Better than most Douro Rosés. Very nice! 87 points
2014 Oscar's Red - Classic old style Douro. Big, fruity, rustic, structured, but not too much. A great value. 87 points
2013 Claudia's Very nice! Not oaky. Smoother and more rounded. A great value. 89+ points
10 year old Tawny - Very good quality for a 10. Complex. Clearly tawny. very drinkable. 89 points
30 Year Old White Port - Exceptional! Off dry. This would be a great match with food. Not as complex as a 30 tawny from red. Long finish. Not cloying. 93 points

Portal
An impressive set of wines. Very strong performance for Portal. I thought the reds were a notch better than I have had over the last couple of years.
2013 Mural Reserva Tinto - A nice value wine, but over shadowed by the other reds. 85 points
2012 Colheita Douro Red - Rustic. Good concentration. Inviting nose. Needs a year or to to get the tannins under control... or decant serve with meat if drinking now. 87 points
2011 Reserva Douro Red - A big step up. A bit more roundness and finesse. Complex nose of dark roasted cherries.. A couple of years of aging would really get things melded together. Long finish. Impressive! 90 points
2011 Grande Reserva Douro Red - Great wine! Loved this. More concentration. Great round mouthfeel. Some very fine tannins. Very long finish. Really a superb wine. Could drink now with time in the decanter, but better to wait. This was my favorite young dry red. Still some oak showing. A history of aging well. 93 points

Quinta do Mourao (S. Leonardo)
2011 Rio Bom Colheita Douro Red - Awesome. The Colheita is their basic red Douro wine. This is the best that I can recall from them. 90 points
2004 Rio Bom Grande Reserva Douro Red - Excellent. This is coming out of it's shell. Will last for many years. Chocolate and black cherry. Still quite concentrated. I have tasted this wine many times - even pre-release. The wine have been quite closed for the past several years. It’s finally starting to open. 92 points
10 Year Old Tawny Port - An excellent 10 year old tawny. I’m generally not a fan of 10 year old, but this is one of the best. 90 points.
20 Year Old Tawny Port - I rarely have this, so it’s a treat to taste. An excellent 20 year old. Missing just a bit of concentration and complexity over some of the very top examples. Still this is in the top 5 of all 10 year olds. 91 points.

Quinta de la Rosa
2013 Douro red - A good basic Douro from Quinta de la Rosa. It’s approachable, but doesn’t really speak to me. 86 points
2012 Reserva Douro Red - Now we are talking! This is a perennial favorite of mine and this vintage lives up to my expectations. Wonderful balance and concentration. Great acidity. There is some structure for longevity, but you could drink this now. 93+ points

Niepoort
1999 Colheita Port - A great Colheita for such a young one. Complex, smooth, not showing alcohol. Wonderful! 92 points

Feuerheerd (Barao de Vilar)
Overall, I was impressed by the Feuerheerd ports. This was a good set of wines. The younger vintages were overshadowed by the older vintages. I missed out on the 1935 Colheita that was poured.
1997 Colheita Port - 89 points
1990 Colheita Port - 90 points
1975 Colheita Port - 92 points

I wanted to thank everyone who put on this wonderful event - especially Louisa from the IVDP and Candice from Blue Lifestyle! Thank you!

[Mario Ferreira]

Great reviews. Thank you for sharing. Um Abraço David.

[Andy Velebil]

Excellent review. I've got to get mine up this week.

[Edward J]

It did get very crowded very quickly. We started right as the general tasting began and that was good. It seems we share most of the same impressions, I had for the top three WOTN(no order);
1963 Feuerheerd
Quevedo 30Yo White Port
S. Leonardo 30 Anos

Honorable mention to 1999 Niepoort

We did get to taste the 1934 but not the 1947

[Bradley Bogdan]

Thanks for the recaps guys, especially David. This sounds like it was a great event.


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