If there was one quinta you could visit ... ?

[Roy Hersh]

Which would you pick and why?

[Thomas V]

Quinta do Vezúvio aka Quinta das Figueiras, hands down.

The history surrounding the Quinta that dates back to 1565 as well as the ties to António Bernardo Ferreira and his daughter in law Antónia Adelaide Ferreira. It is well known that out of all the Quintas owned by Dona Antónia, Vezúvio was her favourite. It one of few Quintas that only produces foot trodden vintage port to this day. Also Vezúvio has just one focus each year and that is to produce the best possible vintage port. Nothing more, nothing less.

It is located secluded and remote in the Douro and has a feel about it that just draws me towards it.

It also happens to be my favourite house for vintage ports as I just adore the elegant and feminine style that characterizes their wines.

I hope to see it in my life time.

[Glenn E.]

That's a tough one for me, in no small part because you've already helped me visit basically all of the Quintas that would have been at the top of my list!



So... what's left...

I've visited Quinta do Noval, but it was on my own and so not as extensive of a visit as what you provide on your tours. I would love to get a tour of the house and the storage lodge. Plus having a glass of Port out back under that huge tree would be cool to do again.

If it needs to be someplace that I've never visited, then it would have to be Quinta do Bom Retiro. I don't drink RP20 nearly as much as I used to drink the Ramos Pinto Quinta do Bom Retiro 20-yr old, but I'd still love to see the Quinta. We tried on the same trip that we visited Noval, but the road we were using just didn't seem safe so we turned back. I later found out we were on the right road... yikes!

[Poyee K]

Since I've only been on one tour with Roy so far, there are many quintas I've not yet visited and many I don't know about.

Having happily already visited Vesuvio (my favorite so far) last year, I was reading about Graham's Quinta do Malvedos and came across this blurb about another Graham's Quinta that is located across the Tua River only from Malvedos. This Quinta do Tua sounds interesting -- have other members visited? Because it's close to Malvedos, perhaps members have visited on the same day as they went to Malvedos?

"The Tua house was the indomitable Dona Antonia Adelaide Ferreira's base during much of the nineteenth-century from which she pioneered the development of the Upper Douro Valley. It was also in the vineyards at Tua in the late 1970s that the now-emblematic Portuguese grape variety, Touriga Nacional, was rescued from close to extinction... Many of the Touriga Nacional vineyards planted throughout Portugal are the result of work done in these Tua vineyards. Portugal's now-famous grape variety is to a great extent the progeny of Quinta do Tua's very special Touriga Nacional vines.... The Quinta house is located on the other side of the Tua River, a tributary of the Douro, from Malvedos. It shares the best characteristics of Malvedos’ exceptional terroir. It is the smallest of Graham’s vineyards at 60 hectares, only 28.2 ha of which are under vine. It also has a high proportion of old and mixed vines."

http://www.grahams-port.com/making-port ... s#slider/5

Based on my spending time on wesites only, another quinta that sounds interesting, in that it fleshes out and complements the Vargellus production, to make some of the Taylor's vinage ports is Quinta de Terra Feita. I have also been lucky enough to have visited Vargellus itself, and to have also heard the recordings in the Taylors lodge visit mentioning (think) this quinta:

http://www.taylor.pt/en/port-wine-viney ... rra-feita/

[Mahmoud Ali]

It was also in the vineyards at Tua in the late 1970s that the now-emblematic Portuguese grape variety, Touriga Nacional, was rescued from close to extinction... Many of the Touriga Nacional vineyards planted throughout Portugal are the result of work done in these Tua vineyards. Portugal's now-famous grape variety is to a great extent the progeny of Quinta do Tua's very special Touriga Nacional vines....

This seems very odd to me. Surely Quinta do Noval's 'Nacional' vinyard of pre-phyloxera vines contains Touriga Nacional. Also, I find it hard to believe that 1970 and earlier vintage ports did not have Touriga Nacional as part of their blend. Maybe I'm missing something.

Mahmoud.

[Andy Velebil]

I will have to come back to this in better detail when I have a proper computer and not my phone but to Touriga national was not the predominant (popular) grape when you read old Portuguese books. the dominant grape spoken Mostly about pre phylloxera was Sousao


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[Poyee K]

It was also in the vineyards at Tua in the late 1970s that the now-emblematic Portuguese grape variety, Touriga Nacional, was rescued from close to extinction... Many of the Touriga Nacional vineyards planted throughout Portugal are the result of work done in these Tua vineyards. Portugal's now-famous grape variety is to a great extent the progeny of Quinta do Tua's very special Touriga Nacional vines....

This seems very odd to me. Surely Quinta do Noval's 'Nacional' vinyard of pre-phyloxera vines contains Touriga Nacional. Also, I find it hard to believe that 1970 and earlier vintage ports did not have Touriga Nacional as part of their blend. Maybe I'm missing something.

Mahmoud.

When I visited Quinta do Noval after PH2, it was clarified that the Nacional vineyard does not mainly consist of pre-phyloxera vines. This was a labelling/marketing feature before AXA purchased the property and changed that description. The Quinta do Noval vines are ungrafted and yet unaffected by phyloxera (even though surrounded by other vines that are affected) even though the Nacional vines are not pre-phyloxera.

[Andy Velebil]

It was also in the vineyards at Tua in the late 1970s that the now-emblematic Portuguese grape variety, Touriga Nacional, was rescued from close to extinction... Many of the Touriga Nacional vineyards planted throughout Portugal are the result of work done in these Tua vineyards. Portugal's now-famous grape variety is to a great extent the progeny of Quinta do Tua's very special Touriga Nacional vines....

This seems very odd to me. Surely Quinta do Noval's 'Nacional' vinyard of pre-phyloxera vines contains Touriga Nacional. Also, I find it hard to believe that 1970 and earlier vintage ports did not have Touriga Nacional as part of their blend. Maybe I'm missing something.

Mahmoud.

When I visited Quinta do Noval after PH2, it was clarified that the Nacional vineyard does not mainly consist of pre-phyloxera vines. This was a labelling/marketing feature before AXA purchased the property and changed that description. The Quinta do Noval vines are ungrafted and yet unaffected by phyloxera (even though surrounded by other vines that are affected) even though the Nacional vines are not pre-phyloxera.

The vines are not pre-phyloxera. They are an average age of around 35-40 years (give or take a bit, IIRC*). They don't last as long as other vines because being ungrafted they are more susceptible to disease (and other issues). It's easy to have ungrafted vines in a small area, as your costs to constantly replant and maintain are low. You generally can't do it on a large scale, say like a Quinta as big as Noval. It's just not cost effective to do so.

*This is also proof that young vines do make good wine. However, you have to be more hands on with them in their early years. Like the ungrafted part, that's not cost effective to do on a large scale.

[Poyee K]

Andy --

I had a few minutes and here are some snippets from the Noval website consistent with lack of grafting:

"What are the origins of this plot of ungrafted vines?
The exact origins of Nacional are still unknown because most of the estate’s records were destroyed in 1981, when the Quinta do Noval head office in Vila Nova de Gaia was gutted by a fire. Most of the Quinta do Noval vineyard was severely affected by the outbreak of phylloxera that devastated the region of Douro in the 1880s and 1890s. Like all the other wine-growers, António José da Silva (who purchased the estate in 1894) began to replant his vineyard with traditional Douro varieties grafted onto American rootstock. We can conclude that da Silva decided not to replant the Nacional parcel with grafted vines, as it had been spared by phylloxera."

http://www.quintadonoval.com/categorie-faq

[Andy Velebil]

Andy --

I had a few minutes and here are some snippets from the Noval website consistent with lack of grafting:

"What are the origins of this plot of ungrafted vines?
The exact origins of Nacional are still unknown because most of the estate’s records were destroyed in 1981, when the Quinta do Noval head office in Vila Nova de Gaia was gutted by a fire. Most of the Quinta do Noval vineyard was severely affected by the outbreak of phylloxera that devastated the region of Douro in the 1880s and 1890s. Like all the other wine-growers, António José da Silva (who purchased the estate in 1894) began to replant his vineyard with traditional Douro varieties grafted onto American rootstock. We can conclude that da Silva decided not to replant the Nacional parcel with grafted vines, as it had been spared by phylloxera."

http://www.quintadonoval.com/categorie-faq

Information that is speculation, nothing more. Correct or not, it does make a good story though doesn't it. Perhaps da Silva just wanted to retain a small section of "traditional" vines to honor his country. The fact is no one knows for certain why Nacional was replanted back in the 1920's with non-grafted vines, it's all speculation at this point. Keep in mind it wasn't replanted until around 30 years after da Silva bought the quinta. So why the wait and why the total replant of the Nacional section if it was unaffected? Next time you are there go look at the soil from the last row of Nacional vines then compare it to the row of vines 4' away from it that are not Nacional vines and tell me what's different. Because for the louse to not affect a different vine 4' away, the soil would need to be significantly different in a very short distance.

[Poyee K]

I was not citing that to support the vines are pre-phy. As I explained in an earlier post, they are not. I was citing this for the ungrafted aspect.

I will now post some photos of the vines of Nacional on my Flickr and then link it here.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/147648174@N08/?

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