fortheloveofport.com

[Roy Hersh]

After a year and a half hiatus, our next Guest Corner Host -- OSCAR QUEVEDO will be joining us for a full week Nov. 18th - 24th 2012 ... to discuss any topic you can think of relating to Port and Douro wine, recent harvests, viticulture, selling wines to various markets, use of social media and blogs to promote wine, critics, ratings, and penetrating brand new markets; to name just a few. Bring all of your questions and discussion for Oscar to answer. I know you will find him engaging, informative and eager to answer your questions or quips!

[Ray Barnes]

It strikes me that subscribed members should be given an opportunity to guess who this mystery guest might be, with submissions cut off after midday November 17, for an opportunity to win a bottle of this guest's wine, if applicable.

[Ray Barnes]

PS - With this proposed contest, there is of course the possibility of multiple winners. In such a case, the prize should be shared between them, at a mutually convenient time and place - to encourage forum member friendship.

[Roy Hersh]

Patience, Ray.

[Al B.]

I've just found out who the guest will be - excellent news! I'll spend some time thinking of questions to ask Oscar ... like what is the earliest date Quevedo could submit a sample of 2011 vintage wine to the IVDP for approval as a Vintage Port?

[Jeff G.]

I've just found out who the guest will be - excellent news! I'll spend some time thinking of questions to ask Oscar ... like what is the earliest date Quevedo could submit a sample of 2011 vintage wine to the IVDP for approval as a Vintage Port?

surprisingly I have the same exact Q.

[Roy Hersh]

PLEASE DO start asking your questions, as we only have Oscar for one week and therefore, the more questions we start off the week with the better we will be able to get things rolling here.

That being said, please join me in welcoming Oscar Quevedo to our forum!


Oscar, here is my first question:

We all know how much you travel around the world to promote Portugal, Douro and Quevedo in addition to tourism and wine and social media. In introducing the Quevedo lineup of wines and Ports in a new country ... let's say China as an example ... what are the biggest challenges you face in gaining acceptance to a new market place? Expanding just a bit: What do you typically find in terms of the acceptance, are more people (a big generalization here) apt to like the DOC wines or Port wine more?

[Glenn E.]

I'll ask an easy one to start out - when is your next trip to Seattle, Portland, or Vancouver Canada?

[Ray Barnes]

I would be very interested in finding out which importers (if any) are representing Senhor Quevedo's estate in British Columbia, Canada. At this time it does not appear to be listed in the BC Liquor Board's inventory. On the strength of the quevedoport.com site alone, this seems like an unfortunate oversight. I am also curious about the inspiration behind the original artistic labels for the Oscar's and Claudia's wine offerings.

It seems our guest has taken a leading role in promoting consumer knowledge and awareness - which is an admirable initiative. There is no doubt that a wine enthusiast's experience is greatly enhanced by this.

I'm also wondering what kinds of non-Portugese wines he also enjoys, on the proviso that the question is not considered inappropriate.

[David Spriggs]

Hi Oscar,
Thanks for spending the time to answer our questions. I am interested in your thoughts about the 2010, 2011, and 2012 vintages for your Port and Douro wines.

Also, do you know which vintage your next release of Colheita will be?

[Stewart T.]

Hey Oscar!

I believe you might be the first producer to extensively leverage social media, qr codes, etc. on you labels. I was wondering what your perception has been on how these efforts are paying off. I also wonder if you are seeing other producers following you lead?

Cheers my friend!
Stewart

[Andy Velebil]

Hi Oscar,

First off I wanted to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be here with us for a week.

My question relates to "classic declared" years. In the past there has historically been 2-3 "classic declarations" per decade. However in recent times that line appears to be blurring. With some producers declaring more than that and some combining SQVP's and these "classic" VP's. Given all the advancements in technology do you see this old tradition changing and are we going to start seeing more classically declared years?

Part two of my question is...is having too many "classically declared" years a bad thing? As how does "declaring a year" for VP affect other product lines, such as basic rubies, tawnys, Colheita's, Douro wines, etc?

[Jeff G.]

This might be of interest to some people and I thought it might be informative if you elaborated on it.

But Quevedo actually owns / co owns 8 different vineyards.

Quinta Vale d'Agodinho
Quinta da Alegria
Vale do Nedo
Quinta das Olgas

are all along various parts of the Douro

With 4 others to the south near San Joao Pesquiera

Can you speak about how you select the different vineyard sites for making which particular wine in your line up?

Oh and for the sake of disclosure, I am the NY distributor of Quevedo wines.

[oscarquevedo]

It strikes me that subscribed members should be given an opportunity to guess who this mystery guest might be, with submissions cut off after midday November 17, for an opportunity to win a bottle of this guest's wine, if applicable.

Hi Ray, and would you guess I would be the guest of the week? If yes, you can still gain that bottle, just need to come here to get it!

[oscarquevedo]

I've just found out who the guest will be - excellent news! I'll spend some time thinking of questions to ask Oscar ... like what is the earliest date Quevedo could submit a sample of 2011 vintage wine to the IVDP for approval as a Vintage Port?

Hi Alex, here the legislation is very clear, we can submit samples for Vintage Port approval between the 3rd week of January and until the 3rd week of June of the second year after the harvest. For the case of the 2011 vintage, we can submit samples from the third week of January 2013 on. We are counting the days, as this was certainly the best harvest of the last years, including 2012.

[oscarquevedo]

PLEASE DO start asking your questions, as we only have Oscar for one week and therefore, the more questions we start off the week with the better we will be able to get things rolling here.

That being said, please join me in welcoming Oscar Quevedo to our forum!


Oscar, here is my first question:

We all know how much you travel around the world to promote Portugal, Douro and Quevedo in addition to tourism and wine and social media. In introducing the Quevedo lineup of wines and Ports in a new country ... let's say China as an example ... what are the biggest challenges you face in gaining acceptance to a new market place? Expanding just a bit: What do you typically find in terms of the acceptance, are more people (a big generalization here) apt to like the DOC wines or Port wine more?

Roy, first of all let me tell you here that it is a big pleasure for me to be the guest of the week. I feel very much part of this community that you built up with the help of Port Wine lovers from all over the world. I learn so much with all of you that it is always a pleasure to stop here.

Now going to your question. When we talk about China, we are talking about a country with zero education for wine. This is really an extreme. Very few people have ever tasted wine and even less know which are the most important wine regions in the world. France and Italy exist for them, as well as Australia and little less. Portugal is, for the regular Chinese, totally unknown (though they know Cristiano Ronaldo). So you can imagine what is the awareness of Port/ Douro. Almost everything needs to be done there in terms of wine education. I would dare to say that even the Chinese themselves don't know what they like or not in terms of wine. They like spicy and sweet. Is Port a possibility? Could be, but we need to go there, present them our wines and help them to educate their palate to the taste of the Douro wines. The earlier we do it the better are our chances that they like our wines in the future. Jeff G. can also give us some ideas for this topic.

However, the Chinese market it mostly driven by bulk wine. A couple of examples to help me explain my point:
- when in China, early this year, a Spanish winemaker told me he was selling bottled wine as well as bulk wine to a Chinese client. When this winemaker visited his client, asked him to see a labeled bottle of the bulk wine he was selling. The Chinese grabs a bottle with a label saying Wine of Australia. The Spanish, "Sorry, but I was referring to the bulk wine I send you from Spain." And the Chinese insists, "This is it!"
- a HK magazine organized some months ago a tasting of wines in the Chinese market. Bought all the bottle on the market. Not really sure about the precise percentages, but I think I won't be too far with my guesses. Around 50% of the wines were not only made from grapes and around 20% contained dangerous ingredients.

Despite this, I strongly believe in the Chinese market. In the end, I guess we had similar examples, like the two above, in Europe some decades ago. We need to go there, present our wines to the Chinese and promote the wines, a premium product for sure. More and more Chinese travel nowadays and Portugal is not yet a top destination for them. The tourism could be a good way to help us to sell the wines. And we have an advantage that no one else has, Portugal in Chinese means country of grapes.

[oscarquevedo]

I'll ask an easy one to start out - when is your next trip to Seattle, Portland, or Vancouver Canada?

Glenn, as devoted to social media, I love to go to both wine bloggers conferences, the European and the American. The European took place last week in Izmir, Turkey. Next year the American is in Penticton, Canada, 6-8 June, and I am very tempted to go. Would be great if we could organize a Port tasting right after the conference. Something similar to what we did in 2010, which was fantastic!

[oscarquevedo]

I would be very interested in finding out which importers (if any) are representing Senhor Quevedo's estate in British Columbia, Canada. At this time it does not appear to be listed in the BC Liquor Board's inventory. On the strength of the quevedoport.com site alone, this seems like an unfortunate oversight. I am also curious about the inspiration behind the original artistic labels for the Oscar's and Claudia's wine offerings.

It seems our guest has taken a leading role in promoting consumer knowledge and awareness - which is an admirable initiative. There is no doubt that a wine enthusiast's experience is greatly enhanced by this.

I'm also wondering what kinds of non-Portugese wines he also enjoys, on the proviso that the question is not considered inappropriate.

Hi Ray, it has not been easy to find distribution for our wines and Port in Canada. We sell in Ontario, very small volumes, but apart from that, nowhere else. I don't really know how it works in BC to get distribution. Need to study the market. But as I might be there for the wine bloggers conference in June next year, may be a good opportunity to meet some potential importers. Need to do the homework!

Regarding other wine I like to drink, Barolo, Ribera del Duero as well as Côtes du Rhône are among my top picks.

[Ray Barnes]

Thank you Senhor Quevedo. I hope you succeed in finding potential importers in western Canada next June - and you will very likely be impressed by Penticton and the Okanagan valley. You may be in for a shock when you see the price of imported wines here by comparison to almost everywhere else.

If I can somehow drag myself away from here, I would gladly take up your invitation - and bring some wine also. I'm pleased to hear you are also an enthusiast of the Cotes du Rhone, and expect you and Roy have had some very fine Barolo together.

Thanks again,
Ray

[Jeff G.]

They like spicy and sweet. Is Port a possibility? Could be, but we need to go there, present them our wines and help them to educate their palate to the taste of the Douro wines. The earlier we do it the better are our chances that they like our wines in the future. Jeff G. can also give us some ideas for this topic.

speaking of, we're visiting a chinese restaurant this wednesday, who was recently awarded a Michelin star. I'm betting your 2006 LBV will be a good pairing with their szechuan dishes.


Btw, are you guys going biodynamic/organic? I recall you mentioned something about it when I visited, but I coulnd't find anything on the website.