OSCAR QUEVEDO

Join in on discussions with winemakers and other personalities in the Port, Madeira and Douro Wine trades.

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Paul Fountain
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Re: OSCAR QUEVEDO

Post by Paul Fountain »

Hi Oscar,
It's been great reading your responses so far.

The majority of producers in the Douro produce table wines as well as port but do you think this is an economic necessity for producers?
What is your opinion on non indigenous grape varieties such as Syrah, being grown in the Douro? Are you in favour experimentation with new (to the region) varieties or do you think it should remain traditional?
And to the reverse of that
How do you feel about other parts of the world attempting to make wines (fortified or otherwise) with indgenous portuguese grapes? (I'm starting to see a few local Touriga Nacional veritals and bends being produced in my region though some of the portuguese varieties have been used in fortifieds for about 20 years now)
Jeff G.
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Re: OSCAR QUEVEDO

Post by Jeff G. »

Roy Hersh wrote:Hi Oscar,

For people who are somewhat new to Port, how would you advise them to spend their budget on beginning a foundation of a Port cellar? Let's say $1500 USD, or equivalent Euro value as the budget.

the stupid fridge cost 1500$ already [imnewhere.gif]
Disclosure: Distributor for Quevedo Wines in NY
Bradley Bogdan
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Re: OSCAR QUEVEDO

Post by Bradley Bogdan »

Jeff G. wrote:
Roy Hersh wrote:Hi Oscar,

For people who are somewhat new to Port, how would you advise them to spend their budget on beginning a foundation of a Port cellar? Let's say $1500 USD, or equivalent Euro value as the budget.

the stupid fridge cost 1500$ already [imnewhere.gif]
Haha, true. Craiglist can come in handy lowering that cost though.
-Brad

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oscarquevedo
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Re: OSCAR QUEVEDO

Post by oscarquevedo »

Roy Hersh wrote:Hi Oscar,

For people who are somewhat new to Port, how would you advise them to spend their budget on beginning a foundation of a Port cellar? Let's say $1500 USD, or equivalent Euro value as the budget.
Wow! Many of you are better doing this than I am! I'm thinking about a cellar where I can go any time (now or in 10 years) to drink anything (bottled aged or barrel aged) ; these are my suggestions:

- half case of 2011 VP yet to be declared and bottled so you will buy it at very good price;
- 2x 2008 Noval VP
- 2007 Dow's VP
- 2000 Graham's VP
- 1996 a couple of bottles of Cavadinha SVP and Fonseca Guimarães VP which you will buy at good price
- 1995 Niepoort Colheita
- 1967 Poças Colheita
- 1967 and 1983 Krohn Colheita
- a bottle of each S. Leonardo Aged Tawnies, 10, 20, 30 and 40
- a bottle of the 10 and the 30 Year Old White from Quinta de Sta. Eufémia
- a bottle of Ramos Pinto 20 YOT
- Dow's Crusted

And if we exclude the fridge, then you may get all this for $1500!
oscarquevedo
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Re: OSCAR QUEVEDO

Post by oscarquevedo »

Paul Fountain wrote:Hi Oscar,
It's been great reading your responses so far.

The majority of producers in the Douro produce table wines as well as port but do you think this is an economic necessity for producers?
I don't think it is by necessity, it's about economic efficience. The bulk market for Douro wines and Port is deep and if in your company you wanted to focus only in one of these wines, still or Port, you could easily sell the one you don't want in bulk. Traditional Port producers are now also making Douro wines as they can use their distribution channels to place Douro wines. In the end if they have the wine made at the winery (made it because they got more grapes than licenses to make Port) you may get a bit better margin by bottling it and sell it to your clients, who are also distributing still wines from other regions and countries, instead of selling at lower price in bulk.

On the other end, there are those Douro still wines focused producers that started 10 or 20 years ago and some of them are doing very well in terms of sales and brand awareness. These, also like to have a couple of references of Ports for sale, but here the sales are very small.
Paul Fountain wrote:What is your opinion on non indigenous grape varieties such as Syrah, being grown in the Douro? Are you in favour experimentation with new (to the region) varieties or do you think it should remain traditional?
And to the reverse of that
How do you feel about other parts of the world attempting to make wines (fortified or otherwise) with indgenous portuguese grapes? (I'm starting to see a few local Touriga Nacional veritals and bends being produced in my region though some of the portuguese varieties have been used in fortifieds for about 20 years now)
I don't really we need non indigenous grapes in the Douro, specially as we still have A LOT to learn from the indigenous, but it's about challenging ourselves. You mention the Syrah, which I think it's one of the grape varieties that can better perform in the Douro. Actually, 4 years ago so we did planted a couple of hectares of Syrah. This is more for us to learn, to discover and better know the terroirs we own. In this field, I think the IVDP is doing very good, not accepting any of the foreign grapes to the production of Port, but if the winemaker wants to experiment for still wine, he can call it "Vinho Regional Duriense" which is the classification bellow "Douro".

In terms of having other regions planting Douro grapes, well, if they don't have any vine culture, they have to plant something! And if they plant a grape from the Douro, at least they show they know the Douro valley, the Douro grapes, and most important, they like the wines, otherwise won't try to imitate something that they don't like. So, they are very welcome to try it! The more we talk about the Douro the better it is. Doesn't matter how much people plant or we drink of Cab Sauv, Chard, Pinot Noir or Nebbiolo, we will always have as reference Bordeaux, Burgundy or Piedmont.
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Roy Hersh
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Re: OSCAR QUEVEDO

Post by Roy Hersh »

Hi Oscar,

I hope others will remember that you are going to respond to questions through the end of the day. Therefore, my last question for you is this:

Can you explain what are the greatest challenges when trying to obtain access to sell your Port and table wine in a brand new country?


Thank you!

Roy
Ambition driven by passion, rather than money, is as strong an elixir as is Port. http://www.fortheloveofport.com
Ray Barnes
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Re: OSCAR QUEVEDO

Post by Ray Barnes »

I don't have any more questions for Oscar, but would just like to thank him for spending a week with us, and I do hope he will come back here again. I'd like to wish him and his family a wonderful coming holiday season, and many more successful harvests. Makers of fine wine bring a lot of joy and happiness in this world, especially during difficult times. Best regards, Ray [cheers.gif]
Paul Fountain
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Re: OSCAR QUEVEDO

Post by Paul Fountain »

Thanks for some great answers to my questions there Oscar

You mentioned you've got the few rows Syrah in the Vineyard.
What other trials and experiments do you have going in both the Vineyard and in the winery that haven't yet made it into comercial production?
Have there been any notable successes or failures?
Ray Barnes
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Re: OSCAR QUEVEDO

Post by Ray Barnes »

If it's not too late, I'd like to hear Oscar's thoughts on how physically difficult it is to work in the Douro valley vineyards. I've read that this area is among the most taxing of all for viticulture, not only due to the slope of the terrain, but also the temperatures.
oscarquevedo
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Re: OSCAR QUEVEDO

Post by oscarquevedo »

Roy Hersh wrote:Hi Oscar,

I hope others will remember that you are going to respond to questions through the end of the day. Therefore, my last question for you is this:

Can you explain what are the greatest challenges when trying to obtain access to sell your Port and table wine in a brand new country?


Thank you!

Roy
Roy, I think the most difficult is to find the right persons, those that have good reputation on the market place, that know the product and know what their clients need. This matching is critical. It's like when you go out to a party looking for a new girlfriend. And if we add the fact that she does not speak your language, then it starts to get tricky. IVDP and Viniportugal organize some of the parties and invite the girls. So they develop conditions to promote the name Douro, Porto and Portugal. And this is very important for us, but can't help that further, as it shall be us to meet the girl and work out the relationship.

If you want to go to non mainstream countries, then you are alone. Less competition but no "party organizers". And this matching is even more difficult to do. Sometimes you are lucky enough to find the right person only by talking via email. In other occasions, not even after the third visit to the market you get to meet someone really worth to work with!

For instance, we visited China tree times this year, met a lot of importers, had distribution contracts almost signed and orders received. But we didn't feel really comfortable with any of these. Then, in a local wine fair in which we participated just to help the municipality, we got to be visited by a Chinese importer who showed a lot of interest in our wines and we started to work together. So, the same when you go to the party, any approach is good, as long as you know what you are doing and there are enough girls to test your different strategies!
oscarquevedo
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Re: OSCAR QUEVEDO

Post by oscarquevedo »

Paul Fountain wrote:Thanks for some great answers to my questions there Oscar

You mentioned you've got the few rows Syrah in the Vineyard.
What other trials and experiments do you have going in both the Vineyard and in the winery that haven't yet made it into comercial production?
Have there been any notable successes or failures?
Hey Paul, there are some experiments but nothing really revolutionary. The most interesting this year is a varietal Port of Tinta Francisca from a vineyard located a couple of hundred meters above the river level. It shows the fruit caracter of the grape, little and smooth tannins. Need a couple of years to see in which direction will go.

Then also some concluding results about the use of irrigation in the vineyards located in the upper part of the Douro Superior, in years with short rainfall levels - grapes present more balanced parameters after irrigated 2 or 3 times during a period of 4 - 6 weeks, in the peak of Summer; these means that in some years in the Douro Superior, we may need to equip our vineyards will full irrigation systems. Actually, there are a bunch of growers already using full irrigation systems, but IVDP need to regulate this and adapt to a new reality.
oscarquevedo
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Re: OSCAR QUEVEDO

Post by oscarquevedo »

Ray Barnes wrote:If it's not too late, I'd like to hear Oscar's thoughts on how physically difficult it is to work in the Douro valley vineyards. I've read that this area is among the most taxing of all for viticulture, not only due to the slope of the terrain, but also the temperatures.
It's very hard, as you say not only because of the steepness of the vineyards but also the combination with +40 Cº or +100 Fº in some areas, during harvest. I'll share you a short conversation I had with one of our workers that is in charge of Quinta das Olgas and Vale do Nedo in the Douro Superior. During a week of very high temperatures this Summer, I was trying to convince these guys to reduce the work time from 8 to 6 hours. So instead of working after lunch, they would work from 7am to 1.30pm, including a break at around 9am, and would come back home for lunch and rest after 1.30pm. Pedro told me, "I know it is very hot, and it looks very difficult to you as you are not used to work in the vineyards during the colder days of Winter and the warmer days of Summer. But we were born here and our body just adapts to it. We protect our bodies from sunshine. Besides that, there is nothing to do at home."

They worked one more week at full time schedule (8h) but then I said, it's over. And other stories could be said...
Jeff G.
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Re: OSCAR QUEVEDO

Post by Jeff G. »

Disclosure: I 'm the NY distributor for Oscar

but I wanted to let you guys hear the news that Oscars can be found in NY at Cafe China!
http://www.cafechinanyc.com/

They are a michelin starred restaurant in NY specializing in sichuan cuisine!

His LBV pairs beautifully with the spicy food.

We just missed their inventory/print new menu cycle, but we are excited to make the first delivery in 3 weeks.
Disclosure: Distributor for Quevedo Wines in NY
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Andy Velebil
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Re: OSCAR QUEVEDO

Post by Andy Velebil »

Oscar,

Thank you very much for taking time out of your very busy schedule to spend the week with us answering questions. It has been very educational indeed! :thanks: :thumbsup: [notworthy.gif]
Andy Velebil Good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used. William Shakespeare http://www.fortheloveofport.com
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Roy Hersh
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Re: OSCAR QUEVEDO

Post by Roy Hersh »

The Q&A session is now over. Having a chance to have Oscar here for a week and share his exuberance and extraordinary knowledge has been great fun and makes for a brilliant read for those that discover this site, or at least this Guest Corner area in the future. :clap:

Thank you to the group of participants that came up with interesting and challenging questions for Mr. Quevedo, which helps us to all learn a bit more about this great topic of Port and the Douro and DOC wine etc. What can I say, but thank you to all and especially to Oscar who pulled no punches and left us with an extraordinary "transcript" to enjoy for many years to come!

:NotWorthy:
Ambition driven by passion, rather than money, is as strong an elixir as is Port. http://www.fortheloveofport.com
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