Vasconcellos

[Andrew Stevenson]

Can anyone tell me anything about Vasconcellos?

Two or three years ago, while strolling along the quayside at VNdG I wandered in and avoided a couple of large groups tasting ruby and white port and instead asked the man behind the counter whether they had anything above the basic ruby level available for tasting.

He apologised that he wasn't able to offer any vintage port for tasting, but I could try some aged tawnies.

I tried:

Vasconcellos Reserve Superior (30 year old tawny)
V pale brickish. Light attack - v attractive. Fills nicely. Full and rich. Clean & rather good.

Vasconcellos Special Reserve (40 year old tawny)
V pale tan colour. Quite spirity on nose & quite raisiny. V. v. long. But rather spirituous.

Vasconcellos House Reserve Muito Velha (a 40 year old tawny, which he said was made from the 1902 and 1942 vintages)
Mid tan. Raisined nose, but oddly lively. very elegant and restrained. Enormous length, just goes on and on. Excellent.

I'm not sure how much I believed the claim that the last one was a blend of 1902 and 1942. I thought probably just fair amounts of the two. But it rather blew me away and I bought (having nipped to the cashpoint/ATM down the road as they didn't accept cards) a couple of bottles. (Incidentally, they say 1100 bottles produced)

Last time I was in Oporto/Gaia I was going to see what else Vasoncellos had (or even if they still had some of the alleged 1902/42 tawny), but was so put off by the groups of "come in try some port" youths in Vasoncellos T-shirts outside, that I couldn't be bothered.

Anyway, I can find virtually no information on Vasconcellos on the web and would be interested if anyone can provide more information on this house.

I've never seen them outside of Vila Nova de Gaia, so either they're a very insignificant player or perhaps it's just a brand name?

[Derek T.]

Andrew,

I visited this cellar in February this year and bought a bottle of the 40 yr old. I too was give the 1912/1942 story and was somewhat suspicious but I suppose at least their story seems to be consistent.

The only other reference I have found to Vasconcellos is their name being attached to bottlings of VP from other shippers. I did notice that most of the casks in their cellar had the names of better know shippers stamped on them. They may be second hand casks or they my just buy in port, store & blend it for a few years and then sell it on under their own label.

When I visited the cellar I was given a tour by a guy called Jorge. He was extremely entertaining and went to great lengths to try to dispell some popular "myths" about port. Not sure if he was telling the truth or just trying to give a different story to the other shipper's tour guides. Whichever it was it was good fun and a welcome change from the scripted tours.

Derek

[Steven Kooij]

Vasconcellos is (IMHO) one of the most funny lodges one can visit in VNdG...because it is sooo ridiculous. The proppers in front of the building, the (empty!) Sandeman barrels...when I informed about their '75 VP at 170 Euros a bottle, the reply from our guide was "well, it is the best Vintage of the last century, you know". The regular tawny was "actually 12 years old", the 10 year old "close to 30 years!". Did not try the 40 YOT. IMHO, they will tell you anything, just to make a sale. Of course, if you like the wines: no problem! The few I tried were all horrid (and I should add that I went there with an open mind; I've been surprised by "no-name" Ports before). Interestingly, they are not mentioned on the lodge-map on the site of the IVDP...

I believe Vasconcellos is the owner of Dalva, and as they sell Presidential at the lodge as well they might have something to do with C. da Silva.
I recall reading recently that they had bought Qta. d. Castelinho, but I might be mistaken.

[Paul_B]

I've been there too, and tasted those ports, they quoted lower age levels but they were still suspicious... why would someone age the wine that long with associated cost of doing this and not label it as such?
I don't believe it.

I think they produce port for domestic comsumption (portugal).
cheers
paba

[Andrew Stevenson]

I've been there too, and tasted those ports, they quoted lower age levels but they were still suspicious... why would someone age the wine that long with associated cost of doing this and not label it as such?
I don't believe it.

I'm not 100% certain, but I think the IDVP only allows 10, 20, 30 and 40 year old tawnies, together with a subset (??) of the last "mais de 40 anos" - more than 40 years. Whenever I've seen the "mais de", they've never been particularly prominent.

I'll ask on the port basics forum about tawny age designations, and I hope Roy and/or others will give us the definitive answers.

Vasconcellos is (IMHO) one of the most funny lodges one can visit in VNdG...because it is sooo ridiculous. <snip>
IMHO, they will tell you anything, just to make a sale.

Yes, that's the concern. But does anyone actually know?

Roy? Can you offer anything on Vasoncellos from your knowledge/sources? (by PM if necessary ...)

[Andrew Stevenson]

Well I took my bottle of the Reserva Muito Velha (a 40 yr tawny) to an offline last week. The theme of the offline was small-production wines, so with a back label saying that 1100 bottles of this particular wine had been bottled in 2002, this seemed to fit the bill. This was bottle number 936. (though it wouldn't entirely surprise me if every bottle was bottle number 936 ...)

Now I have the label in front of me, I see it's produced by CCVP - Companhia Comercial de Vinhos do Porto.

The TN:

NV Vasconcellos Reserva Muito Velha (mais de 40 anos), bottled 2002, (produzido e engarrafado por Companhia Comercial de Vinhos de Porto), 20%
More of a 20-year tawny colour than a 40-year. Fairly sherrified on the nose, yet laden with nutty tawny notes. Has a very alcoholic feel in the mouth. This is really quite unimpressive. It seems to fall somewhere between madeira, sherry and port without any particular characteristics. Really about the only thing you can say about this is that it's fortified. Poor.

[Miguel Simoes]

Surprisingly enough, got to try some Vasconcellos Dubar Lágrima Branco Tawny when visiting an uncle on Easter Saturday. I had never heard of the brand!

The bottle looked fairly old, perhaps from the mid nineties. It actually tasted really good. The alcohol had integrated perfectly and it was just super smooth on the mouth, v yummy. Long finish.

Think i had 2 small glasses. Would have had more but started to feel like I was abusing their hospitality!

[Christian Gollnick]

Good for you, Miguel! My experience with Vasconcellos is more like the experience that Steven mentioned earlier... The guys that were working the entrance looked more like nightclub-bouncers... and behaved totally unfriendly. Over the last 10 years I visited many lodges and many Quintas and I had so many incredible nice experiences - which makes me believe that the people in the Port Wine industry are the nicest crowd on this planet! The only bad experience I ever had was at the lodge of Vasconcellos, approx. 2 years ago. In my view, the best trained, most welcoming staff can be found at Grahams. It's like coming home when I visit that lodge... The best tour-guide I ever had was at Croft - which surprised me a little bit, I didn't expect that.... but the lady knew all the answers and was absolutely competent. On the other side of my scale you can find Vasconcellos... If you have DALVA and their fantastic wines on the one side, and the beautiful lodges of Sandemann and Ramos Pinto so nearby... why visiting Vasconcellos? If I want to get verbally abused, I can go to my family-doctor and tell him about my port-comsumption - I don't need the bouncers at Vasconcellos to do that... :)