2012 Port Harvest Tour

[Roy Hersh]

The Fair ended for me on Tuesday night. Early this morning I boarded a flight to Philadelphia to connect through Lisboa on my way to Porto. I am now sitting in the Philly Airport waiting for the next flight. I bought this cool 4G device which creates its own hot spots for mobile devices and I love it.

This year's Port Harvest Tour is going to be really fun and I am very much looking forward to it after a ridiculous "Fair season". There are four guests who will be on the tour for at least their second time and for two of them ... this will be their third year in a row and one guest who has been on 3 Fortification Tours, will be joining us for the first time @ harvest. Overall, 12 guests will join us and they are from Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Norway, our first guest ever from Portugal, Venezuela and the USA of course. A truly diverse group and the very first time that neither Andy, David or Stewart will be on a PHT.

I arrive in Lisbon early tomorrow and then head up to Porto. Hopefully, my baggage will join me. Lots more to follow, as the tour kicks off on Sunday afternoon.

[Al B.]

Glad to hear you survived the Fair. Have fun on the tour - and let us know what you see and do so we can live off our memories and your experiences.

[Joao Franco]

Welcome to Portugal...again!

[Andy Velebil]

I'm scared that Roy now has some new digital machine. Someone on the trip please show him how to use it properly

[Roy Hersh]

It was nice to see and hang out w/ Goncalo Devesas last night. It was finally time to drink some wine and Port, so between us ... 9 bottles were opened. Not quite the way I envisioned getting my wine and Port stamina back ... but it worked. Fortunately, I enjoyed a four hour nap in the afternoon, which replaced my sleep deprivation that lasted until 4 a.m. Dalva 2009 Branco Reserva was nice, light, tropical and a tad shy when it came to the acidity, but still very enjoyable. Two Loureiro based Vinho Verdes from Quinta Ameal, the 2010 was good, the 2009 absolutely the best Vinho Verde I've ever had. Blow away great and able to age at least a decade. This is a very different grape from Alvarinho which is best had when fresh and young ... for the most part. Next up, the owner brought over another Douro white to try and I barely glimpsed at the label and did not write it down. The reds were both really enjoyable: 2009 Dalva Tinto Reserva was a brambly young beast and would have been even better with several hours of decanting. The 2005 Quinta de la Rosa Reserve was showing up to par, a high bar at that. One of my best finds in recent years, I am now down to 1.5 cases left. This is a real beauty if you can find it in your marketplace.

Port was enjoyed over three hours. First up was a 1984 Smith Woodhouse unfiltered LBV. More spirity than I typically like, but we cured that by chilling the bottle and it showed much better on the cooler side. Goncalo brought a 1971 and 1963 Dalva Golden White. Although I've had these more than a handful of times, these light and tasty Colheitas from white grapes both showed nicely. Typically, I am not a fan of the 1971 as it often presents a "hot" streak that is not to my taste. But putting this in an ice bath really helped too. Much better in fact, and a good lesson learned when it comes to this bottling. The 1963 on the other hand was really showing well and is in a different league. Odd that the 1971 is slightly darker in its salmon-amber coloring than the 1963. The acidity in the older bottling was sharper and kept me focused on the rest of the fine attributes of this Port.

A fun night and a great way to get back some wine mojo before the tour begins. Thanks to Goncalo for a really fun evening.

[Steve Pollack]

Have a great trip, Roy. I hope to join you again soon!

[David Spriggs]

... 9 bottles were opened....

Only 9? Why so few?
Glad to hear that you made it. Have fun. I wish I was there!

[Ronald Wortel]

Sounds like hard "work", enjoy!

[Roy Hersh]

On Saturday, the day prior to the official begining of the Port Harvest Tour was spent taking photos of Porto and Gaia. I enjoyed a leisurely pace walking the back streets of Porto and eventually meandered down to the Ribeira district, looking for interesting angles of architectural structures, storefronts, old doorways, signage, family's sitting on their stoops and young kids playing futbol in the streets, etc. Lots of shots of the bridge and waterfront in Porto and Gaia.

When I was last in Gaia in June, the Porto Cruz lodge was under construction (on the corner between Sandeman and Dalva lodges) and now it is finally open to the public. Seems like a crazy waste of space to me. It is 4 stories, way under-utilized, with a bottle shop, restaurant, tasting area, some artwork displayed and some interactive multi-media space too. That said, I was able to see everything in 10 minutes. Not very captivating; nor would I ever consider bringing a group to visit. From what I understand, financially speaking, it has not been much of a success. Is it worth 10 minutes of your time? Maybe once, but I see no compelling reason to ever go back again. Who designed this place?

Anyway, I enjoyed walking the narrow cobblestoned streets up and down the hills in Gaia taking pictures, lots of them in fact. Krohn was having a big event with lines out the door. Not sure what was going on, but people were seriously dressed up, considering it was a Saturday afternoon. I was tempted to duck inside and see what was going on, but I was very casually dressed and thought better of doing so.

On to the Graham's lodge where I met with Raul and had a chance to try a few fine wines. Before he came over, I asked another employee to please pour me the Graham's Extra Dry White Port. I had not had that wine before and thought it was a good idea to start with something light and dry before Raul showed up. A bit more RS than I would have thought, given the "Extra" ... but a tasty first tipple nonetheless.

Raul appeared and it was nice to see him again. Knowing my penchant for Madeira, he offered to pour me any or all of the five bottles available, but I opted for just two to taste; one semi-dry the other sweet. Typically I like to have Port before delving into Madeira but figuring there would just be two and water was plentiful, it would not be a harsh transition. I began with a 10 year old Blandy's Verdelho. Loved it, although far from my first time trying it. A very fine example of the grape, providing loads of drinking pleasure and given the price point, a great QPR bottling in the low 90-point range. Next up was a 1994 Blandy's Malmsey Colheita. I can certainly see this becoming a Frasqueira in two more years. Deeply concentrated and silky smooth, this is a delicious and more serious Madeira than the 10 year old; grape type aside. The complexity here stood out, as did the extra length on the finish and sublime texture too.

Onto Port wine!

I realized I still needed to head back to my hotel to shower and change for a dinner appointment, so I had to cut to the chase. I only had time for a couple of pours and chose the 1985 Dow, always a VP that I have been enamored with and it was great to check in on it. Love it! Seriously great Dow quality and oh so young for now. This has a long and bright future ahead of it and it is so lush and soft and sexy now. Part of that had to do with the fact that the bottle had been opened earlier in the day and the headroom inside acted as a decanter. Between 1963 and 2007 ... every major vintage declared by Dow is a winner in my opinion (same with Graham's too) and 1985 is no exception. Last but not least, my 2nd and final red Port of the tasting was a nice pour of the beautiful 1952 Graham's Single Harvest Tawny. What's not to love? 1952 produced so many stellar wood-aged Ports and the Graham's is certainly no exception. I liked it even more in this brief lineup, than when I had it on its own.

Dinner was with a very close friend and we dined at a relatively new place, not far from the Infante Sagres Hotel. I noticed Eric ifune walk by and waved to him but guess he did not see me. Anyway, we had a wonderful dinner and fine wines too. The white was good but unremarkable produced by a little known Douro producer. I had an appetizer of risotto with asparagus and for an entree, I was In the mood for seafood and was delighted to see Tuna steak on the menu as this is a fish dish that I don't believe I've ever seen in Porto before, yet it is a personal favorite. Cooked rare and to perfection, appointed with thinly sliced herb encrusted roasted potatoes. My dining companion had a steak and it must have been good because it was a large portion and she finished nearly all of it. We had a 2008 Niepoort Redoma to wash down the entrees. It was the perfect foil for both dishes and although I've enjoyed the 2008 in the past, this bottle seemed so fresh and extraordinarily fruit forward by comparison. Fine tannins persisted and this obviously will reward patience or at least a few more years of cellaring ... however, it is certainly fully accessible now too. Dessert was accompanied by the remaining half of the 1984 SW LBV that I had opened the night before. It was showing even better the 2nd night as the spirit had calmed down dramatically and it was smoother still. Impressive.

Today is the first day of the tour and I met Mario for breakfast in our hotel's rooftop restaurant. A beautiful clear blue sky today and about 20 degrees ... just perfect! 2.5 hours before we meet our guests. I am looking forward to the beginning of the PHT.

[Paul Fountain]

I'll be reading with a mixture of interest and envy on the places you go this time around, Roy. I'm still hoping to make it in 2013!

[Roy Hersh]

Hi Paul,

It would be a great pleasure to have you join us again next year. I hope you are doing well!

[Roy Hersh]

What a perfect day!

We met at the hotel and had fun introducing ourselves to the rest of the group. Several forumites were on hand that I've never met before which was really great, including the "LUC" ... yes, Mr. PB&J himself who is celebrating his 50th bd, Christian G. and Daniel A. (from Portugal). There are more women on tour this year than ever before. So far the group dynamic is very solid and I hope this continues to be the case.

Afterwards, we walked through Porto and stopped at several historic spots and eventually made our way across the bridge into Gaia. Our first visit was to the Burmester Lodge. They revamped it slightly since our first visit when it opened to the public in April. I really like the new layout. We typically would do the Colheita tasting, but that will be up in the Douro later in the week, with Sogevinus' master blender, Fernando O.

Our tasting included Ports from five categories and the group really seemed to love the aged white tawny Port. In fact, they now are selling 10, 20, 30 and 40 year old White Tawny at the Lodge. Really impressive. I have to include this because it was THAT delicious, the Burmester Ruby Reserve is one of the best, wish it had been included in the tasting earlier this year, I bet it would have been a real crowd favorite.

After Burmester we had a 4 hour dinner at O Paparico and they opened on a Sunday for our group and we were really spoiled by the amazing service and sumptuous food. From the aps to the extras, dinner entrees (Polvo to die for and roasted veal) and desserts this was a meal to remember. 98 points. Seriously, if you've never been to check out Sergio's place, this is one of the truly finest dining venues in No. Portugal. Dinner wines included Vertice, 2009 Crasto old vines Reserva and 2009 Vale Meao Meandro. Plus, we had a stellar Krohn Colheita for sipping at the end of the meal. Krohn nearly always rocks and this was no exception.

A really fun and leisurely first day, witl a great group of people from all over the globe. So many questions ... it is great to see so much passion this year.

Time for bed; tomorrow is going to be a triple header with a LOT of Vintage Port.

[Roy Hersh]

The Graham's lodge was our first visit and we spent most of our time touring the new construction taking place and saw where things are at today. The plans are great and we look forward to enjoying the new areas when they are completed late this year. We had hoped to be dining in their new restaurant but it is still under construction and having heard Paul's vision for it, I am certain it will be a fantastic place to dine! The new tasting bar and other facets of the building are looking great, but still need some work over the next few months. We visited the vintage Port cellar and also the storage facilities which really wowed first time group members. Our tour was led by the charismatic Raul Alex who brought his years of experience with the Symingtons to answer many a question from this well-seasoned group of Port lovers.

We then had a fine tasting of Vintage Ports including 1994 Quinta do Vesuvio, 1985 Warre's which I detected as corked when even their master blender Manuel did not ... along with none of our group. But I was certain and another bottle was opened and the difference was unbelievable between the bottles. It sucks to be so sensitive to TCA. We continued on with a stellar Smith Woodhouse 1983, an even better 1980 Gould Campbell which even Raul had never tasted. The 1977 Dow was showing at its best and I asked about the TCA issue that Andy, David and others here say is a significant problem. Manuel explained that indeed it had been a fairly significant issue and that all remaining bottles had the cork changed out and hopefully that will help with all remaining ex-cellars bottles. Then we enjoyed a Graham's 1970 vintage Port and had to head to lunch, after which we were able to continue the tasting.

Paul, Rupert, Charles Symington and several key executives had just finished a board meeting at their headquarters. We met them their for lunch and had a very fun time with our guests getting to mingle before and during a casual but delicious lunch, accompanied by table wines and Port. Paul gave a really passionate lecture which was great. We bid farewell and headed back to our tasting.

Afterwards we went to Cockburn's lodge which had been fully revamped during a recent renovation that took a year or more and after touring their ancient vintage cellar and watching three of their coopers re-working pipes which was a highlight and really a unique experience as they took time to explain every facet of this work to us ... we headed upstairs for our next VP tasting. Rupert led a tutored VP tasting with many vintage and going back to 1967, including the 1977 which was showing beautifully. My VP of that tasting was the 1967 which showed better than any other time I've had it. Crazy delicious.

At night we were joined for dinner by Miles Edlmann who is now winemaker and viticulturist for Valle Pradinhos. He was showing their Rose, White and four red wines back to 1990. Really impressive! We wish him great success in his new project. A bottle of Tawny Port accompanied dessert and then we headed back for a full night's sleep and we live to see another day of Port today.

[Eric Ifune]

On Saturday, had just arrived into Porto from the states. Didn't get any sleep on the plane which is unusual for me so I was pretty wiped out. I had grabbed a bit to eat and was staggering back to the hotel to get some sleep so I missed Roy!
Fortunately have recovered and have regained my stamina for the trip.
Too much wine to bring home already!

[Roy Hersh]

Our visit to Krohn, had us meeting with the co-owner of the company and a reunion of sorts between our Norwegian guests who took great pride in this Norwegian founded company. 11 years earlier they had purchased Krohn's inscribed tables and chairs from the owner and he remembered them from back then.

Our informative tour was filled with so many great questions and topics of discussion:

* Lei de Terco
* Quality of harvest years, Vintage vs. Colheita
* Thoughts on 2011 Vintage
* Grape varieties and their individual characteristics
* Aging curve of Balseiros vs. Toneis
* The various types of terracing in the Douro - socalcos/patamares/vinha ao alta
* Krohn's evaporation rate in the lodge cellar, at less than 1% per year
* An opportunity to observe the use of Bentonite and the entire fining process
* 1863 & 1896 Colheitas

Our tasting ensued with a bunch of white and red Colheitas going back in time and wowing our guests. I was pretty surprised by how many bottles were purchased. I even got in on the action and bought some that I knew were no longer possible to find in the USA. A great time was had by all and we thanked Mr. Carneiro for spending so much time with us.

Off to a casual lunch and then back to the hotel for several hours of rest and relaxation ... well deserved ... some went out shopping instead.

We met up for dinner and had a cooking class with one of the top chefs in No. Portugal. Pedro Lemos had us up on the rooftop of his restaurant and we learned how to make several native dishes. Our guests were drinking fantastic So. Portuguese sparkling wine, one that rivals and possibly bests the quality of Vertice during the class. It was a beautiful night for being outside, although fancy heaters were used to keep everyone warm, just in case.

We then went to our private dining room for one of the best meals I have ever experienced in country. Blow away good and the food was as amazing to look at, as to taste.

The following day we headed up river by train. More to come!

[Andy Velebil]

Sounds great so far. Have fun up river!

[Derek T.]

This is my first harvest miss since 2006 - gutted

Roy, I hope you have a great trip - see you soon

[Roy Hersh]

Upon arriving up in the Douro we went to the Museo do Douro and the clouds parted and the sun came out. Eric I. picked a small bunch of grapes and tossed them at a dozen wild roosters and chicken on the upper lawn of the museum. We watched as they pecked away and although I can't tell you how funny this scene was, I still crack up when thinking about all of us standing around this "scene" ... and we hadn't had anything to drink yet.

On to DOC Restaurant. Our guest was Jose Maria Calem who paired his wines perfectly with our lunch, the first we've ever eaten on the outter deck of this fine eatery. He was such a breath of fresh air: candid, charming, informative and willing to share his many years of experience. We were sad to learn of his loss of Quinta do Foz this past year, which also contained his home. JM Calem remains with a very positive attitude and his wines were brilliant. Look out for the 2007 Mutante, 2007 VT which was a crowd pleaser and his best red the 2007 Quinta do Sagrado ... his new home base in the Douro. Jose Maria also brought some Port to pair with dessert: 10 year old Tawny, was loved by all and his 2007 LBV was scrumptious. Personally, I am very happy to see Mr. Calem has landed on his feet after some very hard times and although we saw him last year, it was great to try these just released DOC wines. Not many are willing or able to hold back their DOC wines and release them with considerable bottle age, which is a huge bonus and the prices are ridiculously low; although I did not even mention the several inexpensive bottlings that he poured which were under 10 Euros!

Four hours later, we took an hour long boat ride up river on a perfect sunny afternoon. We disembarked and drove to Wine & Soul @ Pintas and spent a long afternoon into evening with Sandra Tavares da Silva. After visiting Pintas, we headed to Quinta do Passadouro, where she had to leave us after showing us around. We had a delicious somewhat simple dinner there, paired with a slew of wines from Pintas and Passadouro from whites to reds to Ports at the end.

We headed back to our hotel and checked in for a well-deserved first night's sleep in the Douro. Lots of adventures still to come.

[Roy Hersh]

Thanks Derek, I am very much looking forward to my seeing you during my visit there!

[Roy Hersh]

On Thursday, we visit Quinta S. Luiz which is nearly directly across the river from Quinta do Crasto on the southern bank of the Douro. It was my first time visiting this property which is the backbone for Kopke and owned by Sogevinus nowadays. It is a fairly modern facility. We walked through the production areas and armazem and shortly thereafter, went right into the tasting room. We were joined by Sogevinus' master blender, Fernando Oliveira for a fine tasting of Burmester Colheitas going back five decades. These are really delicious Colheitas and we had the current vintage 2009 Vintage Port as well.

Lunch included some fine DOC wines and this was a very different type of lunch. We had asked for our guests to see the rustic food that would be typical of what the "help" was being served for lunch and we ate in their dining room on wooden tables and picnic benches. Actually, the food was still delicious, but a far cry from some of our more luxurious meals. But the menu was chosen to provide energy for the workers. And as such, we were then put to work.

For the very first time on any Port Harvest Tour, we had our guests walk far from the quinta house and into the heat of the afternoon and see the picking going on by the workers. We were handed pails and shears and had a brief lesson on the proper way to pick grapes. Then we were set into the vineyard and given a few rows to pick. Only one person cut their finger and fortunately it was a very minor cut. This is really back breaking work and anybody who thinks being stooped over on a fairly steep slope and picking grapes in the sun is an easy job ... well let's just say ... I can not even imagine this back breaking task for one full day. It is REALLY hard work and physically taxing.

Afterwards we took a boat across the river and were on our way to Quinta do Crasto. Tomas Roquette and Manuel Lobo were there to greet us as Miguel was in Miami holding a seminar at the time. We took a nice long walk around the property showing people sections that they had not seen before, even those that were here for their 3rd consecutive annual visit.

Manuel led us through a tutored Port tasting which included both LBVs and then Vintage Ports from specific years. We discussed our impressions, learned about the growing conditions in each year and tried to put hot years together (like 2003) with the info we gleaned. This was an extremely educational tasting and afterward we had dinner outside on the patio with some stellar DOC wines.

After dinner, most of us wanted to tread in lagares and we had a blast. This has become an annual ritual at Crasto and videos and photos were ablazing. Dancing and treading in the lagares ... but that is all that I can include here. The mosquitos made their marks during dinner and we did the same in lagar. A ton of fun by lots of people who had never had the chance to do this before. A great experience and really happy memory!