For The Love Of Port

Does anyone have the time and feel confident enough to explain to a confused soul the meaning of the terms Vargellas, Malvedos, Bomfim, Guimaraens and any similar type of label. In the Port World what do these phrases represent.
I've Googled it, but it got confusing as to whether its just a different type, a lesser type, a blend, etc.

Alan

Alan,

The first three are Quintas (vineyards), the last is the surname of one of the great port families.

They are all names used by the big producers for vintage ports made in years that were not generally declared.

- Hope that makes some sense!

Tom

Quinta de Vargellas, Quinta dos Malvedos, and Quinta do Bomfim are all Quinta's that, in non-major declared years make a Single Quinta Vintage Port (SQVP). That means only grapes from that Quinta are put into the bottle that you buy.

For example, Taylor Fladgate: Quinta de Vargellas is their main (flagship) Quinta. However, in a major declared year (2000, and 2003 for expample) they bottle a VP under the label "Taylor's" or "Taylor Fladgate" (label is different in the US). Under that label, in major declared years, the grapes used come from several Quintas that the Fladgate partnership owns. However, in lesser years (say 2004 for example) they will bottle a SQVP under the label "Quinta de Vargellas" and the grapes used for that bottle ONLY come from the Vargellas property.

Guimaraens is sorta the same, however, it is still a blend of grapes from more than one Quinta, but the "Guimaraens" is used as part of the main name to distinguish that it is from a lesser year, just like Quinta de Vargellas is used.

I found a pic of the Fonseca Guimaraens, as this label can be confusing. IMO, they really need to do a better job of distingushing the labels.



As you can see the "GUIMARAENS" is in large letters under the small Fonseca. What makes this label even more confusing is ALL bottles have "Fonseca Guimaraens" at the top of the label.

Alan, don't worry about the learning curve here, it is rather large and I can honestly say that I still get confused at times by some of the strange name combinations and their uses.

Alan, did you mean what did the words actually mean if translated into English?

Sorry I can't answer that but I would like to know myself (for the ones which are not family names).

Anybody out there who can provide interesting (and accurate) definitions?

Thanks :!:

Jay

Well, Bomfim is the combination of two Portuguese words, Bom + Fim.
Bom translates into Good in english & Fim translates into End.

The word Bomfim is definitely a combination of Bom+Fim since the word combined, Bomfim, doesn't respect the Portuguese grammar rule stating that one can not place an "m" before the " f ".
The correct word in portuguese would have been Bonfim (with an "n" before the "f").

So, Bomfim is "Good End" in english :)

Click here for the story of Quinta do Bomfim.

MF

Andy V. wrote:I found a pic of the Fonseca Guimaraens, as this label can be confusing. IMO, they really need to do a better job of distingushing the labels.

I almost wonder if this isn't a strategy... :?

Todd

Gentlemen, Cheers for that,

Sometimes trying to understand all these Port facts is like trying to catch mice in a box, you catch a few, get greedy, try for another and a few of the original ones escape.

I'd been told that they were like 2nd division Vintage Ports, and you seem to be confirming that. So What goes in LBV's. I thought that was the Port blends from Non-Vintage Years. Is it the case, that the best of the Crop goes on these 'Guimaraen' types of Ports, and whats left goes into LBV's.

I'm beginning to get the image of some elderly portugese blender, scratching his head amongst all the Vats trying to work out how he's going to divide it all up, VP,SQVP,Guimaraens,LBV, Crusted,Reserve,Ruby,BOB's,etc! And when a lorry comes to collect some, shouting, 'Just tell him to drive round the block a few times!'

Alan

Alan,

There is a fantastic article about LBV on the main page (Question for the Port Trade.) Great to see that most of the main producers agree with exactly which quality grapes go into LBV. I really recommend browsing through that. A great compilation of a few of the key players in the Port industry.

Todd

Todd,

Thanks. I've read that article, if you remember you followed my critique of the Newsletter (Yes Men and all that). I read it again in case I missed something, but apart from the odd snippet, it doesn't answer how they choose to prioritise and divide the years crop. It is a good read and very informative regarding the quality of LBV in a given year.

Alan

Alan,
I apologize, upon re-reading the article myself and your initial post, you are right, they simply talk about quality and whether it is better in a declared or non-declared year. Sounds like the best grapes end up in a VP or SQVP no matter whether the year receives a general declaration or not. I have to assume that the LBVs would be a selection of grapes that would not be as marvelous/complex/concentrated, but that really would be a wonderful question for a subsequent 'Question for the Trade.'

Todd

Alan,

The key difference between VP and LBV is the number of years the wine ages in wood before being bottled. All VP, including SQVP's like Vargellas, Malvedos, Bomfim etc, are aged in wood for between 2 and 3 years, normally closer to 2.

LBV must age in wood for a minimum of 4 years and, I think, a maximum of 7 years. It is then bottled in one of two forms, filtered or unfiltered, that latter also being described as Traditional. The unfiltered style can then continue to develop in the bottle as a VP would whilst the filtered variety is designed for immediate drinking and will not normally improve with further aging.

Sorry if I have given you more questions rather than just answering the quesion you asked :?

Derek

Alan

I'll offer you a slightly different answer to your question.

All port producers fall into one of two categories (not being controversial here, I hope):-

(1) Large, multi-property, multi-region and with large volumes of grapes grown on properties managed by the producer or purchased from independent grape-growers with an established reputation for growing quality grapes. The companies often have more than one shipper's name in their stable of brands. Examples of this type of producer would be Taylor Fladgate, Sogrape or the Symington family.

(2) Smaller scale producers, often linked predominantly with one property that is owned and/or managed by the producer and whose wine and ports are normally marketed under the name of the property. Note that the reputation of the wines of the producer can often be disproportionately larger than the scale of production. Think of Quinta do Noval or Quinta do Portal as examples.

All producers grow grapes every year. In all but the most atrocious of years, the best of those grapes are of a quality capable of being made into Vintage Port. Vintage Port achieves the highest price for any grapes made into port so the economic incentive for the producers is to make as many of their grapes into port as can be justified while still maintaining the quality reputation that allows high prices to be achieved. The smaller scale producers will look to release and sell a Vintage Port under their own name every year that they can - generally these are sold as Single Quinta Vintage Ports. Any port grapes grown or purchased by a smaller scale producer that are of very good quality but not quite good enough to be included in the VP blend will achieve the next highest price by being put into LBV or crusted port - but look at the difference in price between LBV and Vintage Port.

However, the history of the larger scale producers with the shipper's names behind them is such that they only use their "leading" brand names once every few years when the port wines are considered to be (a) of sufficient quality; (b) available in sufficient quantity and (c) (allegedly) the demand for the wines and economic health of the main port markets is sufficient to absorb the wines. Under these circumstances wines will be shipped under the "major" brand names of Taylor, Graham, Cockburn etc. and the producers will achieve their highest prices per tonne of grapes consumed.

But what happens to the top quality grapes grown and purchased by the larger producers in years when the major brand names are not used? The producers' next best pricing per tonne is for vintage port that is shipped under a name other than the top brands. It is these wines that you refer to.

Different producers have different practices for the way in which they use these top grapes from undeclared years. Taylor Fladgate will bottle some wine as Single Quinta Vintage Port (under the name Quinta de Vargellas or Quinta de Terra Feita) where the grapes come only from that particular Quinta. Taylor Fladgate also blend and release a multi-property wine under their "second-label" of Fonseca-Guimaraens.

The Symington Family are similar. They bottle and release Single Quinta wine as Quinta do Bomfim or "Graham's Malvedos" . I'm not sure what happens to the top quality grapes the Symingtons buy in or which come from properties that do not bottle a single quinta vintage but I have a suspicion that some of the smaller brand names are used more often for making vintage port where the quantities available are not large enough for a major brand declaration.

However, against all of this you have to bear in mind that production of Vintage Port is a tiny fraction of the total of all port production from the region. Most (by volume) is bottled as a ruby blend intended to be drunk young as a rich and fruity fortified wine.

Alex

Alex,

Thanks for that, and a good read.

Alan

PS. Talking that infomatively, and sensibly, it was your good fortune you didn't join us that Saturday. Although the others do say you'd have quickly been just another drunken windbag in the lineup!

Alan,

I don't know what you mean about becoming another drunken windbag. If I had joined you on Saturday, once I had drunk my one glass of port I would have got out my glue, tweezers and magnifying glass and would have started rebuilding all the corks that had been pulled while the three of you amused yourselves playing snooker.

Alex

Alan C wrote:Gentlemen, Cheers for that,

Sometimes trying to understand all these Port facts is like trying to catch mice in a box, you catch a few, get greedy, try for another and a few of the original ones escape.

I'd been told that they were like 2nd division Vintage Ports, and you seem to be confirming that. So What goes in LBV's. I thought that was the Port blends from Non-Vintage Years. Is it the case, that the best of the Crop goes on these 'Guimaraen' types of Ports, and whats left goes into LBV's.

I'm beginning to get the image of some elderly portugese blender, scratching his head amongst all the Vats trying to work out how he's going to divide it all up, VP,SQVP,Guimaraens,LBV, Crusted,Reserve,Ruby,BOB's,etc! And when a lorry comes to collect some, shouting, 'Just tell him to drive round the block a few times!'

Alan

Alan , from what I've been able to gather , not all quintas can be compared to 2nd division VPs .
- Quinta do Noval Nacional ( Premier League )
- Quinta do Noval ( 1st division )
Quinta do Vesuvio ( 1st division )
Just to name a few . . .


Luc

Luc/Alan,

I think it is important to distinguish between wines that are generally regarded as SQVP's (ie the second wine produced by a shipper like Taylor's, Graham's etc) and wines produced by major shippers who produce wines labelled "Quinta ....." as their principle product, like Vesuvio and Noval. The "standard" SQVP can, IMHO, be considered a second label wine with an expectation that quality will normally be lower than that of the shippers classic VP.

The other group (eg Vesuvio and Noval) produce the same wine year on year with no label or blend distinction between generally declared classic years and lesser years. My limited experience tells me that you should expect a wider gap between the worst and the best that these shippers will produce under the same label.

Derek

Gotcha , Derek . . .