For The Love Of Port

Hi,
The Port Wine Institute has issued the beneficio for the 2016 harvest: 114,900 pipas.
I put a little graph together that shows the beneficio numbers of the last years. I'm still upset about the low figure for the 2011 harvest - the best year ever, and the lowest production.

Cool graph, thanks! Yeah, you're not the only one who was upset about how low it was. Notice a trend since then

Interesting.

How does the IVDP calculate beneficio per year? And how it is spread out between the different vineyards?

Thomas V wrote:How does the IVDP calculate beneficio per year?

A magical mystical formula known only by a few in the IVDP, if anyone.

And how it is spread out between the different vineyards?

This part is more well known and documented. It is based on the ratings of all the vineyards and their size. And the vineyard ratings are based on a complex formula that takes into account the altitude, aspect, soil, planting density, ... You can find a good discussion of this in Mason's book, probably elsewhere as well.

Christian wrote:

I'm still upset about the low figure for the 2011 harvest - the best year ever, and the lowest production.

Well, we know it was a gross case of horrible judgement. So bad, that the President of the IVDP was rightfully fired that year; as he famously took the Beneficio from 110,000 pipes in 2010 down by 25,000 pipes to an astoundingly low 85,000 in 2011. Duriense farmers stormed the IVDP office in Regua and threw rocks, breaking windows and the riot lasted several hours.

I've spoken to key players in the IVDP and the Port trade that unofficially said, that if the quantity had only been lowered to 95,000 pipes, not only would there have been no riot, (as the number did need to come down from 110k) but that the President would not have wound up being fired by the Minister of Agriculture. Then again, I believe it had something to do with the 8 million Euros missing at that same point in time.