For The Love Of Port

There have been a ton of changes in the past quarter century when it comes to Port wine. But if you were to pick just one, the one change that you feel is the most significant ... what would it be?

staff, please wait 48 hours before entering the fray. Thanks.

Last quarter-century - so from 1993 on - selecting a single issue, I'd have to go with the improvements to cork selection and testing, given the quantity of issues in the prior decade.

A slow but threndy change for sustainable viticulture from major players in the Douro. With that I include:

1- Rebuilding stone terraces for better erosion control
2- limiting the size of bloc plantings. A good compromize between field bland and bloc planting. Also good for the vineyard health.
3- combined with #2, more producers are blending again the varieties in the lagares instead of doing things separately.
4- more organic producers are proving it is easy and viable to do it in the Douro, plus the quality is there!

On the other side...I'd like to see more old vineyads being preserve!

The ability to source one's own arguardente and the increased quality used by the shippers. It makes up a considerable amount of the final volume and good ones can actually enhance the quality rather than detract.

Better corks is certainly high up the list, but the worst of that problem was sorted just over 25 years ago. The recent advances on TCA detection are very significant though.

I think the biggest single thing is the realisation that being 'clever' or trying to cut production costs, almost invariably backfires. The demise of grape treading has been reversed and often mechanised, and the advocates of bloc planting have realised that you need more than a handful of grape varieties, and have started planting blocs of lesser varieties.

Things still to do?

1) Too much bottle variation still. Bottling lines normally clean bottles with a blast of compressed air, but I don't think that's adequate. Rinsing and then flushing out the last of the water with clean compressed air (if you smell the air from a compressor, it often smells oily) should become the norm.

2) Pension off the selo, and embrace modern security features, so we can get neater bottles with better seals and better product security.

3) Adopt a standard bottle design and case format for VP to improve product recognition. Continue to allow producers to do their own thing with non-vintage.

4) Review the regulation of tawnies 'with indication of age' to ensure minimum average ages are observed.

Phil W wrote:Last quarter-century - so from 1993 on - selecting a single issue, I'd have to go with the improvements to cork selection and testing, given the quantity of issues in the prior decade.

Thanks for doing the math. I was thinking about refrigeration, but that came about before then.

-better corks

-better arguardente

-cleaner wine making conditions

Wine Making:
Souzão grape use. Before the world, and specifically the Port industry, was ravaged by that lovely little insect that darn near destroyed the worlds wine market this grape was held in very high regard. When the Douro recovered, for some reason this grape got left behind by just about all. Noval's Nacional was a notable exception, of which Souzão makes up a moderate amount of. In recent years it's made a comeback and IMO we're all better off for it.

OTHER:
This one is a bit more complicated and probably a touchy subject. The exit of some global national companies who had no business owning a Port company. Beam Global (Beam Suntory) is the classic example that comes to mind. They run a fantastic spirits company, Port on the other hand was largely a disaster. Just look at how long it's taken the Symington's to even start to bring back to greatness Cockburn's.

It's indirect, but I love the way enotourism has grown in the Douro over the last decade or two. Enotourism is giving producers an additional income stream while at the same time giving them an opportunity to create brand loyalty. If you sit on the terrace at Quinto do Tedo, nibbling almonds and sipping Tedo Savedra you'll remember that for life and try to recreate it as often as you can, even if only in sympathy.

Enotourism is making the Douro, and hence Port production, more financially sustainable and securing jobs and labour for the future. Young people are starting to move back into the Douro.

A couple of weeks back I was at a dinner hosted by João Nicolau de Almeda and his daughter Mafalda. Mafalda was talking about the way in which her grandfather used to travel to the Douro once per year to visit his grape farmers at harvest time. João used to travel into the Douro regularly, but lived and was based in Oporto / VNdG. Mafalda lives and works in the Douro Valley. As she pointed out, the closer you are to the grapes, the more you are in tune with the seasons, the grapes' growth, the terroir and so on. Her personal livelihood is made up partly from grapefarming and winemaking and partly from enotourism. Without the enotourism, she would not be able to afford to live in the Douro.

I am surprised no one mentioned this one yet....Social Media. Years ago we all whined about how poor the industry was with regard to their online presence. Now many are on Facebook, some have phone Apps and other types of social media. So while not exactly something Roy may have been thinking about in his original post, it's still a major improvement.

I am surprised no one mentioned this one yet....Social Media. Years ago we all whined about how poor the industry was with regard to their online presence. Now many are on Facebook, some have phone Apps and other types of social media. So while not exactly something Roy may have been thinking about in his original post, it's still a major improvement.

In the early days of the online community, the producers were shy and uncomfortable when meeting port enthusiasts. They were used to meeting and entertaining their distributors and casual tourists, and presenting their wares to the freeloading vermin known as 'wine writers'. But actual port drinkers? They didn't know where to start, and they were even more dumbfounded when we started turning up in Portugal with bottles we had brought to share with them.

The producers are slowly warming to this 'new order' and some positively relish the fact that they can be utterly candid in our company without fear of being quoted later. Our 'offlines' are for them 'off-duty' occasions - where they can indulge and enjoy themselves with impunity, yet there are still some senior figures whose public facade we have yet to thaw..

Roy, you said pick one and for me that is:
The combination of younger well educated winemakers working more systematically together with the older generations which have port wine in their veins.

Just look at the number of declared major vintage years per decade:
Up to the 70s it was 1 or 2 per decade.
Then it has grown to 2-3 in the 80s, followed by 3-4 in the 90s and finally 4-5 in 2000s.
I am sure that with the input from the the younger generations the producers are now able to make good vintage years more often, which would have been nearly impossible 30-35 years ago.