ADRIAN BRIDGE

[Miguel Simoes]

Dear Adrian, thank you so much for taking the time to engage directly with us. Hat tip to you for your continued push towards making high quality products (both Port and in tourism) which drive both our port enjoyment and economic activity for the entire Douro Valley.

A couple of questions if I may:
- What you think is the most significant challenge that the Port industry is being faced with nowadays?
- With asian palates overall leaning towards the less sweet end of the spectrum, how do you see the Port industry and TFP in particular capturing the asian growth opportunity?

Best regards, Miguel

[Adrian Bridge]

Adrian:

Do you consider the Taylor VVV and equal competitor to Nacional and if not, do you think they'll be on equal footing (in the consumer's eyes) in the future?

Has Taylor's Tawny profile changed at all in the last 10-15 years? It "ok" to me back then, but I really like it for the last 5-10 or so years.

Has TFP considered motorsports or any other sporting sponsorships?

Dear Moses
Thanks for the question.
VVV and National are different concepts but similar in that they are ultimate expressions of terroir and so will be compared by consumers. VVV has been around 20 years and National 100.
The tawny style is something we try hard to maintain so maybe your tastes have matured
Motor Sport. We did look at TeamBrit a few years ago. This is a motor racing team for British service people injured in the war in Afghanistan. Other wise we have not seen the fit for us. We did sponsor sailing.
Kind regards
Adrian

[Adrian Bridge]

Dear Adrian, thank you so much for taking the time to engage directly with us. Hat tip to you for your continued push towards making high quality products (both Port and in tourism) which drive both our port enjoyment and economic activity for the entire Douro Valley.

A couple of questions if I may:
- What you think is the most significant challenge that the Port industry is being faced with nowadays?
- With asian palates overall leaning towards the less sweet end of the spectrum, how do you see the Port industry and TFP in particular capturing the asian growth opportunity?

Best regards, Miguel

Dear Miguel
You asked about sweetness and the Asia consumer. Many people all over the world talk dry but drink sweet.
This is not going to change greatly - we are programmmed to consume sweet to survive.
Best wishes, Adrian

[Andy Velebil]

Dear Adrian,

A follow-on question related to hotels. It seems like the wild west right now, good for the consumer choice at the moment but...Has anyone given any long term thoughts as to what may happen if/when tourism cools and the people aren't coming in the same high numbers? Are the respective cities of Gaia/Porto doing anything to regulate them to prevent too many from opening?

[Andy Velebil]

Dear Adrian

Tourist related: This past harvest a friend and I walked over to Roeda to check out the visitor center since we hadn't seen it before and buy a couple glasses of Port to quench our thirst (it's a bit farther from the VHH* than it looks, hah). When we arrived there was a very large group (perhaps from a tour boat as there were large motor-coaches in the parking lot) and it really diminished the experience and the service suffered. Then the group all got up and left, mostly without buying anything from what I saw, and the remaining folks (employees included) seemed to breath a sigh of relief. Unfortunately by that point we were pretty fed up, paid our bill and left with a not so positive experience and still thirsty. Perhaps we picked the wrong moment to arrive, but I wonder what view people visiting for the first and probably only time would leave with. Are these "low spend" folks diminishing the experience of those wanting to spend? Are you seeing any signs the huge number of visitors are starting to impact the overall experience at your properties in Gaia and in Pinhao? If so, what are you looking at to address it?

*Can I recommend VHH get a golf cart type thing to shuttle hotel guests to and from Roeda?

[Chris Anstee]

Dear Adrian,
Warm greetings from Sydney!
Simply stated, I am interested in whether the elimination of (possibly desirable) impurities which were unavoidably present in available fortifying spirit prior to neutral spirit becoming available late '70s/early '80s has deprived more recent Vintage Ports of some of their historic character/complexity?
A more complete version of this question was posted on the FTLOP website here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=41530&p=141046&hili ... it#p141046
But I suspect it may be a complex debate...
With thanks and best wishes
Chris

[Roy Hersh]

Dear Adrian,

I would like to thank you for your generosity of time and great explanations for the questions that have already come before mine and I am sure, that there will be many to follow, too.

Back during the trade/media launch of the very first VVV that you hosted/attended in NYC, releasing the 1995 VVV, we were treated to the Taylor's Quinta de Vargellas 1912 Vintage Port. Beyond being amazed by the incredible color and concentration of that fine bottle, I've wondered ever since ... what was the very first Vintage of the SQVP by Vargellas?


Also, would you please share with the community here, a few details of your World of Wine project in Gaia and potential date for the completion of construction?

Many thanks!

Roy

[E Nijburg]

Dear Adrian,

Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer our questions.

Many port producers have technical information (Baume, Residual sugar, acidity etc.) regarding their colheita's and vintage ports on their websites.
I cannot find these for Taylors or Fonseca, is this information available somewhere?

Thanks,
Ewart

The Netherlands

[Adrian Bridge]

Dear Adrian,

A follow-on question related to hotels. It seems like the wild west right now, good for the consumer choice at the moment but...Has anyone given any long term thoughts as to what may happen if/when tourism cools and the people aren't coming in the same high numbers? Are the respective cities of Gaia/Porto doing anything to regulate them to prevent too many from opening?

Dear Andy

You are certainly right that it is a popular destination with strong tourist growth and very large number of planned hotel openings. Every big building is being sold as a potential hotel and I am not sure how much thought is being given to differentiation and marketing of the new hotels. They cannot all achieve their business plans. That said, a number of international brands are coming and that will broaden demand as they market to their networks.
I am less concerned about the professional companies than I am about the non-traditional hotel owners who do not have the experience to run a property. The hotel business is a tough place to make money as you really need greater than 50% occupancy to make any. 50% is a big target with 5 slower months and limited demand on Sunday night (14.3% of weekly capacity). Then there is the staff costs, operational costs and sales channels to think about before you look at yield management. Most of these points do not completely appear on the excel business plan.
The town councils are in a difficult position. The master plans are limited so then fall back on two points - one that they do not wish to discourage investors and two both Porto and Gaia have plenty of buildings that need investment. What they did in Lisbon was to allow the investment and then place restrictions afterwards. This will happen and will impact the AirBnB style properties.
However, the city of Porto has 1.7 million tourists compared to 4.5 million in Lisbon so there is room for growth.
In summary, I am optimistic and happy to see investors with a plan to grow demand but not to see people just expecting to live off the backs of others.
Best wishes
Adrian

[Adrian Bridge]

Dear Adrian,

Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer our questions.

Many port producers have technical information (Baume, Residual sugar, acidity etc.) regarding their colheita's and vintage ports on their websites.
I cannot find these for Taylors or Fonseca, is this information available somewhere?

Thanks,
Ewart

The Netherlands

Dear Ewart
You are right most people do have these as it interests some consumers.
I cannot find it on our sites so I will have someone take care of that.
Best wishes
Adrian

[Adrian Bridge]

Dear Adrian,

I would like to thank you for your generosity of time and great explanations for the questions that have already come before mine and I am sure, that there will be many to follow, too.

Back during the trade/media launch of the very first VVV that you hosted/attended in NYC, releasing the 1995 VVV, we were treated to the Taylor's Quinta de Vargellas 1912 Vintage Port. Beyond being amazed by the incredible color and concentration of that fine bottle, I've wondered ever since ... what was the very first Vintage of the SQVP by Vargellas?


Also, would you please share with the community here, a few details of your World of Wine project in Gaia and potential date for the completion of construction?

Many thanks!

Roy

Dear Roy
No but it was probably the oldest that we could taste with a group.
There are wines noted in 1820s being sold at Christies in London as coming from Vargellas which was before our ownership but shows the reputation that the property has.
I have some bottles of Vargellas 1868 in my personal cellar having bought these from a Portuguese collector about 15 years ago. They have the Ferreira label and are wonderful. I have tasted 3 bottles :))

The World of Wine is on target to open in July 2020 with phase 1 and 3. Phase 2 opens in November (Fashion and Design Museum). We have had rain all November which is a problem for construction as there is mud and water everywhere at the moment. However, we are installing the kitchens of the 8 restaurants at the moment and the Wine School/cooking school will be completed before Christmas.

As to the exact details of the project we are shortly going to be doing some updates with new images. We have shared the outlines of the project already so we now will start to fill in the details. We are appointing PR companies in a number of countries - including Asia.
Best wishes
Adrian

[Adrian Bridge]

Dear Adrian,
Warm greetings from Sydney!
Simply stated, I am interested in whether the elimination of (possibly desirable) impurities which were unavoidably present in available fortifying spirit prior to neutral spirit becoming available late '70s/early '80s has deprived more recent Vintage Ports of some of their historic character/complexity?
A more complete version of this question was posted on the FTLOP website here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=41530&p=141046&hili ... it#p141046
But I suspect it may be a complex debate...
With thanks and best wishes
Chris

Dear Chris
Happy to have warm greetings on a very cold day in Porto - I have a glass of Fonseca unfiltered LBV 2009 at hand to warm me (great fruit intensity, soft plums and a little white pepper) where as you probably have chilled Aged Tawny at your elbow.
I think that it need not be complex. My analogy is a great artist. They have an idea and colours and they paint their masterpiece. We all enjoy it but for the painting to last it must be on good canvas otherwise after a few years the painting cracks and falls apart. No fault (?) of the artist but the canvas was not up to the job of holding the master piece for ages.
So it is with Vintage Port - a poor choice of a neutral spirit that has only got the job of stopping fermentation yet is in the VP forever will either destroy or preserve the winemaking/terrior master piece. Thus we spend a great deal of time and money on spirit (our canvas) and David Guimareans, our winemaker, travels often to Bordeaux to taste spirit and buy the best lots. A little like a top chef heading out to the early morning markets to secure the best fresh produce for a meal.
Kind regards
Adrian

[Adrian Bridge]

Dear Adrian

Tourist related: This past harvest a friend and I walked over to Roeda to check out the visitor center since we hadn't seen it before and buy a couple glasses of Port to quench our thirst (it's a bit farther from the VHH* than it looks, hah). When we arrived there was a very large group (perhaps from a tour boat as there were large motor-coaches in the parking lot) and it really diminished the experience and the service suffered. Then the group all got up and left, mostly without buying anything from what I saw, and the remaining folks (employees included) seemed to breath a sigh of relief. Unfortunately by that point we were pretty fed up, paid our bill and left with a not so positive experience and still thirsty. Perhaps we picked the wrong moment to arrive, but I wonder what view people visiting for the first and probably only time would leave with. Are these "low spend" folks diminishing the experience of those wanting to spend? Are you seeing any signs the huge number of visitors are starting to impact the overall experience at your properties in Gaia and in Pinhao? If so, what are you looking at to address it?

*Can I recommend VHH get a golf cart type thing to shuttle hotel guests to and from Roeda?

Dear Andy
Thanks for the golf cart idea.
You are right, we have a mix of groups with different needs at Roeda and we are reacting to this. To make more space available we are building new spaces for machinery, stores and the viticulturalist office so that the space they currently occupy can be put over to groups. Given that the grapes (Port) are the priority this needs to be done first and will be completed by June 2020. At the same time we are altering the use of two buildings in the vineyard (from stores to visitors) and rebuilding a ruin. This will allow us to have audio tours at Roeda which will be able to deal with the larger groups leaving the staff able to deal with the VIP tours.
In 2021 we will refit/refurbish the old house to be available for group lunches/events so that these groups are separate from the individual visitors. This is best for both groups as they have different needs.
They do often come from the river boats and to avoid them all carrying around bags we often deliver directly to the boat - they may not appear to be spending but they are.
Best wishes, Adrian

[Tom DB]

Dear Adrian

Thank you so much for making your time available for this forum.

This is a very basic question, consider me a beginner. Under what circumstances would you choose to filter LBV‘s? And if you did filter, would you use a very large mesh or a very fine one? Or do you think in general it’s better not to filter?
I suppose the same thing could be asked about vintage ports. Or would the answer be different?

Thanks so much, Tom

[Jonathan Huber]

Would you care to comment on the rate of maturation of VP in half-bottles and magnums vs the regular 750 ml bottles? Do you think there is some rule of thumb that could be applied about accelerated or delayed maturation? Is it different for different vintages?

[Roy Hersh]

Dear Adrian,



Two years ago, regulations loosened and the Duriense grape growers were no longer restricted from charging "whatever the market would bear" for grapes to be used for Port production; whereas in the past the pricing was far more controlled.

a. Does this also apply to Douro still wines?

b. The increase in the cost of grapes must add to the overall production costs of Port, how much does this translate into per bottle increases in cost?

c. In the view of the Port trade, was this a healthy dynamic for grape growers or will it ultimately hurt them in the long run?

[Roy Hersh]

Dear Adrian,


With the lowering of the levels of "Lei do Terço" by the IVDP regulation for a new company, which in the past needed stocks of 150,000 liters of Port in order to enter the Port trade; (the new level is now 75,000 liters).

How do you view this change for new companies and the Port trade overall?

[Al B.]

Dear Adrian,

My wife and I are visiting Oporto for São João and I was hoping against hope that we might have been able to be one of the first visitors to the World of Wine.

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to head back in September. Life can be unfair.

But to whet the appetite, could you say a little more about what will be in Phases 1 and 3 please?

Thanks,

Alex

[Adrian Bridge]

Dear Adrian

Thank you so much for making your time available for this forum.

This is a very basic question, consider me a beginner. Under what circumstances would you choose to filter LBV‘s? And if you did filter, would you use a very large mesh or a very fine one? Or do you think in general it’s better not to filter?
I suppose the same thing could be asked about vintage ports. Or would the answer be different?

Thanks so much, Tom

Dear Tom

The point about the innovation of LBV that was done by Taylor's in 1970 when it created the category was to have a fined and filtered product. This is so that no deposit formed and it did not need decanting. The 'filtration' in broad terms is effectively a cold stabilization process where the LBV is chilled down to allow the sediment to precipitate.
The gap that existed in the market that Taylor's filled was for a complex wine, from a single year, that was ready to drink, did not need to be decanted and was at a price point that was affordable. This is what Taylor's LBV did in 1970 and had a free run at the market until Graham's entered in 1978. Subsequently, everyone has an LBV and so to differentiate people started to offer 'unfiltered' LBV which, by definition, will probably need to be decanted if it is aged further in a bottle.
We see the Vintage Port category - classic or single quinta - as filling the demand for bottled aged Port (although Crusted has a niche of this market) and that LBV is best orientated to the demand for a sophisticated port that is ready to drink. The sharper eyed will note that I mention last night drinking a Fonseca LBV which is unfiltered but that is because we wish to have an offer in that market and not have the sister house to Taylor's compete with it.
Finally, as Vintage Port is designed to be able to age in a bottle it would not be appropriate to filter it.

Kind regards, Adrian

[Adrian Bridge]

Would you care to comment on the rate of maturation of VP in half-bottles and magnums vs the regular 750 ml bottles? Do you think there is some rule of thumb that could be applied about accelerated or delayed maturation? Is it different for different vintages?

Dear Jonathan

I think that the evidence is clear that a half bottle matures faster than a bottle which, in turn, matures faster than a magnum.

However, which year, who produced it, temperature of storage and other factors have an influence which makes rule of thumb hard.

If I was buying some cases to have wines to celebrate an anniversary (birth of child, marriage etc.) I would probably buy a mix of sizes.

Kind regards, Adrian