Your SQVP love quotient

[Roy Hersh]

Which is your favorite Single Quinta (belonging to a bigger Port company) to drink and why? If I didn't mention that, lots would vote for Quinta do Noval. Not what I am getting at.

This is just one example of what I am hoping to see: Warre's Quinta da Cavadinha because it ...

[Andy Velebil]

Not counting Vesuvio, as that falls into the same camp as Noval.....So I am going to cheat a little here only because it really wasn't totally a true single quinta until not to long ago, but Graham's Malvedos is probably my favorite SQVP. I'd have to say Vargellas is a very close second, but Malvedos' consistancy over the years is better IMO and Vargellas can be a bit hot at times as a SQVP. Malvedos is nicely balanced, good fruit, spices, and solid finishes. IMO a S.Q. that is hard to beat year in and year out.

[Glenn E.]

Ramos Pinto's Quinta do Bom Retiro, because they bottle a single quinta 20-yr old tawny.

Or is that cheating?

[Derek T.]

If I was given the choice of 1 bottle from Malvedos, Vargellas and Guimareans from a random vintage (are we counting that as an SQVP?) I would probably pick up the Malvedos first - unless it was 1987, in which case Vargellas wins.

I haven't tasted many others from the next tier down but my favourite go-to SQVP is Smith Woodhouse Madelena 1988.

Derek

[Ronald Wortel]

Guimareans (are we counting that as an SQVP?)

Nope, it's not from a single quinta. Otherwise, it would have had my vote. Always good value and great to drink.

Vargellas is my favourite SQ. It often has the quality and lasting power to rival many ports from classic years. And it's made in a style that I enjoy a lot.

[Alan Gardner]

For me Eira Velha - and I'm not sure whether it's separately owned and 'bottled by'. Certainly it's moved around a bit.
My 10-year-old notes show it was 'owned by the Newman family (could that be the famous Newfoundland firm - or completely different?) and managed by Martinez' but I've also had Cockburn bottlings and 'independent' Quinta bottlings.
Regrettably I've abandoned this preference since the 2000 vintage when both the Martinez 'regular' and 'Eira Velha' bottlings were corked (when I first tasted them) - and the rep told me that was the way they were supposed to taste - it was a 'young port' taste!

[Frederick Blais]

Vargellas is my favourite SQ. It often has the quality and lasting power to rival many ports from classic years. And it's made in a style that I enjoy a lot.

exactly the same thing here!

[Carlos Rodriguez]

Vargellas 1987 & Malvedos 1986. They were the first SQVP I drunk.

[Carlos Rodriguez]

I haven't tasted many others from the next tier down but my favourite go-to SQVP is Smith Woodhouse Madelena 1988.

Derek

Derek, I'm happy to read that. I've got 2 bottles of it and one will be drunk soon.

[Derek T.]

I haven't tasted many others from the next tier down but my favourite go-to SQVP is Smith Woodhouse Madelena 1988.

Derek

Derek, I'm happy to read that. I've got 2 bottles of it and one will be drunk soon.

Excellent! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

[Tom Archer]

I am very fond of Vargellas. I do wish they would bottle it in declared years as well as in interim ones..

Tom

[Roy Hersh]

Tom,

They do. Vargellas was bottled in 1912 and 1970 and at least one other big vintage beside the Taylor VP. Additionally, the Vargellas Vinha Velha was bottled in 1997 and 2000 (plus the 1995/2004 of course which are not generally declared vintages).

[Roy Hersh]

Votes so far:

Quinta dos Malvedos - 2 votes
Quinta do Bom Retiro
Quinta de Vargellas - 4 votes
Quinta da Eira Velha

So far "de" is beating out "da" - "dos" and "do" votes!


Any others willing to go on the record?

[Alan Gardner]

For me Eira Velha - and I'm not sure whether it's separately owned and 'bottled by'. Certainly it's moved around a bit.
My 10-year-old notes show it was 'owned by the Newman family (could that be the famous Newfoundland firm - or completely different?) and managed by Martinez' but I've also had Cockburn bottlings and 'independent' Quinta bottlings.

I decided to do a bit more research and indeed it WAS the same family as the Newfoundland Newmans - 10 years ago.
But I stumbled across this press release which is entirely new to me (but haven't researched the archives here):

The Fladgate Partnership buys Q. da Eira Velha.
03/11/07. The Newman family has sold its Quinta da Eira Velha, west of Pinhão, to The Fladgate Partnership (Taylor’s, Fonseca, Croft and Delaforce). The take-over price has not been revealed.

Quinta da Eira Velha, with vineyards class A, is 50 hectares in size and produces 100 pipas or 72,000 bottles of Port Wine annually. Since 1893 this quinta has been owned by the Newman family, English traders, who exported European wines to Newfoundland (Canada) and brought back cod fish and salt. Their Port company Hunt, Roope and Co, also active in bottling Port Wine outside Portugal, was sold to Ferreira in 1956. The quinta stayed in the hands of the family who were successful with the brand Newman’s Celebrated Port. Since 1980 Martinez Gassiot was in charge of the day-to-day management. In 2006 Beam Global sold this Port house and the properties of Cockburn’s to The Symington Family . This caused the Newman family to now sell Quinta da Eira Velha.
So maybe we'll now see how Eira Velha stacks up against Vargellas!

[Tom Archer]

They do. Vargellas was bottled in 1912 and 1970 and at least one other big vintage beside the Taylor VP. Additionally, the Vargellas Vinha Velha was bottled in 1997 and 2000 (plus the 1995/2004 of course which are not generally declared vintages).

Occasionally, certainly, but it would be nice to see it bottled with the same frequency as Vesuvio.

Tom

[Eric Menchen]

I wonder about Vesuvio. I've had the 1994 which was great, but instead of declaring three times a decade, they seem not to declare about three times a decade. Do the other years stack up? They certainly are cheaper, so perhaps I'll risk trying some in any case.

[Glenn E.]

I look at it this way - does Vesuvio's price during an off year compare reasonably with a non-elite VP from a good year?

I don't expect a 1995 Vesuvio to be as good as a 1994 Vesuvio. But at $50-60/bottle, does the 1995 Vesuvio compare reasonably with, say, a 1994 Warre's?

[Ronald Wortel]

I wonder about Vesuvio. I've had the 1994 which was great, but instead of declaring three times a decade, they seem not to declare about three times a decade. Do the other years stack up? They certainly are cheaper, so perhaps I'll risk trying some in any case.

The aim with Vesuvio (as with many other single quintas such as Vale Meao, Vale D. Maria, Passadouro etc.) is to produce a vintage port in every year, disasters excluded (such as 1993 and possibly 2002). This follows the philosophy of Bordeaux chateaux where the top wine is produced each year, thus showing the characteristics of both the vineyard and the vintage. This makes it interesting to follow the wine from year to year and compare different vintages.

[Derek T.]

I think the notion of Single Quinta producers creating a new approach by declaring more than an average of 3 times per decade is somewhat flawed. Sandeman decalred 51 vintages between 1900 and 1999. Slightly more the one every two years. Offley declared 46 vintages in the same period, Ferriera and Noval declared 43 and Royal Oporto and Kopke declared 42.

[Tom Archer]

I recently did a fairly complex analysis to determine the percentage of years that are sufficiently good for a general declaration, and came back with the rather surprising figure of 70%.

It would therefore seem reasonable to expect the likes of Vesuvio and Vargellas to produce perhaps 7 worthy VP's per decade.

From the years that didn't quite make the grade, it would be nice to see their best wine bottled as a single vintage Crusted - and sold for an appropriately reduced price of course..!

Tom