Quinta do Portal - Newsletter Vinhos Nº 2 - [September 2007]

[Mario Ferreira]

In the September edition of Wine Enthusiast the following wines were reviewed by Roger Voss:

93 Quinta do Portal AURU 2003
The top wine in the Quinta do Portal range is in its second vintage. With 12 months aging in French oak, the power is all there in very dark, heavy tannins that dominate the fruit. This is a powerful expression of the richness and structure of the great Douro wines, all granite and mineral character, dark and tough, sure to age well. - R.V.

92 Quinta do Portal Grande Reserva 2003
A hugely juicy wine, dominated by Touriga Nacional, leavened by dry tannins. It’s big, ripe, with vivid red fruits giving spice and power. Immediately attractive now, it is likely to age well over the next 5-8 years. – R.V.

91 Quinta do Portal Reserva 2003
Structured, rich, but also good with fresh acidity, this is one of the best wines in the Quinta do Portal range. It has lively, vibrant red fruit, along with dry tannins, some vanilla from wood aging. Great acidity in the aftertaste. – R.V.

89 Quinta do Portal Colheita 2003
Very dense tannins dominate big ripe blackberry jam flavors. The wine is hugely rich, but sustains itself by the structure which is dry, dusty tannin-dominated, with just a hint of fruit. To finish, there are juicy, fresh flavors. – R.V.

VINEYARD NEWS
The replantation work at Quinta da Abelheira (15,4ha) and Quinta dos Muros (1,7ha) is being finalized. With this work we now have 50% red varieties, 35% white varieties and 15% Moscatel Galego;

Despite a loss in production is being expected this year in the Douro and other portuguese wine regions we're expecting a normal year;

The harvest will start slightly later. We're expecting to start picking on September 17th.

WINERY NEWS
In October we'll release our 2004 Quinta do Portal Reserva, 2003 Portal LBV Port and 2005 Quinta do Portal Vintage Port. In the meantime we've released our 2005 Quinta do Portal Douro Colheita Red wine.

The 2004 Quinta do Portal Reserva was already reviewed by Decanter in December 2006: "Plum and mulberry aromas followed by exciting waves of fruit on the tongue and excellent acidity. A superbly long, shuddering finish. *****"

The 2007 Harvest will serve as a test that will determine our wines profile for the following years. The new winery has 15 fermentation vats where the maceration will be robotized, 3 robotic lagares and new presses. Everything within a philosophy of not using any pumping neither for the musts neither for the wines, just gravity.

A machine that makes the triage automatically will also be a plus in a difficult year with heterogeneous grapes. This will be also very important to sort grapes from parcels of traditional vineyards planted with mixed varieties.

Finally this will also be Paulo Coutinho's 25th vindima, his 14th as professional and his 14th at Quinta do Portal. Congratulations!

Quinta do Portal
Celeirós do Douro
5060-909 Sabrosa, PORTUGAL
Tels: +351 259 937 000 / +351 259 937 104
http://www.quintadoportal.com
info@quintadoportal.pt