Fifteen years ago, two things happened in the fine Douro vintage of 2004; still today my all-time favorite for Douro wines, yes, every bit as good as 2011 for those that don't have many 2004's in their cellar. I am grateful to still cellar a couple dozen bottles of Douro wines from that great year.

So what developments took place that year?

In February 2004 the very first FTLOP Newsletter was published; almost exactly 1.5 years prior to the launch of this website. Few people were talking about Portugal or Portuguese wines back then. The quantity of friendships that have developed around the globe and number of people that have discovered Portuguese wines and have since visited Portugal to taste Ports and table wines (from the 14 major regions in that country), is likely the legacy of this website and the newsletter, no less discussions on this Forum.

But a far more far reaching dynamic came to life in 2004, thanks to Paul Symington, Dirk Niepoort and Cristiano van Zeller and their common cause; to promote the non-fortified table wines from the Douro Valley region while doing everything in their power to raise the bar on the quality of Douro wines; (which had been produced in the region since the end of WW2).

This was a monumental development in the still early days of modern Douro wines, as the next generation of prominent producers stepped into the big shoes of their fathers/antecedents. And in doing so, these 3 men, stalwarts from both traditional and renowned Port houses, decided that sharing ideas with one another while developing and promoting Douro still wines, was for the good of the region, putting that dynamic even before their own companies. Collaborating, cooperating and creating alliances ... instead of past competitive rivalries, was a brilliant new approach. This took place the year prior to the Douro Boys being formed. Known as The New Douro, the aforementioned three wise men were behind the earliest push to produce world-class DOC Douro wines. Their vision has become a great success and their original idea has continued to spread and other companies have joined them:

The New Douro Wineries today:

Casa Ferreirinha (Sogrape Vinhos) / Duas Quintas (Ramos Pinto) / Duorum Vinhos/ Lavradores de Feitoria / Poeira / Niepoort / Nova Quinta do Sagrado / Poças / Quinta da Boavista + Quinta das Tecedeiras / Quinta da Gaivosa (Alves de Sousa) / Quinta de São José / Quinta de la Rosa / Quinta do Crasto + Roquette&Cazes / Quinta do Noval / Quinta do Pessegueiro / Quinta da Romaneira / Quinta do Vallado / Quinta dos Murças/ Quinta Nova / Quinta Vale D. Maria / Quinta do Vale Meão / Real Companhia Velha / Symington /Prats & Symington / Vertiçe / Wine&Soul