Port anD the Douro 153for around three years in wooden toneis and balseiros ranging in size from 10,000 to 33,000
litres. Most Favaios wines share a similar rustic, oxidative style with rather cloying sweetness
akin to Demerara sugar, although Quinta do Portal bottles a paler, fresher wine. Favaíto, a
young Moscatel do Douro in miniature bottles, has become a favourite mixer drink in cafés
all over Portugal. Outside the Favaios sub-zone, Niepoort make limited quantities of a rich,
balanced Moscatel, which is amber-brown in colour from prolonged ageing in cask.
sPeCial Categories
Reserva/Reserve
Although the word ‘reserve’ has been in use for many years (aka Cockburn’s Special Reserve),
this category was only approved by the authorities in 2002. The official definition is all-
embracing: ‘a wine of good quality obtained by blending wines of different ages, which
produce a wine with a complex aroma and flavour and specific organoleptic characteristics.
If the wine is retinto (very deep red) or ‘tinto’ (youthful red) in colour it may be called
reserve ruby’. This effectively means that the term ‘reserve’ can be applied to a multitude of
different styles of wine, from deepest ruby to a fairly pale tawny. Indeed a wine like Ferreira’s
Dona Antónia reserve is wood-aged with the intention of taking on tawny characteristics
(even though the word tawny does not appear on the label). In practice most of the wines
in this category can be described as ‘premium ruby’. They are wines of a higher quality than
a standard ruby, made from better grapes and possibly, although not necessarily, aged for
slightly longer before bottling. The IVDP points out that the reserve category is a function
of quality rather than age and any producer seeking to use the term must seek approval from
the Câmara de Provadores (the Institute’s tasting panel).
This is an important category for all Port shippers and one that has produced strong sales
growth, especially in English-speaking markets. The term ‘reserve’ (reserva in Portuguese) has
substituted ‘vintage character’, a category that was first recognised by the then IVP in 1973.
This was a great misnomer. The wines were neither vintage nor did they have the character
of a vintage Port, but they carried a cachet that made them very successful in the United
Kingdom where sales of standard ruby had been steadily declining. Reflecting the tendency
to ‘trade up’, Cockburn’s Special Reserve
took over from Cockburn’s Ruby as
the United Kingdom’s best-selling Port
brand in the mid-1990s. Under the terms
of the 2002 legislation the words Finest,
Especial or Special may be used with
either ruby or reserve. The expression
‘Special Reserve’, so long associated with
Cockburn, may now be used by anyone
although ‘Cockburn’s Special Reserve’
remains a trademark.
Pick of the reserves
cockburn’s special Reserve
dow’s Masterblend / dow’s trademark
Fonseca Bin 27
Fonseca terra Prima (organic)
Graham’s six Grapes
Krohn Rio torto Reserva
Warre’s Warrior