166 Port anD the Douro
2008 **** small harvest, outstanding single-quinta wines
After another very dry winter, April was wet and stormy (with snow over Easter) and May
brought more rain. Consequently the flowering was uneven with desavinho throughout the
region. Apart from a short burst of heat in the second part of July, the summer was cool
with westerly winds blowing off the Atlantic. Despite the relatively low yields, the harvest
looked set to be late. Charles Symington wrote on 2 September that ‘the maturation studies
in mid-August showed the lowest readings on record’. After some timely rain early in the
month, hot weather brought on rapid maturation. Then the weather turned again and
heavy rain fell over the equinox in the western part of the region. The outlook was unstable
and growers resigned themselves to dodging showers for the next two weeks, but the rain
stopped and the best grapes were picked under clear skies towards the end of September.
Those who panicked and picked too early found themselves with under-ripe grapes. In the
three weeks from 23 September to 15 October the weather could not have been better. The
grapes were picked in excellent condition, producing wines with good colour and excellent
sugar (13.5–14.5 degrees Baumé) and fine acidity.
Apart from Noval who declared outright, 2008 proved to be an excellent single-quinta
year with a large number of wines released. In general the wines are aromatic yet show
restraint, and are characterised by their freshness and purity of fruit combined with
firm, structured tannins. In fact the wines are in much the same style as 2007 and the
temperatures for the two growing seasons were remarkably similar.
Men who shaPeD the Douro
Peter symington (1944– )
in 2009, Peter symington, winemaker for symington Family estates, retired after forty-
five vintages. this softly spoken man was never one to shout his achievements from the
rooftops, but he did much to transform wine making of the douro with the invention
of robotic lagares. Quinta do noval introduced robots into their lagares in 1994 but at
the same time Peter symington was taking the idea a stage further by designing new
purpose-built lagares from stainless steel. the first prototype was ready for the end of
vintage in 1998 and by 2000 there were six robotic lagares working at Quinta do sol
and Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos. three more were set up at dow’s Quinta senhora
da Ribeira in 2002 and another six at Warre’s Quinta da cavadinha in 2006, taking the
total to fifteen. By the 2007 vintage, as much as 70 per cent of the symington family’s
vintage Ports were being produced by robotic lagares which simulate the action and
pressure of the human foot (see page 134). in the time that Peter symington worked for
the family firm, total production increased from 1,000 pipes to 36,000. Peter retired to
his own vineyard, Quinta da Fonte Bela high above the douro near Lamego, and handed
over the winemaking and blending to his son charles.