170 Port anD the Douro
year when just 147mm of rain fell at Pinhão during the first four months of the year (less
than half the ten-year average). The flowering went well in all three sub-regions but yields
were low from the outset, especially Tinta Roriz and Tinta Amarela. July was hot with
temperatures reaching 40°C towards the end of the month. Vineyards remained in excellent
condition but as August approached (normally the hottest month with no rainfall at all),
growers became concerned about how the vines would cope with the low water reserves in
the soil. Then the unheard of happened: rain fell on three consecutive days in early August
followed by yet more rainfall in the middle of the month. In total, 77mm fell in Pinhão
making it the wettest August for 104 years. The weather remained abnormally cool and
overcast into September, slowing down the ripening process. When more wet, unsettled
weather returned in the first week of September growers faced a major dilemma: start
picking under-ripe grapes early before rot set in or hold on in the hope of better weather.
Most growers held their nerve and, just in the nick of time, the sunshine returned. Sugar
levels rose suddenly, taking many by surprise, and continued to rise as the thermometer
topped 30°C.
Picking began around the middle of the month and continued with uninterrupted
sunshine. Not a drop of rain fell until 8 October when a deep depression moved in
from the Atlantic, by which time the harvest was all but complete. In forty harvests,
Peter Symington commented that he had never seen a vintage that could have swung
so easily from near disaster to success. With yields down slightly on the previous year,
the overriding feature of 2004 is the balance of the musts. With two good harvests in
the bag, the shippers had plenty of work in the tasting room to decide which year(s) to
declare. At the outset, Sophia Bergqvist of Quinta de la Rosa commented that ‘the overall
quality may be higher than 2003 although we might not have achieved the highest levels
of 2003’. Quinta do Noval chose to declare both 2003 and 2004 (the latter an ‘eccentric
declaration’ according to Christian Seely, Managing Director of AXA Millésimes who
own Noval), with all the other major shippers going down the single-quinta route in
- These are impressive wines: balanced, well-structured and complete. Eccentric or
not, Quinta do Noval 2004 is outstanding and should be ready in 2022. Drink the
SQVPs from 2016 onwards.
Pick of the Vintage: Croft Quinta da Roêda; Dow’s Quinta Sra. da Ribeira; Fonseca
Quinta do Panascal; Quinta do Noval; Quinta de la Rosa; Taylor’s Vargellas Vinha
Velha; Quinta do Vesúvio; Quinta do Vale Meão.
2003 ** / *** very hot summer: ripe opulent wines,
generally declared
The Douro is accustomed to heat, but 2003 brought complaints from even the most
seasoned of the region’s inhabitants. Fortunately the growing season was preceded by a very
wet winter with 1000mm of rainfall registered between November and March at Pinhão.
Bud burst occurred in the second half of March and flowering took place in the last ten days
of May amid, calm stable weather. The first blast of extreme heat came in mid-June. In the