182 Port anD the Douro
week or so. When picking began, sugar readings were relatively low but fortunately, despite
more rain on 23 September, there was little sign of rot in the Douro Superior and Cima
Corgo. The Baixo Corgo fared differently with outbreaks of rot everywhere. Fortunately
the clouds cleared just in time and warm dry weather from 24 September helped to avert a
potential disaster. The remainder of the harvest took place in near-perfect conditions until
the weather broke on 10 October. After the universal 1985 declaration, there was never
much prospect of a declared vintage in 1986 but attractive single-quinta Ports were bottled,
with an exceptional trio from Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim, Graham’s Malvedos and Warre’s
Quinta da Cavadinha matched by a very good wine from Fonseca Guimaraens and Taylor’s
Quinta de Vargellas. Drink now to 2020 plus.
Pick of the Vintage: Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos.
1985 **** a few outstandingly good wines for the long term but some
seriously faulty; caveat emptor
The winter of 1984/85 was cold and wet with temperatures falling below freezing during January
in Pinhão. Cool wet weather continued into the spring. Bud burst took place in early April and
with dry weather from June onwards, the berry set was above average. The summer was dry and
warm and the Douro was so low at Tua that it was possible to wade across. Heavy rain on 7
September helped swell the grapes. Picking began around 18 September in very hot conditions.
Sugar graduations were good but, without temperature control, fermentations were fast and
furious and lagares took little work before being run off and fortified. Michael Symington
wrote in his vintage report that ‘never can the grapes have been gathered under better weather
conditions’, and I recall Bruce Guimaraens remarking at the time that ‘it was clear from the
colour and aromas of the fermenting must that 1985 would be a high quality year’.
The declaration, when it came in the spring of 1997, was unanimous. It was a big
vintage – the only year producing more wine was 1927; Fonseca, for example, declared
20,000 cases. The wines were impressively plump and rich (especially in comparison with
the 1983s) and a great deal of interest was shown by the trade. But 1985 has subsequently
thrown up some rather nasty surprises. Wines that seemed to be exemplary at the outset
(e.g. Cockburn) soon turned volatile (vinegary) in bottle. Cockburn are by no means alone
and from subsequent tastings of the 1985 vintage Cálem, Churchill, Niepoort, Quarles
Harris, Ramos Pinto and Sandeman all appear to be experiencing varying degrees of
difficulty as well. It seems likely that hot weather during the vintage, over-use of chemical
fertilisers producing musts of low acidity, and poor handling and hygiene are probably
collectively to blame. However another theory put forward is that the wines were not fully
fortified at the outset, making them even more vulnerable to bacterial spoilage. When it
became evident that there was something seriously wrong with many 1985s, it provided
the impetus for shippers to clean up their act. The power and concentration of fruit that
was the hallmark of the vintage continues to live on in a handful of wines. Graham was
still surprisingly tight-knit and not as rich or sweet as you would expect when I tasted it
in 2010. With a good, ripe tannin structure to support them, Dow, Taylor and Warre are