184 Port anD the Douro
vineyard microclimates. August and early September were hot and the start date of vintage
was brought forward by ten days throughout the region. Michael Symington wrote ‘one can
confidently assume that those grapes gathered after 16 September, when the weather started
to cool, will have produced really first class wine in colour, body and fruit’. A handful of
shippers chose to declare 1982 in preference to 1983 leading to a so-called ‘split vintage’.
In retrospect it was a mistake, for the wines are generally soft and lacking in substance. The
heat of the late summer is reflected in the soft, sweet raisiny character of the wines. The best
(Churchill, Sandeman, Niepoort and Quinta do Noval) proved to be no more than useful
wines to drink while waiting for the 1983s to come round and they lack the backbone
to last. Croft and Delaforce were both disappointing. Those who decided not to declare
bottled some successful single-quinta wines. Drink soon.
1981 *
An extraordinary year in all respects. A severe drought began in the autumn of 1980, lasting
all the way through the winter. The spring and early summer were unusually cold, giving
way to searing heat in mid-June. The hot, dry weather continued through the summer,
delaying the development of the vines and turning grapes to raisins. But by mid-September,
when the growers could wait no longer and picking began, the weather broke and the
mother and father of storms swept through the Douro. Gales brought down electricity
pylons, leaving Pinhão without power for fourteen hours. Better wines were made in the
Baixo Corgo (where picking began later) than in the Cima Corgo, where a small crop
produced dark wines that tended to taste cooked and were lacking in freshness.
1980 */** open, fresh, attractive, fruit-driven wines drinking
perfectly now
Perhaps deterred by a substantial hike in prices, the 1980 wines were largely overlooked by
the trade and the year subsequently became a ‘Cinderella vintage’, overshadowed by 1977,
1983 and 1985, the last of which turned out to be something of an ugly sister. The growing
season was variable. Spring arrived early, then exceptionally cold weather in May and June
delayed flowering. The summer was warm and dry but sugar readings were relatively low
when picking began at the end of September. Temperatures were high during the harvest and
the lagares fermented furiously fast and therefore took little work. In spite of these difficulties,
the wines are generally very well balanced. Fonseca is on the light side but Dow, Graham,
Niepoort, Offley, Smith Woodhouse, Taylor and Warre all produced open, attractive wines
that are drinking very well indeed and will continue to develop. Drink now to 2025.
Pick of the Vintage: Dow; Graham.
1979 *
A wet winter was followed by a hot, dry summer with no rainfall at all until just before
the harvest in late September. Despite the drought, yields were high. No declaration but
a handful of straightforward single-quinta wines, which are now fully mature. A trio from