168 Port anD the Douro
‘poise’ are words that crop up frequently in my tasting notes, particularly among the best
wines which show perfect balance and are supported by fine, tight-knit tannins. This is
not an impenetrable, blockbuster, ‘black-strap’ vintage and there are no stewed, raisiny
or pruney flavours. Ana Rosas, winemaker for Ramos Pinto, characterised the aromas of
the 2007s as ‘romantic’. Most of the wines were very aromatic at the outset and some
have a green edge, (characterised in my notes by a floral-hedgerow character on the nose).
This manifests itself as leafy greenness in a number of wines that are one-dimensional and
under-ripe, a sign that some picked their grapes too early.
There can be no cry of cynicism with 2007, declared in early 2009 when all the main
markets were in deep recession. In a remarkable show of confidence, which wasn’t present
in 1931 (one of the best years of the past century to have been largely overlooked), over fifty
producers declared, including many of the new generation of stand-alone single quintas.
Some houses, namely Churchill, Cockburn and Ramos Pinto, declared both a single estate
and a house wine. Prices were up by around 10 per cent on the 2003 declaration.
Pick of the Vintage: Dow; Graham; Niepoort; Sandeman; Taylor’s Vargellas Vinha
Velha; Quinta Dona Matilde; Quinta do Vesúvio.
2006 *** very variable year where terroir made all the difference
After the extreme drought of 2005, heavy winter rain went some way towards replenishing
groundwater reserves. The spring was warm and dry, and flowering took place in good
conditions. May and early June were dry and hot, except for a severe hailstorm on 14
June that wiped out some vineyards in the Pinhão and Torto valleys. July was very hot
with temperatures at Quinta do Vesúvio in the Douro Superior reaching 40°C on all but
seven days of the month. Apart from the localised hail damage, grapes were looking very
healthy until the start of September when a late burst of heat started to shrivel the grapes
the role oF aguarDente in
vintage Port
the aguardente or spirit used to fortify Port has changed since the late 1990s (see page
138). shippers are now fortifying vintage Ports with much cleaner spirit than used to
be the case when they were left with no choice other than to buy the aguardente they
were presented with by the government. the 2000 vintage marked the change, but it
is probably best manifested in the 2007s with their purity of fruit. the spirit being used
to fortify vintage and single-quinta vintage Port has a much more vinous character than
in the past. this means that it interferes much less with the fruit in a young wine than
the coarse, rather oily spirit of yesteryear. david Guimaraens, head winemaker for the
Fladgate Partnership, maintains that the transition from youth to maturity will be much
smoother in future, with much less of that awkward adolescent stage that has long been
a phase in the evolution of vintage Port.