vintage Port 175Canais, Cálem, Martinez, Churchill), the finest 2000s will take at least twenty years to reach
a plateau of perfection that should last through most of the twenty-first century. Quinta do
Noval and Noval Nacional were both declared in tiny quantities and are outstanding.
Pick of the Vintage: Dow; Fonseca; Graham; Niepoort; Quinta do Noval; Quinta do
Noval Nacional; Poças; Warre.
1999 */*** prospects of a small but excellent harvest dashed by rain;
good wines in the douro superior
The winter of 1998/99 was cold and dry, which delayed bud burst until the end of March,
two weeks later than normal. Wet weather followed in April and May, and light rain during
flowering reduced the number of berries. July and August were dry and intensely hot with
temperatures reaching 40°C. The heat, together with the already low water table, produced
exceptionally small berries, thereby concentrating the juice. The total rainfall at Taylor’s
Quinta de Vargellas between October 1998 and July 1999 was just 300mm, barely sufficient
for the vines to survive. As wells dried up there was a serious water shortage throughout the
region and some quintas had to bring water up from the river in bowsers for domestic use.
By early September there was the expectation of a small but high-quality harvest.
The harvest began in the Douro Superior on 10 September and on 15th in the Cima
Corgo. There was just enough time to gather the grapes from the old interplanted vineyards
before the weather broke and torrential rain fell throughout the region as the remnants of
Hurricane Floyd blew in from the Atlantic. Baumés fell by a degree or more and, as the vines
rapidly took up water, the skins of the grapes ruptured leading to a serious outbreak of rot.
As always, Tinta Amarela was particularly badly affected. Sunshine and showers followed
from 28 September, but for many vineyards it was already too late and some growers left
their grapes to rot on the vine. Although the harvest finished under clear skies, in many
places sugar levels had fallen to less than 10 degrees Baumé and at one adega I encountered a
batch of grapes with a Baumé as low as 8! The Symington’s prototype robotic lagar arrived at
Quinta do Sol halfway through the vintage and they had to undertake trials with indifferent
grapes. But all was not lost, and some properties (mostly in the Douro Superior) managed
to pick most of the crop before the rain. Some suave, middle-distance wines were produced
which should be good for drinking until 2020 at least.
Pick of the Vintage: Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim; Taylor’s Quinta de Terra Feita; Quinta
do Vesúvio.
1998 *** challenging year: tiny crop with some good, concentrated wines
The growing season in 1998 was unusual, to say the least. The winter was short but wet.
Warm temperatures in February and March brought on early bud burst but cold wet
weather returned in April and, as late as Easter, snow fell on the hills above Pinhão. At
Warre’s Quinta da Cavadinha, 259mm of rain fell in April alone (the ten year average being
55mm). The unsettled wet weather continued through May and June, provoking an attack
of oidium and mildew. With the water table high, the vines sprouted in all directions, using