Douro Valley 2017

The Douro Valley has two seasons: four months of winter and eight months of hell. This is what the locals say and I now know why. It is June, and every day hits 40ºC. At least the wine cellars are cool.

The Douro Valley is a vast region, and steep – it looks as if the grapes are growing in the Grand Canyon. At first blush, this region, which has over 100,000 acres (40,500ha) under vine, looks insanely complicated: over 300 wineries, over 200 varieties, many estates with vineyards that have a 360º aspect. On closer examination, it becomes easier. The top 8 port producers are responsible for 80% of port production, and of the 300 wineries, only 100 are serious businesses; in fact only 10–15 are world-class fine wine producers.

These wineries produce three styles of red wine: field blends, from vineyards 80–100 years old, and of 40 plus varieties. The exact composition remains unknown. Most frequent, however, are blends of six varieties: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Tinta Barroca, Tinto Cao and Sousao. The first five were prioritised by the government to be used in port production. And then there are single variety wines, mostly Touriga Nacional. However, the wineries emphasize that the vineyard, not the variety, is key. This makes more sense when one considers that daily temperatures in the three subregions of Baixo Corgo, Cima Corgo and Douro Superior can differ by 7–10ºC and that north and south-facing vineyards have completely different sun and temperature exposure. And then there is the story of the white wines. Some have been a revelation.

Still wine production only started in the 1990s, after the regulations changed, and shipping wine directly from wineries was allowed. Previously, all shipping had to be from Porto. Also, new subsidies from the EU became available. In 2002, five wineries (Quinta do Crasto, Quinta Vale D. Maria, Niepoort, Quinta do Vallado and Quinta do Vale de Meão) banded together for promotional purposes as the Douro Boys. This has worked well, creating interest internationally. The label has stuck, although the wine styles of these wineries are quite diverse – these ‘boys’ are now grown men, and a daughter of Cristiano van Zeller is now a Douro Boy, too. These days, there are other interesting wineries to discover as well.

The key to successful still wine production has been to throw off the shackles of port production. Different philosophies are needed. Picking the grapes earlier, gentle maceration, and some focusing on other grape varieties have been key elements.

I met Francisco Ferreira, Quinta do Vallado’s winemaker and part owner, at the tasting table. This is fortunate, as I can taste some single varieties and get used to these unusual Portuguese grapes. The Touriga Nacional is described as the most complete variety. This 2015 version is aromatic, showing blackberry fruit and good length. The Tinto Roriz is a difficult grape, according to Mr Ferreira. This version delivers a spicy nose, concentration, very dry tannins and a hot finish. The 2015 Sousao is extremely dark, a bit rustic and very acidic.

Quinto do Vallado has gone through a number of changes in the last 20 years, including a major rebuilding of its vineyards. Today, the winery owns 100ha, of which 10ha are 100 years old, 60ha are 20 years old and 30ha are newly planted (in Douro Superior). In addition, 20ha are leased. Most vineyards are south and west-facing. Today, almost 1 million bottles are produced annually, with 60% red table wine, and most of the remainder port. The 2015 Reserva is the leading wine I taste, coming from the 100-year-old field blend vineyard, featuring in particular Tinta Roriz, Tinta Amarela, Touriga Franca and Tinta Barroca. The wine is concentrated and big, with complex black fruit and confectionery flavours.

Of the other leading wineries, Quinta do Crasto is right at the top for me. The tour is very informative and small details indicate an obsession with quality: for example, the focus on extreme rigour on the sorting table. A few days before my visit, a lagar (open fermentation basin) from Roman times had been discovered, including a coin dated as 84AD. Winemaking took place here 2000 years ago. 

                                                                                Lagares

These days, three different types of vineyards, all meticulously maintained, are in view. First, there are the old vines, planted at 6000 vines per hectare. The main vineyard is the 100-year-old east-facing Maria Teresa, from which the single vineyard field blend is derived. The yield is 1.8t/ha. DNA testing has started, and so far over 40 varieties, including some whites, have been identified in this vineyard. The wine is produced in small volume and is expensive. It is not available for tasting. Then there are newer vineyards, all on slopes, with a planting density of 4500 vines per hectare. Finally, the steepest slopes are terraced, and planted to a density of 3500 vines per hectare.

It took some persuading to be allowed to taste some premium juice of the 2015 vintage from barrel. Manuel Lobo, winemaker for the last ten years, was not keen to show unfinished wine. I tasted the field blend from the well-known Vinha dos Cardanhos de Cima vineyard, and the single varieties of Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz. The field blend was very complex, with layers of blueberry, blackberry and mulberry, and a delicious lasting finish. The Touriga Nacional had a similar flavour profile, though a bit simpler, full of elegance and freshness, whereas the Tinta Roriz showed a big structure, with mocca and a core sweetness. All samples were smooth, elegant and well balanced.

The tasting from bottle included two white wines, the 2016 Crasto and the 2015 Crasto Superior. These are crisp white wines, with good acidity, from high-altitude vineyards – above 500 metres. Some of the fruit is bought from independent growers. In fact, there is a big scramble going on for white wine grapes from high-altitude vineyards. These wines are proving very popular, and I can see why. They are refreshing, perfect for lunch, and not dissimilar to the Greek Assyrtiko. The grapes are local varieties, in these cases Rabigato, Viosinho, Gouveio and Verdelho.

I tasted four red wines from the wet 2014 vintage: Crasto Superior, Syrah/Viognier, Roquette and Cazes, and the Reserva. The Syrah/Viognier was very fresh; I would place it between a Victorian cool-climate and a full-bodied South Australian Shiraz. The Reserva was the best of these wines. The fruit comes from 42 vineyards, including the Maria Teresa. The wine was complex, a bit closed, but powerful, balanced by natural acidity. ‘Freshness’ is the term Lobo uses more than any other, and it is quite an achievement in this hot climate.

                                                            Winemaker Manuel Lobo

Another winery with a great emphasis on vineyard management is the small husband and wife operation of Wine & Soul. They had great early success with a field blend from the 3ha 80-year-old Pintas vineyard. They then bought small plots surrounding this vineyard, and later purchased the 70ha Manuella property, of which 22ha are planted to vine. They have identified many old varieties on this property and have started to grow them in small separate blocks to better understand their characteristics. As Sandra Tavares da Silva describes this process you get the feeling they enjoy this as much as kids enjoy a candy store.

The top three wines I tasted were highly individual. The 2014 Manuella, a blend of the many varieties in the 100-year-old vineyard, has great depth of flavour and elegance. Tinta Francisca, the most important variety in this vineyard, is responsible for the refreshing acidity in this wine. The 2014 Pintas Character comes from the vineyards surrounding the original Pintas vineyard. It is very dark and powerful. The leading varieties, Tinta Roriz and Touriga Franca, have big flavours, mouthfeel, and tannins. The 2014 Pintas is exceptional. The dark mulberry fruit is elegant on the palate, and the flavours are persistent on the long finish. These wines show great fruit quality and smart winemaking.

                                                                        Pintas Vineyard

There is an impression that these Douro reds, like Australian reds, are powerful, ripe, alcoholic and rustic – and this is generally seen as a negative. Leading wineries are taking different and quite individualistic paths towards overcoming this view. The hottest of the three Douro subregions, and the furthest inland, quite close to the Spanish border, is Douro Superior. The leading winery here is Quinta do Vale Meão. It is a 300ha property, of which 100ha are under vine. Vale Meão boasts 3.5km of river frontage, more than any other winery. 50% of the soil is schist and 50% is granite. Vineyards have exposure to all directions and are planted at varying altitudes. The vineyards are not old: mostly 10 to 40 years.

I taste some 2015 components to get a feel for the characteristics of some key varieties. The Touriga Franca is fresh and expressive on the front palate. The Touriga Nacional grown on granite soil, and to be bottled separately, is also fresh, but richer and more rounded. The Touriga Nacional grown on schist soil is long on the palate, with an emphasis on the back palate and strong acidity. This is its typical profile in the Douro. The Tinto Roriz has less body than the Nacional, but is more tannic. I start to understand why blending makes sense in these circumstances.

Vale Meão produces two main wines: Meandro and Quinta do Vale Meão. The 2014 and 2015 Meandros are well-balanced wines. The blackberry fruit is fresh and blends harmoniously with the wine’s acidity. The 2014 flagship Quinta do Vale Meão has had 50% new oak. Its 50% Touriga Nacional and 35% Touriga Franca grapes come from low-lying, fairly flat and therefore hot vineyards. This is a big wine, long in the mouth. It reminds me of some premium Torbreck wines. Touriga Nacional is particularly well suited to the sometimes extreme heat. Experiments have shown that it shuts down latest amongst grapes in the heat, and starts photosynthesis earliest again when temperatures drop. Still, grapes at Vale Meão do get sun burn. Two methods are employed to prevent this: netting across the lower parts of the vines, and the spraying of white clay.

Invariably, the question of ageing comes up with such wines. Francisco Olazabal, the very thoughtful winemaker, pulls out a 2007 Syrah. This wine is still amazingly youthful, and of medium weight. It would give Australian Shiraz a run for its money. The 2007 Meandro is a bit broader, but still fresh. Vale Meão is a superstar winery in the making.

Niepoort (a Dutch name, nothing to do with port) could not be more different. Georgia Santos, its General Manager, believes that Touriga Nacional is not for them. When ripe, she says, it is too strong, too aromatic, extractive and alcoholic. Niepoort made its first table wines in 1991, but the winery is only ten years old. It takes its main influences from the Moselle and Burgundy. I can tell from the empty bottles winemaker Dirk Niepoort displays on top of his cellar that he has tasted widely.

Niepoort has 60ha under vine in the Cima Corgo subregion, which mostly has a cooler northern exposure. They produce almost 1.5 million bottles of wine, 600,000 bottles of port, both with very different philosophies. Almost all the vines (98%) are over 35 years old.

The white wines come from vineyards at 400 metres altitude or more. These wines are very impressive. The 2016 Tiara, made mainly from Códega and Rabigato, is fresh, with citrus flavours and good body weight. It is aged in Moselle barrels. The 2015 Coche, from the same varieties, is the leading white wine, from vineyards at 750 metres. It is the only white wine undergoing malolactic fermentation, and 25% is matured in new French oak. Citrus flavours dominate, but the keys are minerality and length. It reminds me of a premier cru from Puligny-Montrachet.

I am not normally swayed by wine labels, but Niepoort’s labels deserve a comment. The cheap range has a cartoon series on the bottle, and which one you see in store depends on where the wine is sold. Japan’s humour is different from that of the US, and so on. The premium range has dot images on the bottles, relating to the name of the wine: the Tiara shows a dotted Tiara, for example.

I tasted four red wines. The 2015 Redoma Reserve comes from three vineyards, all of which are over 100 years old. It is an elegant wine with good backbone acidity. The 2014 Vertente has an open bouquet. There is not much extraction or complexity: this is a fresh wine, ready to drink now. The 2014 Batuta is a step up. From old north-facing vineyards, this wine has only 12.5% alcohol, yet the fruit intensity is good. There are many varieties involved in this wine, but the key is the vineyard selection. The 2014 Charme is perhaps the signature wine. It is the only still wine that is foot-trodden in lagares, it includes 100% stems, and it is based on unusual varieties, in particular Rufete. The wine has a bright colour, and is aromatic and elegant, a bit like the female shape on the label. The taste reminds me of Pinot Noir. This is very different from the Douro image of full-bodied high-alcohol red wines.

Another interesting winery with very individual wines is Quinta Vale Dona Maria. Cristiano van Zeller, who looms large (literally and figuratively) as a Douro Boy, started this winery in 1996 and grew it from 10 to 34ha. Here the vineyards are at a low altitude and south-facing. Total production is 120,000 bottles, with 70% red, 20% port and 10% white wines. All red wines are foot-stomped in lagares. The 2014 Vale D. Maria red is a typical wine for the region. More than 40 varieties are included in this wine. This wine is quite ripe, showing black fruit sweetness, but there is also acidity and the tannins are well rounded.

The next two wines are more specialised. The 2014 Vinha da Francisca comes from a vineyard planted only in 2004, at the time of daughter’s Francisca’s 18th birthday – she is now actively involved in the business as well. Fittingly, one of the varieties planted is Tinta Francisca. The main contributor, however, is 50% Sousao, a high-acidity variety. The wine features interesting raspberry and mulberry flavours and shows minerality on the back palate. We compared it with the 2012, which was similar in profile, and has settled into a very elegant wine.

The second special wine was the 2014 Vinha do Rio, named after a 90-year-old vineyard next to the Rio Torto, which passes along the winery. In this wine, 48% of the grapes are Tinta Barroca. One of the challenges is the time of picking. In the old field blend vineyards, early-ripening varieties, such as Tinta Barroca, might reach 16% alcohol when other varieties are still at 11 or 12%. But they all get picked at the same time, and the winemakers hope it all balances out. This wine is very dark in colour, with plum flavours and high acidity.

The top wine is the CV – Curriculum Vitae. It comes from an 100-year-old vineyard which is mostly planted to Touriga Franca. The majority (80%) of the wine matures in new French oak. In this very elegant wine, blueberry flavours dominate. The great length of this wine makes it very rewarding.

The Quinta Vale Dona Maria premium wines are expensive by Portuguese standards, but the quality is excellent and volumes are low (2000 to 7000 bottles per wine).

Quinta do Noval is especially famous for 2ha of its vineyards. These are the only vines which escaped phylloxera, the pest which devastated the Douro valley in the 19th century. These are therefore the only ungrafted vines in the valley, but they are not from the 19th century. They were in fact planted in 1927. The fruit goes into the famous Nacional vintage port. Table wines have only been produced since 2006.

They make an interesting Syrah, which is quite spicy and fresh. The two key wines are the Cedro do Noval, named after the famous cedar tree dominating the terrace, and the Quinta do Noval, which is an 100% Touriga Nacional wine. It is aromatic and elegant, sits at 13.5% alcohol, and has a long finish.

While Quinta do Noval may not have quite the breadth of table wine production of other leading wineries, the quality is good. A visit here has the extra benefit of allowing the tasting of some outstanding ports – and views of its spectacular location, with the high-altitude winery overlooking the valley and steep vineyards.

Symington Family Estates is a different kettle of fish. They own 27(!) wineries in the Douro Valley. They are best known for port, including Graham’s and Dow’s. They own 1000ha under vine and buy from 2000 growers. Production is 2 million 12-bottle cases of port and 180,000 12-bottle cases of still wine. Their Quinta do Bomfim winery, near Pinhao, is the one to visit.

The still wine production started in 1999. In fact it started with a joint venture with Bruno Pratz, the previous owner of the esteemed Chateau Cos d’Estournel in Bordeaux. The philosophy of this venture is to apply soft and prolonged maceration in order to make elegant wine. The premium wine is the Chryseia, based on Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca. The wine sees 80% new oak, but the barrels are larger than usual – 400 litres. I tasted the 2014 version and enjoyed the blueberry and mulberry flavours and the tight, and elegant structure.

Symington’s own wines come from two areas. The first is Ataide, which sits in the northern part of the Douro Superior. It produces Touriga Nacional from 1980 vines, and includes a new vineyard, planted in 2014, with 53 different varieties. Careful drip irrigation is used. At this point, the better wines come from the second area, the Quinta do Vesuvio vineyard on the banks of the Douro river in Douro Superior. Its 2015 Pombal, from Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca, is quite smooth, but also powerful, and will need time. The premium 2014 Quinta do Vesuvio, from the same grape varieties, but with a higher share of Touriga Nacional, is an excellent full-bodied wine. There is blackberry fruit on the palate, and chocolate, and the wine stays long in the mouth. The large vineyard area includes 7 hills and 31 valleys, and so delivers plenty of complexity.

Quinta de la Rosa sits right in the middle of Pinhao. It was one of the first wineries to make still wines, starting in the early 1990s. Today, 210,000 bottles are produced per year, 80% of them red wine. All wines are blends. Foot-stomping in lagares is used for all red wines. Sophia Bergqvist is the energetic owner/manager. She has added a restaurant and hotel accommodation to the winery complex. The Bergqvist family also bought a property in Douro Superior, just opposite Quinta do Vale Meão, and this is where its Passagem wine comes from.

The leading wines I tasted were from the 2014 vintage. The La Rosa Reserve is 60% Touriga Nacional, with Touriga Franca and Tinto Roriz making up most of the rest. This is a typical full-bodied Douro wine, with 14.5% alcohol, but only moderate extraction and some appealing elegance. The Passagem has a rounder shape on the palate and is more jammy, reflecting the warmer climate inland and the higher share of Touriga Franca.

Churchill’s was founded in 1981, making it the first new port company in 50 years. Still wines have been produced since the purchase of Quinta da Gricha in 1999. The views from the winery are spectacular. My tasting took place on the patio under the orange trees, but was interrupted when winemaker Michael was stung in the face by a bee. Thankfully, quick treatment was effective.

I enjoyed the 2015 Churchill Douro White, made from Rabigato and Viosinho grapes grown at high altitude. Citrus and minerality characterise this dry white. Of the red wines, the best was the 2011 Quinta da Gricha, a field blend from old vines. It tasted of dark fruits and underbrush and finished with firm tannins. The Douro Red and the Touriga Nacional, by comparison, are made from quite young fruit.

My last visit is to Quinta do Portal. The winery has a striking modern design, something still unusual for the Douro, and produces 1.2 million bottles from its 100ha of vineyards, which are of varying ages. The style of the red wines is traditional, with often jammy flavours and high alcohol. I found the 2014 Reserva and the 2014 Grande Reserva overripe, tasting of dried prunes and finishing hot. The 2015 Tinta Barroca, a variety seldom bottled separately, was quite broad on the palate, but the soft plum flavours were killed by the 16% alcohol.

Visiting the Douro Valley is exciting not just for the wines, but also for its stunning physical beauty. The centre is the small town of Pinhao. The place to stay here is The Vintage House, right on the banks of the Douro River. From here, many wineries can be reached by taxi. Hiring a car in Porto is not ideal, as many roads to the wineries are very narrow and steep, and often not well signposted. Wineries a bit further away can be reached by train, which runs along the river, with stunning views over the vineyards. There are many cruises on the river as well, but they do not allow for winery visits.

There are of course other accommodation options. The stunning Six Senses near Pesu da Regua is aesthetically beautiful, with excellent spa facilities, but is further from the wineries reviewed here. Many wineries now have accommodation options: Vallado, Churchill’s, Portal and de la Rosa, for example. The advantage of being in the middle of vineyards is, however, compromised by the isolation one finds oneself in.

Booking visits and tours ahead is recommended. Often a tasting fee is charged.

Visiting the Douro Valley is one of the great winetasting experiences. The area is beautiful, the wines exotic, the people very friendly and knowledgeable.

Characteristics of leading Douro red wine varieties

Touriga Nacional – Douro’s leading and arguably most complete red grape variety. The berries are small, leading to concentrated flavours. Aromatic and black-fruited, the juice is long on the palate, with a tannic finish.

Touriga Franca – Complements Touriga Nacional. Lighter but big-flavoured, fresh, with emphasis on the front and mid palate and round in the mouth. While Touriga Nacional could be regarded as the Cabernet Sauvignon equivalent in a blend, Touriga Franca would be the Merlot or Shiraz component.

Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo) – This Portuguese clone emphasises black cherry fruit, softness, spice and smooth tannins.

Tinta Barroca – An early-ripening grape, producing dark colour and plummy fruit, with little complexity and often lacking structure.

Tinto Cao – Rich colour and tannins, late-ripening. Most similar in profile to Touriga Nacional, but with very low yields; this variety is losing importance.

Sousao – Rich dark colour, but the taste is often coarse. Its high natural acidity makes it increasingly popular in the hot Douro Superior subregion.