Day 3 – Tuesday

Quinta do Crasto

On Tuesday morning, I woke up, ate a hearty breakfast at Hotel Teatro, and then boarded the trusty minibus with the rest of the guests to head up into the Douro Valley. Our destination this morning was one of the mainstays of our tours over the years – Quinta do Crasto.

Quinta do Crasto dates back to at least 1615, and the Quinta was already officially recognized by 1761. It has a connection to the Constantino’s Port House in its ancient history and was purchased in 1981 by Jorge and Leonor Roquette. Today, their sons (and our good friends) Miguel and Tomas are involved in the family business.

We arrived at the bottom of the hill, where a truck was waiting to take us up to Quinta do Crasto. We piled into the back, and I must say it was a beautiful, scenic, winding drive up to the Quinta.

Quinta do Crasto has perhaps one of the most picturesque views of the Douro. The Douro River makes a gentle bend in the distance, lined on both sides by vineyards.

One of the highlights of the trip to Quinta do Crasto was visiting the legendary Maria Teresa Vineyard. The “vinha velhas” or “old vines” vineyard was planted in 1912 as a “field blend” vineyard. Unlike more modern “block planting” where you might have blocks of Touriga Nacional grapes, blocks of Tinto Cão grapes, etc. that you can vinify and blend together to make your wines, the grapes in the Maria Teresa vineyard consist of many different varieties all planted together. All the mixed varieties are picked together, crushed together and vinified together making an instant, and amazing, blended wine.

For many years, Quinta do Crasto has hired botanists to come out to test and type the different varietals, and at last check I believe they had identified 36 different grape varietals in Maria Teresa. Manual Lobo, Winemaker for Quinta do Crasto, provided some interesting data around the varietals that they had discovered so far:

While this is an interesting scientific and vinicultural endeavor, there is also a practical reason for knowing specifically what grape varietals each vine is. If any of the vines are die or are damaged, as some were when a tractor once rolled down through one of their vineyards, they know the exact botany of the vine so they can replace it and maintain the integrity of Maria Teresa’s special “field blend.”

After a tour of the vineyards, we headed back up to the main house to taste some wines and have some lunch. We started our tasting with a lineup of Quinta do Crasto LBVs and Vintage Ports. 

2000 Quinta do Crasto Unfiltered Late Bottled Vintage Port – Bottled in 2006. Eucalyptus on the nose, with some dark fruit notes underneath. Intense primary fruit (blueberry and black currant) on the approach. Full-bodied with tannins poking through on the mid-palate. Some mocha notes on the finish. 89 points. 9/29/2015

2004 Quinta do Crasto Unfiltered Late Bottled Vintage Port – Bottled in 2008. Dark purple with bricking on the edges. Violet and some herbal notes on the nose. Unctuous mouthfeel. Blackberry and some dark plum on the palate. Grippy tannins on the mid-palate and some fresh acidity with a touch of bitterness on the finish. 88 points. 9/29/2015

2011 Quinta do Crasto Unfiltered Late Bottled Vintage Port – Bottled in 2015. Very dark, opaque purple with bricking on the edges. Boysenberry, primary blueberry and some floral notes on the nose. Raspberry on the palate, with a touch of licorice. Pronounced tannins on the mid-palate, leading to a long finish. This is a great 2011 LBV and could go 20 years. 90 points. 9/29/2015

2000 Quinta do Crasto Vintage Port – Floral and herbal notes on the nose. Pomegranate and hints of tight, dark fruit on the palate. Grippy tannins on the mid-palate. Unctuous mouthfeel and noticeable tannins on the very long finish. 89 points. 9/29/2015

2004 Quinta do Crasto Vintage Port – Impenetrable purple color with slight lightening at the edges. Ripe blueberry and blackberry on the reluctant nose. Raspberry and sour cherry on the palate. Waves of flowers, tannins and a touch of bitterness on the long finish. 88 points. 9/29/2015

2011 Quinta do Crasto Vintage Port – Dark purple with a garnet edge. Primary blueberry and violet notes on the nose. Amazingly smooth approach given that this is a 2011 VP. Crazy structure and all the components that will likely evolve into an interesting VP. The mid-palate just explodes with unctuous fruit and tannins. 92 points. 9/29/2015

Quinta do Crasto has a wonderful patio dining area with a picturesque view of the Douro River, so after the formal tasting, we headed out to the patio where we got to enjoy some sunshine, socializing, and tasting some of Quinta do Crasto’s red and white table wines.

2014 Quinta do Crasto DOC Douro White Wine – N/R. 9/29/2015

2014 Quinta do Crasto Superior Douro White DOC – Great touch of oak on the nose and the oak gives this wine great aging potential. 92 points. 9/29/2015

 2007 Quinta do Crasto Reserva Douro Red Wine – N/R. 9/29/2015

 2005 Quinta do Crasto Touriga Nacional Douro Red – Ruby in color. Rose petal and red fruit on the nose. Full-bodied with great, integrated tannins. Long finish. 92 points. 9/29/2015

 1999 Quinta do Crasto Vintage Port – Medium purple in color. Deep violets and dark fruit on the nose. Intense blueberry and great balance and tannins. Long finish. 94 points. 9/29/2015

 2006 Quinta do Crasto Maria Teresa Douro Red – Beautiful dark fruit on the nose. Intense, compact and well-integrated fruit on the palate, displaying blueberry and cassis. Very long, structured finish. 94 points. 9/29/2015

We said our goodbyes to Manuel and took the bus back down the hill to the Douro River. When we arrived, we had a surprise waiting for us: a traditional barcos rabelos style boat to take us to our next stop. There is really something enjoyable about cruising on the Douro River with friends after an afternoon of tasting amazing wines.

D.O.C.

We landed at the dock next to the renowned DOC Restaurant and walked across the street to our hotel, a relatively new property that is well situated for easy transportation around the Douro.

After settling in at the hotel, we met back up in the lobby to walk back across the street to DOC for dinner. DOC is run by Chef Rui Paula, and is one of our favorite restaurants in the Douro. It has an excellent wine selection, amazing food and a panoramic view of the Douro River. The restaurant sits on a dock above the Douro River, and on warm days the dining experience on the dock is quite something.

Rui Paula is a masterful chef, and his style blends local ingredients, prepared in a fresh and sometimes modern way that honors tradition but allows him to create playful expressive dishes.

As we settled in around the table and were served our first wine and appetizers, Roy mentioned that we would be having a surprise guest joining us for dinner. Within minutes, our dear friend George Sandeman arrived, along with Sandeman’s Head Winemaker, Luis Sottomayor.

George is one of the most jovial characters in the Port Trade, and he wears many different hats: he is a Board Member and works in Public Relations for Sogrape Vinhos S.A. (who own Sandeman), and is Chancellor of the Confraria do Vinho do Porto (Port Wine Brotherhood). When he plopped down in the chair beside me, I knew I was in for a fun night.

We were also very fortunate to have Luis Sottomayor join us. He is the award-winning Head Winemaker for Sandeman, and he provided us with deep insight about the wines we were tasting. Luis heads the Enology team for Casa Ferreirinha and all of the Sogrape Port wine brands. He won the 2010 Winemaker of the Year Award in the Fortified Wines category by Revista de Vinhos, one of Portugal’s most prestigious wine publications, and was nominated for the same award in 2012. In 2012 he was also nominated for the Winemaker of the Year at the International Wine Challenge. He is passionate about making wine, and it was really a pleasure to hear him talk about his wines.

We started off with a number of amazing courses, paired with Casa Ferreirinha wines (also owned by Sogrape Vinhos S.A.): 

2014 Casa Ferreirinha Planalto Reserva Douro Red – N/R. 9/29/2015

2014 Casa Ferreirinha Vinho Grande Douro White – N/R. 9/29/2015

2012 Casa Ferreirinha Antonia Adelaide Ferreira Douro White – N/R. 9/29/2015

2011 Casa Ferreirinha Antonia Adelaide Ferreira Douro Red – N/R. 9/29/2015

2011 Casa Ferreirinha Quinta da Leda Douro Red – N/R. 9/29/2015

As we started to get into the desserts, George brought out several of his Sandeman Ports, including a 2013 Vintage Port, and two classic Sandeman Tawny Ports.

We had a marvelous evening with George and Luis, and I honestly walked out of the restaurant with my cheeks hurting from laughing so much. We all said our farewells, walked back across the street to our hotel and closed the chapter on another day of the 2015 FTLOP Port Harvest Tour.