Day 2 – Monday

After breakfast, we headed down to a Port lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia that I hadn’t been to for several years – Ferreira.

Ferreira Lodge

Established in 1751, Ferreira is one of the crown jewels of the Sogrape portfolio. The establishment of the house pre-dates the official demarcation of the Douro Region in 1756 and is intertwined with Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira, who would eventually become the century’s “Matriarch” of the Port wine trade. Sogrape acquired Ferreira in 1987, and they have successfully managed the brand and wines ever since.

When we arrived at the Ferreira Lodge, we were greeted by another old friend, Ligia Marques, Brand Ambassador at Sogrape Vinhos. I had met Ligia once or twice before on previous tours, so it was certainly wonderful to see her again and have her host us for the afternoon.

We started with a tour of the Ferreira Lodge, which really does an excellent job of capturing the history of this iconic house, as well as that of the Port wine trade. Inside what used to be a large warehouse you can find a mini-museum with old photographs, barrels of every imaginable size (from a small “pipo” barrels holding 300 liters to a gigantic 8,000 liter balseiro), and old equipment from the early days of the Port trade. It really is a fascinating journey back in time.

After our tour, we adjourned to a tasting room, where Ligia led us through a lineup of some of the Ferreira classic Ports.

Ferreira White Port – Some alcohol/petrol on the nose. Honey in color with clearing on the edges. Noticeably sweet and some heat from the 19.5% alcohol. Apricot and peach notes on the palate. Long finish with balanced acidity and sugars. 88 points. 9/19/2016

Ferreira Dona Antonia Reserva Branco Port – While the minimum age required for this category of Ports is six-year, this one has over seven years of aging. Amber orange in color. It looks more like a tawny than a white Port. Clearing on the edges. Dusty notes of nuts and some orange on the nose. Light orange spice and some slight almond notes on the unctuous, full-bodied palate. Long finish. 92 points. 9/19/2016

Ferreira Dona Antónia Reserva Port – Ruby in color. Good clarity and mostly opaque. Some red fruit notes underneath some earthy characteristics. A surprising amount of red fruit remaining on the palate for the tawny Port. A little heat, with an unctuous midpalate and warm, long finish. 89 points. 9/19/2016

Ferreira Dona Antonia 10 Year Old Tawny Port – Light amber in color. Some red fruit on the nose, with some spice/spirit. Full-bodied, with some residual red fruit on the finish. 88 points. 9/19/2016

Ferreira Duque de Bragança 20 Year Old Tawny Port – Amber in color with orange on the edges. Orange spice notes with some classic nuts and elegance. Well-balanced acidity on the long finish. 93 points. 9/19/2016

Sandeman Lodge

After we finished the tasting at Ferreira, we weren’t done with Sogrape yet. We headed down to the lodge of Sogrape’s other major Port brand, Sandeman. Here, we were joined by our old friend George Sandeman, who is from the ninth generation of the Sandeman family and would be our host for the next few hours.

Sandeman’s history goes all the way back to 1790 when two Sandeman brothers from Scotland founded the company. Aside from their Ports, Sandeman is probably most noted for their amazing advertising posters from the early 1900s, including the caped “Don” that has become synonymous with the brand. Sandeman remained a family business until it was sold to Seagram in 1979, and then sold to its current owner, Sogrape, in 2002.

The museum houses some of the iconic Sandeman advertising images, including the original “The Don” by George Massiot Brown, which was created in 1928.

After the tour, we stopped by the tasting room, where George led us through a quick tasting of Sandeman’s 10, 20, 30 and 40 Year Old Tawny Ports.

Sandeman 10 Year Old Tawny Port – Bottles in 2016. Clear amber in color. Light orange spice, with hints of toffee and a touch of spirit on the palate. Full-bodied with a long, slightly spirity finish. 90 points. 9/19/2016

Sandeman 20 Year Old Tawny Port – This is a cask sample of a component that gets blended into the final version of the 20-year-old tawny. Dark brick in color. Complex nose, with some dusty red fruit. Raspberry and some slightly woody nose on the palate. A little bit of spirit on the finish. 91 points. 9/19/2016

Sandeman 20 Year Old Tawny Port – Bottled in 2016. Clear, very light amber in color. Pralines and orange spice on the nose. Caramel and hints of orange on the palate. Well balanced with a long finish. 93 points. 9/19/2016

Sandeman 30 Year Old Tawny Port – Bottled in 2016. The Sandeman 30 Year Old Tawny blend was updated in 1990. Very light amber in color. Dusty leather notes on the nose. Honey and a touch of orange marmalade underneath on the palate. 92 points. 9/19/2016

Sandeman 40 Year Old Tawny Port – Amber brown in color. Caramel, pralines and light orange peel on the palate. Great acidity and balance. Long finish with notes of orange spice. 94 points. 9/19/2016

After tasting the aged tawnies, we headed into the warehouse and did some tasting from the casks. Notably, we got to try the recently released Cask 33 tawny Port from barrel. Winemaker Luis Sottomayor created this beauty, hand-selecting a blend of spectacular tawny Ports ranging in age from 30 to 60 years. The final blend ended up averaging around 50 years old.

Sandeman Cask 33 Limited Edition Very Old Tawny Port – This was taken from one of forty casks and bottled as “Cask 33.” This was a particularly good cask of the forty casks. This lot was used in the Sandeman 40 Year Old Tawny Port blend. Clear amber in color. Butterscotch and light caramel on the nose. Classic almond, orange spice, and nuts on the palate. Great acidity on the very long, clean finish. 93 points. 9/19/2016

After the amazing visit to the cellar, we had no idea we were heading for one of my favorite experiences of the entire tour. We walked up to Sandeman’s blending room, which has always been an incredibly fascinating place for me. There are ancient bottlings of Sandeman Ports from across the years juxtaposed against sterile white counters and scientific beakers and flasks, making the room feel like half museum, half laboratory.

We were met by Sogrape’s Chief Winemaker, Luis Sottomayor, who welcomed us and proposed a daunting challenge. Our task was to attempt to successfully blend Ferreira Vintage Ports from 2007, 2008 and 2009 to match a blend he had prepared for us.

Challenge accepted!

We each went to our stations, where we had a bottle of Ferreira 2007, 2008 and 2009 Vintage Ports, as well as Luis’ “final blend” that we were trying to match. I spent a good bit of time tasting his blend and then tasting each of the individual Ports I had to work with. I set about measuring and blending the three into what I hoped would be a perfect match to his wine. We kept notes on the percentages of each wine we used, and when we thought we had it as close as we could get, we wrote down our final percentages and submitted them to Luis for judging.

I am just going to say this right here – blending Ports is some kind of voodoo science that takes a really special person to master. My blend was WAY off, and I felt like a 6th grader when Luis handed me back my worksheet with “Keep trying!” written across it. I gave a laugh, he patted me on the should and said with a smile, “Good effort, but it can take years of practice to get this right.” I bow down to the Port wine blenders I am fortunate to call my friends!

After realizing that I would have better success as a Port drinker than a Port blender, our jolly band headed out with George to one of our regular haunts on the riverfront: Adega e Presuntaria Transmontana II. We enjoyed a nice lunch, some good wine and a lively, jovial conversation with George (as usual). After lunch, it was time to bid George farewell and head to the next appointment.

Poças Lodge

Our next stop was at the Poças Lodge. Poças was founded in 1918 and has been family owned ever since. Entering the tasting room, I was struck by the character of the place. It combined tradition – old barrels and classic smell of an old Port house – and more modern touches – bare bulbs hanging from the ceiling, modern chairs around the tasting room tables, and a mix of traditional and modern art pieces that dotted the tasting room.

We were greeted by Pedro Pintão, Sales & Marketing Director, who would be our host for the afternoon. We started our visit with a tasting through a solid lineup of Poças colheita tawny Ports and Vintage Ports.

2001 Poças Colheita Port – Bottled in 2016. Clear amber in color. Some spirit and cinnamon on the reluctant nose. Unctuous orange marmalade and some spirits on the palate. Bright acidity, with slight heat on the finish. 89 points. 9/19/2016

1992 Poças Colheita Port – Bottled in 20116. Light amber in color. Heat on the nose. Mahogany and some caramel notes on the nose. Concentrated maple and some spirit on the palate. Unctuous mouthfeel, with a very long finish. 90 points. 9/19/2016

1967 Poças Colheita Port – Bottled in 2016. Orange amber in color. Dusty leather and some spirit on the nose, with a touch of vanilla underneath. Balanced tannins and acidity. The touch of heat on the nose wasn’t present on the palate. 91 points. 9/19/2016

1997 Poças Vintage Port – Mostly clear ruby in color. Some red fruit and some anise and slight vegetative notes on the nose. A little heat on the approach with grippy tannins on the mid-palate. Medium-long finish. 90 points. 9/19/2016

2007 Poças Vintage Port – Impenetrable dark purple in color. Some red fruits on the nose. Dusty tannins are immediately apparent on the approach. Tannins roll through the mid-palate into the finish, where some fruit reemerges right at the tail end of the finish. 92 points. 9/19/2016

2011 Poças Vintage Port – Dark, opaque purple in color. Violets and floral notes on the nose. Elegant approach with great tannins that start slow and really express themselves on the mid-palate. Extremely long finish. 94 points. 9/19/2016

After our tasting, we headed down into the cellars to see some of their old barrels of wine and to have dinner. The cellars were a mirror image of the traditional/modern vibe in the tasting room upstairs, with a mix of old wooden barrels of Port and more modern metal wire containers of bottled wines.

As we made our way around the cellar, we had the opportunity to try a Port wine style that I’ve only had one or two times before – a “Quinado” Port wine. Quindao is a rare style of Port wine which is created by adding quinine to Port. It was originally produced to ship to the colonies to ward off malaria. It was likewise distributed to soldiers in tropical climes during wartime for the same purpose.

Poças Quinado Colheita Port – Over 30 Year Old. Vanilla nougat on the nose. Extremely intense mouthfeel with a vanilla bean. Bright acidity on the palate, and long, unctuous finish. 94 points. 9/19/2016

After touring the cellars, we sat down at the table to enjoy a wonderful meal, with a wine-cellar ambiance that capped off an amazing day.

2015 Pocas Reserva Douro White, N/R
2015 Pocas Vale de Cavalos Douro Red, N/R