Day 1 – Sunday

As is the tradition, the FTLOP Port Harvest Tours starts in the afternoon on Sunday, which meant our small group had one more chance to do a pre-tour tasting. I usually always visit the Kopke Tasting Room in Vila Nova de Gaia at the beginning of my Portugal trips, and it didn’t take much convincing to get the rest of the group to join in.

Kopke Tasting Room

Kopke boasts that it is The Oldest Port Wine House, having been established in 1638. They are known for their wide range of Colheita Ports, and their quality in the Tawny category has always been up there with the best brands.

Our friend Cristiana Martins, who manages the Tasting Room in Vila Nova de Gaia, always welcomes us with open arms and provides us with exceptional tastings. Remarkably, she always seems to know what we have tasted on previous visits, so she is always bringing out something that we haven’t tried recently. I am honestly not sure how she does that!

Today’s tasting would be a nice mix of Colheita Tawny Ports from single years, as well as a few “Tawnies With An Indication of Age” – 10 Years Old, 30 Years Old, and 40 Years Old.

 

Ports With An Indication of Age

Kopke 10 Year Old White Port – Pale yellow-orange in color. Chilled, so there was a subdued nose of some light tropical fruit. Unctuous mouthfeel with papaya, vanilla and great freshness on the finish. 90 points. (9/22/2019)

Kopke 30 Year Old Tawny Port – Cinnamon-orange in color. Caramel and some spice on the nose. Maple syrup, a touch of cinnamon, and toffee on the palate. Balanced acidity and long, luscious finish. 93 points. (9/22/2019)

Kopke 40 Year Old Tawny Port – Amber-orange in color with lightening on the edge. Tobacco, orange peel, and some vanilla on the nose. Surprisingly well-balanced entry with great acidity and flavors of orange peel, vanilla, and a touch of spice on the late palate and finish. 92 points. (9/22/2019)

 

Colheita Ports

1978 Kopke Colheita Port – Bottled in 2018. Amber-orange in color. Mahogany on the nose with orange peel and some caramel. Coffee, mocha, and orange spice on the palate. Great balance and bright acidity on the finish. 94 points. (9/22/2019)

1966 Kopke Colheita Port – Bottled in 2019. Amber-brown in color with yellow edges. Mocha and mahogany on the nose. Full-bodied with some fig, caramel, and orange spice. Fantastic mouthfeel with great balance on the finish. 95 points. (9/22/2019)

After the excellent tasting at Kopke, we decided to get lunch at one of our favorite restaurants on the waterfront in Vila Nova de Gaia.

 

Lunch at Taberninha do Manel

Taberninha do Manel is, conveniently, right next door to the Kopke Tasting Room, so we grabbed a table outside, with many of the group opting for what we consider one of their signature dishes: Francesinha.

Francesinha is a type of smothered Portuguese sandwich that is usually made with bread, cured ham, linguiça (sausage made from pork and seasoned with onion, garlic, paprika, and other spices), and pork or beef. It is covered with melted cheese and then smothered with a spicy tomato-beer sauce.

 

After lunch, we met up with all of the other tour participants in the lobby of the Teatro Hotel. We did a round of introductions, though many of us already knew each other, and Roy and Mario, our two tour hosts, went over the logistics for the week.

Once the formalities were concluded, we set out in the minibus for our first visit.

PORT HARVEST TOUR BEGINS

Caves Messias

Messias was a company that I had not had much experience with, but as I would learn, they have a wide range of Ports, wines, and sparkling wines. The company was founded in 1926 by Messias Baptista, who ran the company until 1973. The company remains a family-owned business, and it produces and sells wines from several of the main Portuguese wine regions: Bairrada, Douro, Dão, Vinho Verde, and Beiras.

The Quintas

The company is based in Mealhada, which is in the central Portuguese wine region of Bairrada. Along with their production facilities, Messias has around 130 ha in Mealhada, with 70 planted with vines, which are used to produce their Quinta do Valdoeiro table wine.

In 1956, Messias acquired Quinta do Cachão in the Douro Valley near São João da Pesqueira, which has 200 ha of vines. Messias Port Wines and the Douro wine Quinta do Cachão are produced here.

In 2000, Messias acquired four estates in the Dão Region, including Quinta do Penedo (20 ha).

Today we would be visiting the main facility in Mealhada. Despite the modern-looking exterior and wine shop at the entrance, once we started to head down into the cellars it was like descending into history.

 

We took a tour of the impressive cellars, which houses Ports, table wines, and sparkling wines produced by Messias.

After the tour, we headed up to the tasting room to begin our sampling of a wide range of Messias Ports. The tasting was led by Winemaker Ana Urbano and Margarida Valente, Commercial Director (Margarida is also the daughter of the founder of Messias).

Vintage Ports

1966 Messias Quinta do Cachão Vintage Port – Clear, amber-orange in color. Decanted for 1 hour. Some cherry, almond, and cinnamon on the nose. Sweet and full-bodied on the palate. Cherry and chocolate on the late palates with a touch of cinnamon on the finish. 90 points. (9/22/2019)

1980 Messias Quinta do Cachão Vintage Port – Clear, amber-brown in color. Decanted for about 1 hour. Cocoa powder and a touch of pomegranate on the nose. Rich mouthfeel with chocolate and Christmas spice on the palate. Long finish with good sweetness and acidity. 92 points. (9/22/2019)

 

Tawny Ports

Messias 20 Year Old Tawny Port – Bottled in 2019. Amber orange in color. Orange blossom and fresh almond on the nose. Half of the blend is from the mother wine, which is from the 1990s. Additionally, wines from 1978, 1985, and 1987 (and sometimes additional vintages) are used in this wine, and all in different percentages every year. Orange, caramel, and butterscotch on the palate. Very fresh with good acidity.  90 points. (9/22/2019)

Messias 30 Year Old Tawny Port – Bottled in 2018. Dry fruit, figs, almonds, spices, and orange blossom on the nose. Lush honey and spice on the palate. A touch of chocolate and orange spice on the finish. Balanced and nice, long finish. 91 points. (9/22/2019)

Messias 40 Year Old Tawny Port – This was bottled in 2018 and is more than 40 years old. Light VA on the nose (not bad for a 40 Year Old Tawny). It has started to gain some color. Honey and almonds on the nose. Bright acidity on the balanced, fantastic finish. 93 points. (9/22/2019)

 

Colheita Ports

1980 Messias Colheita Port – Bottled in 2017. Clear, light orange in color. Some white grapes were used in this blend (actually, more white than red) giving it the bright acidity. This is a field blend (meaning different varietal vines in the vineyards are all mixed in together), so it has both white and red grape varietals in the wine. They replanted Quinta do Cachão with block planting in 1985. Very unctuous with great acidity. Orange, honey, and spice on the mid-palate, with a long finish. 93 points. (9/22/2019)

1964 Messias Colheita Port – Bottled last week. Amber-brown in color with clear edges. Woody and dusty notes on the nose. Very rich palate with orange spice, nuts, and butterscotch. Clean, extremely long finish with notes of candied nuts and orange spice. 94 points. (9/22/2019)

1952 Messias Colheita Port – Bottled last week. Mahogany brown in color. Clear and semi-opaque. Dusty library and wood notes on the nose and tons of mocha powder. An intense concentration and unctuous mouthfeel with salted caramel and mocha. Light brown sugar on the very long finish with amazing acidity. 95 points. (9/22/2019)

 

Sparkling

2014 Messias Blanc de Noir Grand Reserva – This sparkling wine was made from the Baga grape varietal. N/R. (9/22/2019)

 

After the extensive tasting with our wonderful hosts at Messias, we loaded up in the minibus and took a short drive to a unique restaurant.

Churrasqueira Rocha

Mealhada-born António Ferreira da Rocha opened his first restaurant in his hometown in 1961. He specialized in suckling pig and Angolan specialties like Vilela-style roasted cod and barbecued chicken. In 1979, he opened Churrasqueira Rocha, focusing primarily on suckling pig.

I could tell we were in for a treat as I looked around at all the tables in the rather large restaurant – trays of suckling pig were everywhere, and patrons seemeds very happy about that.

Mario ordered serval dishes to be shared with the table. When the main course arrived, it smelled absolutely delicious. We started diving into the trays of sucking pig and washed it all down with table wines that Messias had sent along with us.

 

 

Dinner Wines

• 2017 Quinta do Pendo Dão Encrizado
• Qunita do Valdoeiro Baga / Arinto Brut Sparkling
• 2016 Caves Messias Bairrada Clássico Garrafeira