Day 3 – Tuesday

The next morning, we grabbed some breakfast, grabbed our bags, checked out of the hotel, and boarded the minibus for the ride from Porto up into the Douro Valley.

We had one pit stop to make on the way to our first appointment – lunch with Maria Borges, Marketing & Sales Manager at Vieira de Sousa! We pulled into an interesting restaurant named Chaxoila Vihos Petiscos and were warmly greeted by the staff, as well as Maria.

Chaxoila Vinhos Petiscos

It was a casual lunch, and we had a great time chatting with Maria and tasting the bottles of wine and Port that she brought along with her.

After lunch, we said our goodbyes, climbed back in the minibus, and headed to a small village where an ancient warehouse filled with large tonels of very old Ports awaited.

Quinta de Brunheda

We arrived at were greeted by Pedro Carneiro, who would be our host for the visit.

Quinta de Brunheda is a 360-hectare family-owned property which has been owned by the Mesquita family since 1720. They also have various warehouses scatted around the Douro where store a lot of old stocks of Ports. Brunheda has been one of our go-to visits for great, old Tawny Ports over the years. They have impressive stocks of old wines, and historically they have not bottled under their own label, but have instead sold their old Tawny stocks to other producers who would blend the Brunheda wines into their own Tawny Port offerings to provide more complexity and depth (even adding a small percentage of old, high-quality Tawny Ports can have a dramatic effect on the finished product).

However, Quinta de Brunheda recently relaunched an ancient brand – Blackett Port Wine – as well as launching Alchemy Wines which ships/exports their wines. It seems that most (but not all) of the wine that is bottled under the Blackett comes from Brunheda’s stocks or vineyards.

Besides their wines and the hospitality of Delio Mesquita and Pedro Carneiro, one of the things I have always enjoyed about visiting Quinta de Brunheda and their warehouses over the years is that they have this ancient, mysterious air to them that I’ve rarely found in other Producers. Their warehouses are often a jumble of casks of various sizes, most with a few cryptic markings in chalk on the side that give no clue to the wines contained within. At times, I have wondered if Delio and Pedro even know what is in all of the casks that they have. If they do, they have embraced the allure of mystery and keep their cards close to their chest. When I once asked Delio the age of one of the wines we were tasting from an unmarked cask, he smiled with a Cheshire-cat grin and just said “old.”  

Today, we would be visiting one of their armazéms, or warehouses. The locations of these warehouses are generally kept private (for obvious reasons), so I will focus primarily on the wines, accompanied by some photos of the interior of the warehouse.

	Quinta de Brunheda Armazém de Codeçais Tonel 1 Old White Port – Cask sample. Amber gold in color. This white Port was last topped off was over 30 years ago, but it has older wine in the barrel. Smooth caramel and orange notes. Elegant, with great balance and acidity. Wonderful long finish. Super smooth. This seems like it is probably a little lower in lower alcohol. 93 points. 9/24/2019
	Quinta de Brunheda Armazém de Codeçais Tonel 2 Very Old Tawny Port – Cask sample. Gold-amber in color. This wine was last topped off perhaps 40-50 years ago. Tawny nose with caramel. A touch of aguardiente on the initial taste. Great balance and acidity with woody notes, caramel, maple syrup and crème Brule. This likely has lower alcohol than the regulatory minimum. Well-balanced acidity. While Tonnel 1 was a smooth white Port you could drink all day, this one is a smooth tawny Port you could drink all day. 93 points. 9/24/2019
	Quinta de Brunheda Armazém de Codeçais Tonel 3 Very Old Tawny Port – Cask sample. Last topped off in the 1960s. Mahogany notes on the nose. Dark amber with greening around the edges. Reductive, unctuous sexiness with chocolate, molasses, and an incredibly long finish. 96 points. 9/24/2019
	Quinta de Brunheda Armazém de Codeçais Tonel 4 Very Old Tawny Port – Cask sample. Amber-orange in color with a touch of green on the rim. Last topped off in the 1930s. Varnish and wood notes, chocolate, and a touch of spirit on the nose. Amazingly unctuous with mocha and amazing concentration. Great acidity. Amazing long finish. Wow. Just wow. 97 points. 9/24/2019
	Quinta de Brunheda Armazém de Codeçais Tonel 6 Very Old Tawny Port – Cask sample. This was last topped off in the 1990s, so this is likely 30-40 years old. Amber-orange in color. Some aguardiente on the nose. Caramel notes and very smooth, with a touch of spirit and light orange. A touch of bitterness on the finish. 93 points. 9/24/2019
	Quinta de Brunheda Armazém de Codeçais Tonel 7 Very Old Tawny Port – Cask sample. This white Port was lass refilled in the early 2000s. Pineapple and tropical fruit on the nose. Amber-orange with straw yellow on the edges. Tropical fruit, honey, and bright acidity on the palate. 94 points. 9/24/2019

It was an incredible experience to try these unique and exceptional wines from the massive tonels in this simple, seemingly unremarkable warehouse in a small village in Northern Portgual.

We all climbed – gobsmacked – back into the bus and departed for our dinner appointment.

Dinner at Aneto & Table

We arrived at an old converted warehouse that sits right along the railway line that runs from the Douro to Porto. The warehouse was renovated and divided up into spaces that now contain several restaurants, tasting rooms, and a wine shop.

Tonight, we would be joined by Isabel Sarmento from Quinta dos Lagares, and João Roseira from Quinta do Infantado, and we would be primarily tasting wines from those two properties. Note: Many of these wines were served while we were eating dinner, so I opted not to write tasting notes for these wines.

Quinta dos Lagares lies on the bank of the Pinhão River in Vale de Mendiz. It is 70 hectares in total area, with 27 hectares planted in vines, 12 hecatrres planted in olives, and 31 which are forested. It has been owned by the Lencart family since 1920, and Pedro Lencart and Isabel Sarmento took over the management of this family farm in 2007. They focused on developing a sustainable farm that now produces wine, honey, cork, and olive oil. They have also invested in renovating both the vineyards and the production facilities. Most of the vineyards are rated “A,” the highest classification of vineyard quality.

Quinta dos Lagares is also home to one of the Feitoria stone markers (marked as no. 86) that were laid to demarcate the Douro Valley wine region between 1756 and 1761.

Wines

• 2017 Quinta dos Lagares Douro White
• 2016 Bago de Touriga Moscatel Galego Branco Seco Gouvyas
• 2017 Quinta dos Lagares Mourisco Douro White
• 2017 Quinta dos Lagares Reserva Douro White
• 2015 Quinta do Infantado Douro Red
• 2015 Quinta dos Lagares Touriga Nacional Douro Red

Quinta do Infantado was established in 1816 by D. Pedro IV, the son of Portuguese King João VI, and was sold to João Lopes Roseira in 1904. It has remained in the hands of the Roseira family ever since. They mostly sold their wine to larger shippers until the 1979 when they decided to start estate-bottling their own wines. However, they were forbidden from selling those wines outside of the country because they did not own a commercial warehouse near the cooler Atlantic coast in Vila Nova de Gaia, as was then required by Portuguese wine regulations. When Portugal joined the European Union in 1986, the laws changed and they were then able to export their wines to other countries.

Wines

• 2013 Quinta do Infantado Roseira Douro Red
• 2009 Quinta do Infantado Reserva Douro Red
• Quinta do Infantado Ruby Reserve Port
• 2013 Quinta dos Lagares VV44 Vinhas Velhas Douro Red
• 2015 Quinta do Infantado Late Bottled Vintage Port
• 2017 Quinta do Infantado Vintage Port
• 2016 Quinta dos Lagares Vintage Port
• 2010 Quinta do Infantado Colheita Port