Pre-Tour Day 4 – Wednesday

After a hearty breakfast, we headed back over to the Kopke Tasting Room. While we had popped in for an impromptu tasting just two days earlier, now we were sitting down for the “official” tasting that I’d scheduled.

Kopke Tasting Room V2.0

1999 Kopke Colheita Port. Bottled in 2021. Amber orange in color. Some red fruit, light cinnamon, and spirit notes on the nose. Rich flavor profile, with a nice structure. Pleasant red fruit and spice notes on the palate. Long finish with good acidity and some pleasant sweetness. 90 points. 9/22/2021

1985 Kopke Colheita Port. Bottled in 2021. Light orange-amber in color. Light nose of pine resin, dried fruits, and vanilla. Very smooth, expressive palate with complex toffee sweetness and Christmas spice. Very balanced with great structure and acidity. Long, rich finish. 93 points. 9/22/2021

1978 Kopke Colheita Port. Bottled in 2021. Orange amber in color. Vanilla, caramel, and dried citrus on the nose. Super smooth mouthfeel with vanilla caramel and orange spice – all extremely well balanced. There is richness and intensity, leading into an extremely long, complex, and beautiful finish. 95 points. 9/22/2021

1975 Kopke Colheita Port. Bottled in 2021. Amber in color. Rich and fragrant nose of oak, smoke, caramel, and vanilla. The acidity is a little sharp, but honey and salted caramel come through on the palate. Very long finish with good balance. 94 points. 9/22/2021

1967 Kopke Colheita Port. Bottled 2021. Brown-yellow in color. Dried fruits with mahogany, sea salt, hazelnuts, and toffee on the nose. Rich, intense mouthfeel with great structure and bright acidity. Orange spice on the mid-palate with a touch of oxidation. The bright acidity carries through to the very long finish. 93 points. 9/22/2021

1966 Kopke Colheita Port. Bottled 2019. An intense brown-yellow in color. Aromas of dried fruit, mahogany, lime, and an old dusty library. Intense mouthfeel but the palate is smooth and well-balanced, giving this wine an elegant feel. Vanilla and dried fig on the long finish. 94 points. 9/22/2021

After our morning tasting, we grabbed our suitcases from the hotel and headed to the beautiful Sao Bento train station to catch our train up to the Douro.

Dow – Quinta do Bomfim

After arriving at the train station in Pinhão, we dropped our bags off at the Vintage House Hotel. We had some time to kill before our afternoon appointment, so we took the short walk over to visit to one of the Symington Family Estates’ properties, Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim. The Quinta is the flagship property for the Dow’s brand.

We tasted a few Ports from the menu, had a light snack, and mostly just sat on the veranda enjoying the views of the hills, vineyards, and the Douro River as it meandered by.

Soon, it was time to head over to our scheduled appointment at Quinta da Roeda.

Croft – Quinta da Roêda

Quinta da Roêda, whose vineyards were originally planted in 1811 and have an area of 109 hectares, is the flagship property for the Croft brand of Port wines. Croft, which was established in 1588, was purchased by Taylor, Fladgate, and Yeatman in 1944, and was later transferred into the private ownership of John Fladgate. John Fladgate’s daughter married Charles Wright of Croft, and thus the property became a part of the Croft Family’s company in 1875. In 2001, The Fladgate Partnership, under the direction of Adrian Bridge, purchased Croft and its properties, bringing full circle the history of Quinta da Roêda. 

We arrived just as one of the tours was preparing to begin, so we joined in and got a tour of the Quinta, vineyards, and lagars. I’ve been to this Quinta many times but had never been on one of the public tours, and it was both enjoyable and informative.

I’d scheduled one of the special picnics that Quinta da Roêda offers, so at the conclusion of the tour, I expected that we would be enjoying our picnic at one of the outdoor picnic tables. However, we were greeted by one of the Quinta’s staff members and were escorted to the charming, small outbuilding where we discovered a lovely spread of cheeses, meats, and breads that had been prepared for us.

We enjoyed a lovely, leisurely lunch, along with a bottle of 2020 Lavradores de Feritoria Douro Branco wine. After lunch we spent a little time exploring the vineyards before heading back to the hotel.

Pre-Tour Day 5 – Thursday

Royal Oporto – Quinta das Carvalhas

Quinta das Carvalhas lies across the river from the Vintage House Hotel, and since we had some time before our next appointment, I decided to walk across the bridge for a visit to their tasting room, which I don’t believe I have ever visited before.

References to Quinta das Carvalhas go back as far as 1759, and in 1881 was purchased by Migual de Sousa Guedes, who was a prominent producer at the time. This began an era of replanting and recovery from the phylloxera pandemic that ravaged vineyards across Europe.

Manuel da Silva Reis, owner of Real Companhia Velha (aka Royal Oporto) acquired the Quinta in 1953, and it remains one of the flagship Quinta for Royal Oporto.

I took a look around the tasting room and wine shop, and then sat down to taste their 10 Year Old and 20 Year Old Tawny Ports.

Quinta das Carvalhas 10 Year Old Tawny Port. Dark amber-purple in color, almost like a Ruby, except for some lightning on the edges. Ripe red fruit on the nose with red currant and raspberry present. Red fruit with some cherry and pomegranate on the pallet. Simple sweet notes on the finish with tannins and spice popping up at the very end of the long finish. 89 points. 9/23/2021

Quinta das Carvalhas 20 Year Old Tawny Port. Garnet center fading to a red-purple on the edge. Oak and cinnamon on the nose with some dry herbal notes underneath. Crushed raspberry and red fruit on the palate with a touch of spirit. The finish shows cherry candy with some sweetness that seems a little out of balance. 88 points. 9/23/2021

After finishing up with my tasting notes, I headed back across the bridge to the hotel, where Jody and I grabbed a cab to take us to our next visit.

Kopke – Quinta S. Luiz

Quinta de S. Luiz has 125 hectares, with 90 of those hectares planted with vines. All of the vineyards are A-rated.

By some accounts, the purchase of the farm in 1781 began the long history of Quinta S. Luiz. Other accounts point to João Varandas as the first owner of the estate between 1800 and 1830. In either case, the Quinta was purchased in 1922 by Kopke (which was founded in 1638) and became the flagship Quinta for the Kopke brand. Kopke (and its Quintas) were sold to Barros in 1953, which was in turn acquired by the Sogevinus Group in 2006.

The facilities and tasting rooms have undergone updates in recent years, and the result is an open, airy tasting room with stone and wood giving it a historical feel.

Today’s extensive tasting would focus on Colheita Ports, a category that Kopke dominates with their breadth of vintages and the quality of these aged Ports.

2008 Kopke White Colheita Port. Bottled in 2020. Orange-yellow in color. Very clear. Roasted nuts, tropical fruit, dried apricots, and honey on the nose. Rich, sweet palette of honey, butterscotch, and pineapple. Bright acidity and long finish. 90 points. 9/23/2021

Kopke 40 Year Old Tawny Port. Bottled in 2019. Amber-orange in color with light yellow on the edges. Vanilla, dried fruits, and hints of cedar on the nose. Rich, bright acidity with bitter almond skins, hazelnuts, and a touch of orange spice on the palate. Full body and rich, with a long, sweet finish. 93 points. 9/23/2021

1987 Kopke Colheita Port. Bottled in 2019. Clear, orange-brown in color. Aromas of caramel, nuts, and candied orange slices. The approach is a little sharp in acidity but mellows out on the mid-palate into a smooth mouthfeel. Light, elegant body with a touch of orange marmalade balanced with some nice sweetness. This one seems like a pleasant sipper in one swallow and a little monolithic in another one. 90 points. 9/23/2021

1985 Burmester Colheita Port. Bottled in 2021. Vibrant orange-amber in color. Vanilla, dried fruits, and dusty library books on the nose. Smooth, well-integrated notes of vanilla, caramel, and a lovely balance of acidity and sweetness. 94 points. 9/23/2021

1985 Kopke Colheita Port. Bottled in 2019. Orange-amber in color. Caramel, vanilla, dried fruits, and cedar on the nose. Warm, rich vanilla cream and hints of cinnamon on the full body. Rich notes of red fruit on the finish. 93 points. 9/23/2021

1981 Kopke Colheita Port. Bottled in 2021. Orange-amber in color. Mahogany notes with some cocoa powder and Christmas spice. Intense flavor profile with dried fruits, burnt sugar, and really nice notes of vanilla and candied orange peel. A touch of sharp acidity on the mid-palate gradually recedes into a well-balanced and long finish. A very nice, rich wine. 94 points. 9/23/2021

1975 Kopke Colheita Port. Bottled in 2019. Slightly funky nose. Sharp acidity and bitterness suggests this might be an off bottle. N/R. 9/23/2021

1974 Barros Colheita Port. Bottled in 2019. Orange-brown in color. Vanilla and some floral notes with nougat on the nose. Rich mouthfeel, with orange marmalade and vanilla caramel. A touch of bitterness on the long finish. 93 points. 9/23/2021

1967 Kopke Colheita Port. Bottled in 2019. Wonderful, complex nose of old wood, dried fruit, caramel, and hazelnuts. Great structure, with rich cherry, cinnamon, and vanilla notes on the palate. Very long finish. 94 points. 9/23/2021