Day 2 – Monday

Quinta de Brunheda

After a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast at the hotel, we climbed onto our bus that whisked us East on the way to the Douro Valley. After a pleasant two-hour ride, we arrived at our first Douro destination – Quinta de Brunheda.

Quinta de Brunheda is a wonderful producer that we have visited a few times over the years on the Port Harvest Tour. Delio Mesquita and Pedro Carneiro always treat us to a wonderful, unique visit, and while they produce several very nice table wines, we especially look forward to being able to taste their deep stocks of old Tawny Ports.

Quinta de Brunheda is a 360-hectare family-owned property which has been owned by the Mesquita family since 1720. It is in the Douro Superior, which is the eastern-most region of the Douro Valley. I first visited Quinta de Brunheda on that 2006 Port Harvest Tour and was really blown away by the depth and complexity of the Tawny Port cask samples we tasted from cask.

Until recently, Quinta de Brunheda wasn’t bottling their Ports commercially. However, they revived an old Port brand – Blackett Port Wine – and launched Alchemy Wines, which ships/exports the wines. Much of the Port in the Blackett bottlings comes from Quinta de Brunheda, but by setting up a separate brand (Blackett) and a different exporter (Alchemy) than the Quinta namesake, it gives them increased flexibility to make the best wines possible – with grapes from the Quinta or bought from somewhere else – without running afoul of many of the wine and labeling regulations in Portugal.

We were in for a special treat today, though, because we weren’t going to go to the main Quinta. Instead, we were heading to one of the Quinta’s armazéms, or warehouses. A short walk into the center of the village led us to a small courtyard with an outdoor stone lagar (used to tread grapes), and two small buildings on either end of the courtyard. The smaller of the buildings, we later learned, was apparently used as the single jail cell for the small village. The larger of the two buildings would be the focus of our attention.

As we ducked into the dark, cool space, we noticed rows of old dusty barrels stacked tightly throughout the room. There was barely enough space for one person to walk between the casks, but we each took a turn surveying the old, dusty casks in the room.

It wasn’t long before Pedro had pulled a sample of a White Port that was more than 50 years old from cask and began pouring it from his decanter for us to taste.

Quinta de Brunheda Cask 48 Very Old White Port. Cask sample. Bright orange in color with yellow on the rim. Cedar, orange spies and rich caramel on the nose. Extremely smooth, rich, and complex mouthfeel. Vanilla, rich butterscotch and incredibly vibrant palette. Warm spice and some very pleasant tannins on the finish. This is probably around 50 years old. 94 points. 9/27/2021

Quinta de Brunheda Barrel 49 White Port. Cask sample. Malvasia and Códega grapes. Yellow straw in color. Pedro guessed is this is a 15 year old White Port. This wine is used as a base “mother wine” for blending. Tropical fruit – mango and white Peach – on the nose. Sweet profile with some light grilled pineapple on the palate. Smooth flavor profile. 91 points. 9/27/2021

Quinta de Brunheda Cask 50 Very Old White Port. Cask sample. Bronze-yellow in color with light yellow on the edges. Great nose of fresh citrus and honey. There is also some burnt sugar notes underneath some exceptional lemon and pralines. Rich complexity, rich mouthfeel and amazing acidity. This sings through the mid palate and ends with a very long smooth finish. 95 points. 9/27/2021

Quinta de Brunheda Cask 51 Very Old Tawny Port. Cask sample. Over 50 years old. Amber-orange in color. Old wood, spirit and almost a little hint of VA on the nose. On the palate, there are dates, pralines and orange peel with some sharp acidity and burnt sugar. Decently balanced mid-palate, although there is just a touch of bitterness. Smooth, long finish with very nice acidity. 94 points. 9/27/2021

Quinta de Brunheda Cask 52 Very Old Tawny Port. Cask sample. More than 80 years old. Bright amber in color with yellow edges that trend toward green. Mahogany, espresso, and molasses on the nose. Incredibly intense flavor profile. Wow! Intense, complex notes of toffee, burnt sugar, and espresso. A very old wine that has maintained complexity and balance of the acidity and sweetness. 97 points. 9/27/2021

During the course of the tasting, it was easy to see giddy smiles and the “someone pinch me to make sure I’m not dreaming” looks as we tasted through these extraordinary wines. It was really a remarkable experience to be able to try these old wines – these aren’t something that you can exactly run down to the wine shop and pick up. There also aren’t a lot of people who have ever been able to try these wines, so we were ecstatic to get the opportunity to do so. Score one more for Roy and Mario’s ability to raise the level of their game every single year.

After the tasting in the courtyard, we went to the main Quinta and settled in for lunch, one of their table wines, and some more Ports.

2017 Brunheda Grande Reserva Douro White – N/R

Blackett 10 Years Old White Port. Amber-brown in color. Creme brûlée crust, citrus and a touch of tropical fruit on the nose. Rich mouthfeel though there is a touch of bitterness on the pallet that masks some of the wonderful caramel and nutty notes. 90 points. 9/27/2021

Blackett 20 Years Old Tawny Port. Dark amber-orange in color. Orange spice, vanilla and some light cocoa notes on the nose. Incredible, intense mouthfeel of burnt sugar, milk chocolate and intense but balanced acidity. Long finish with great acidity and balance. 93 points. 9/27/2021

Blackett 30 Years Old Tawny Port. Amber-brown in color. Mahogany, dusty notes and a touch of espresso on the nose. Amazing structure and texture on the palate with molasses, hazelnuts, and mocha powder. Very nice long finish, with some bright acidity. 94 points. 9/27/2021

Quinta de Brunheda Very Old Tawny Port. This Tawny Port is over 125 years old. Cola center with amber that fades to orange on the very edges. Great nose of polished teak, dark chocolate and some wonderful complexity. Fantastic, incredible intensity. Amazing mouthfeel with maple syrup, intense cocoa and molasses. Finish goes on and on with waves of honey, molasses, and rich acidity. Absolutely crazy Port! 99 points. 9/27/2021

Blackett 40 Years Old White Port. Amber-orange in color. Chocolate notes and molasses. Intense citrus and some bitter almond skins in the palate. Very long finish with caramel, great acidity, and balance. 94 points. 9/27/2021

D.O.C. Restaurant

After the amazing time at Quinta de Brunheda, we headed over to our hotel, a place we have stayed at several times before. It’s well-situated not too far away from the bridge at Peso da Regua, making it a convenient base for some of our upcoming visits. But one of my favorite things about the hotel is that it is near to one of the best restaurants in the Douro, Rui Paula’s DOC.

Rui Paula currently operates three separate restaurants – Casa de Chá da Boa Nova in Leça da Palmeira (which was awarded a 2nd Michelin Star in 2019), DOP in Porto and DOC in the Douro Valley. He is an amazing chef, and the experience has been impeccable every time I’ve gone to any of the three restaurants.

When we have visited DOC in the past, Roy often has arranged for a winemaker or someone else in the trade to join us. This time, however, the intention was a little bit different.

As many of our long-term friends who have been in the industry for sometimes decades are reaching their retirement age, we’ve begun to try and have an informal retirement dinner for (and with) them. It is a way for many of the FTLOP faithful to thank them for their hospitality, generosity and friendship across the years.

For this dinner, we were having a little bit of a COVID “makeup” retirement celebration for George Sandeman, who had officially left Sogrape, the current owners of Sandeman.

Sandeman was established in 1790 by George Sandeman, and the George joining us tonight is a descendent of the 7th Generation of Sandemans. Sandeman remained a family business until it was purchased by Seagram in 1979. It then passed briefly to Diageo and Pernod Ricard, who then sold it to Sogrape, Portugal’s largest family-owned wine business, in 2001.

In addition to his Port Wine heritage, George also serves as the Chancellor of the Confraria do Vinho do Porto (Port Wine Brotherhood).

Roy had suggested that we all bring a nice Port from our home cellars to share and celebrate with George, and the tour guests did not disappoint!

As usual, I did not write any tasting notes for the dinner wines:

• 2018 Ribeiro Santo “Vinha da Neve” Encruzado
• 2014 Ribeiro Santo “ET” (Encruzado and Touriga Nacional)
• 2015 Envelope DAO DOC
• 2015 Casa Ferreirinha Antonio Adelede Ferreira Douro Red

The Ports, however, were a different story:

1952 Dalva Golden White Port. Bottled in 2006. Brown-yellow in color with light green on the edges. Orange spice and cedar on the nose. Bright acidity with candied orange peel, hazelnuts, caramel and some spirit on the palate. Very long finish. 95 points. 9/27/2021

1997 Sandeman Vau Vintage Port. From magnum. Dark purple with fuchsia on the edges. Fresh crushed raspberries and menthol on the nose. Very nice red fruit and very nice tannins on the palate. Very long finish. 93 points. 9/27/2021

1963 Fonseca Vintage Port. Clear ruby in color with a touch of sediment in the glass. Nose of strawberry and cinnamon with a touch of spirit. Intense mouthfeel with raspberry, some spirit and some acidity. A little hot off the finish with a touch of bitterness. 92 points. 9/27/2021

1966 Fonseca Vintage Port. Dark purple-amber in color. A touch of bottle stink. Some red fruit on the nose. Very rich flavor profile. While many said the fruit would never outlasts the tannins, there was tremendous structure here showing that this wine has held up well against its more flashy, popular, discussed siblings, the 1963. 94 points. 9/27/2021

Caves Messias 30 Years Old Tawny Port. Bottled in 2018. Vanilla, caramel and creme brûlée on the nose. Bright acidity with orange spice, nuts and toffee. There is a touch of bitterness on the pallet, but fades into a very nice long finish. 91 points. 9/27/2021

Sandeman 40 Years Old Tawny Port. Bottled in 2017. Dried apricot, vanilla, and some very nice dried floral notes. Very smooth entry with orange, citrus, and bright acidity. Some hazelnuts and some nice orange spice on the palate. Very long finish with balanced acidity. 93 points. 9/27/2021

DR L70, 70 Years Old Tawny Port. Bottle #61 of 200. Bottled in 2018. Very dark amber-orange in color. Nose of toasted coconut with vanilla and some burnt sugar. Incredibly intense flavor profile. Well integrated sweetness and acidity. The finish is crazy long and amazingly balanced. 96 points. 9/27/2021