Day 6 – Friday

DR (Agri-Roncão) – Quinta da Levandeira do Roncão

After a good night’s sleep, we grabbed breakfast, checked out of our hotel, and headed off in the minibus for our last day of adventures in the Douro. The 45-minute ride brought us to a Quinta da Levandeira do Roncão, also known as Agri-Roncão. Not many people may recognize the name, but this property has been bottling some amazing wines under the “DR” label/brand. For many repeat visitors on the tours, we know and love this property for the amazing hospitality they always show us, the fantastic (and old) wines they often let us sample, and the great memories that we always leave with. Today’s visit would be no exception.

Agri-Roncão has two main properties. We visited Quinta de Linhares, located in the Vinhos Verde area, on a previous Port Harvest Tour. Today’s visit was to their Douro property (Quinta da Levandeira do Roncão) which has about 40 hectares of vineyard, with traditional Port grapes Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Franca, and Tinta Barroca the predominate varieties planted. They also have amazing old stocks of Port wines, some going back 150 years.

The property was purchased by Domingos Ribeiro in 2001, and by 2005 the vineyards and winery had been updated. The first Port wines under the DR brand were sold in 2006

2008 DR White Colheita Port – Bottled in 2021. Clear, light yellow in color. Floral, honey, and light tropical notes on the nose. Intense, wonderful mouthfeel with tropical fruit, bananas, and very nice acidity. Excellent finish. Super smooth and drinkable. 94 points. 10/1/2021

DR 20 Year Old White Port – Dark yellow in color. Butterscotch is present on the nose, and I am just starting to detect the first notes of oxidation you expect from the older White Ports. Vanilla, hazelnuts, and great honey notes on the palate. Very nice tannins with bright acidity. Sweet notes of honey with complexity and richness on the long finish. 95 points. 10/1/2021

DR 50 Year Old White Port – Bottled in 2021. Deep golden color. Dried floral and herbal notes on the nose, with some very nice hints of honey and varnished wood floors underneath. Extreme smoothness and an amazing rich palate of tropical fruit, honey, and butterscotch. Great sweetness that is intricately balanced with the acidity. Extremely long finish. 96 points. 10/1/2021

DR 30 Year Old White Port – Unfiltered cask sample. Dark yellow-orange in color. Intense nose of tropical fruit, bananas, and honey. There are notes of oxidation that I expect from aged Whites Ports. It has a rich mouthfeel that starts with good acidity and a touch of nuts and almond skins. A little bitterness appears on the mid-palate, though not in a distracting way. Very nice long finish. 92 points. 10/1/2021

DR 20 Year Old Tawny Port – The blend for this wine is probably closer to 25 years old on average. Orange-yellow in color. Wonderful notes of dried fruit, toffee, and citrus (lemon). On the palate, it is smooth with notes of maple, lightly roasted nuts, and some orange spice. The very bright acidity seems to hide a bit of the flavor profile on the palate. The tannins start to announce themselves on the mid-palate. Intense complexity on the finish but this seems a little unbalanced. 91 points. 10/1/2021

DR 30 Year Old Tawny Port – Bottled in 2021. Orange-brown in color with yellow on the edges. Notes of grilled lemon and some butterscotch on the nose. Rich mouthful with great notes of toasted nuts and caramel and showing some hints of early oxidation. 93 points. 10/1/2021

DR 40 Year Old Tawny Port – Bottled in 2020. Clear, light brown in color with some yellow tinge. Lemon and burnt sugar notes on the nose. Pleasant, sweet notes of caramel right on the entry. About half a second after you swallow, boom! The intensity of this wine explodes on the palate with waves of complex flavors of caramel, burnt sugar, and fresh sweetness. Usually, a 40 Years Old Tawny Port would have more torrefacted sugars notes, but not this one. Extremely long finish. 95 points. 10/1/2021

DR L70 Very Old Tawny Port – Bottled in 2021. This wine came from four forgotten casks at DR. Amber-brown color with yellow-green tinge on the edge. Warm spirit and loads of mocha notes on the nose. Incredible smooth texture, with complex notes of caramel, dried fruit, honey, and espresso beans. Remarkable for its balance and freshness. Amazing for a wine this old. Bottle number 85 of 200. 98 points. 10/1/2021

DR 100 Year Very Old Tawny Port – Cask #3 Sample. Dark brown in color with yellow on the edges. Mahogany and expressive notes of espresso, chocolate, and vinegrenio. The incredibly rich mouthfeel seems to pick up viscosity on the mid-palate and evolve into a complex mélange of rich, flavors and textures. I picked up rich toffee, torrefacted brown sugars and some simply amazing intensity flavor profile. Great balance of acidity and sweetness. Wow. This is an amazing cask sample. Like drinking honeyed molasses with a shot of espresso. This cask is the is the Muito Velha (Very Old) Port with over 100 years of age. These are often used to blend into other wines. 99 points. 10/1/2021

After such a wonderful tasting, it was hard to imagine what could possibly top that experience. Our hosts, however, had one additional surprise in store for us. They handed each of us a glass of very very old Tawny Port and led us into an adjoining barrel room where chairs were set out on the floor (appropriate spaced for the Covid era).

As we took our seats, three performers entered the room. One sat down at a piano and began to play, and the other two, who were Opera singers, serenaded us with beautiful musical numbers while we sipped and enjoyed our Port.

Time to Say Goodbye at Quinta Quinta da Levandeira do Roncão 

DR 100 Year Old Tawny Port – Cask #1 Sample. Dark brown in color with yellow on the edges. Intense dark chocolate, espresso, and molasses on the nose. Rich, sweet flavor profile with nuts, chocolate, and dried fruits.  An amazingly long finish. Not rated because I was listening to two opera singers performing in the barrel room. N/R 10/1/2021

After a stunning performance, we headed over to the dining room at the Quinta and had a wonderful, traditional Portuguese meal. We then said our own goodbyes and boarded the bus to return to Porto. It was a perfect ending to a remarkable day in the Douro.

Day 7 – Saturday

World of Wine (WoW) Experiences

Our last day on the Port Harvest Tour would be spent exploring one of the “newer” attractions in Vila Nova de Gaia – the World Of Wine (WoW).

WOW is a sprawling, 300,000-square-foot complex developed by The Fladgate Partnership in Vila Nova de Gaia where Port wine warehouses once stood. After the introduction of temperature control in the Douro Valley (where the vineyards are located), the regulations changed and no longer required Port to be transported to the cooler area of Vila Nova de Gaia for aging, storage, and shipping. Many producers started storing their wines in the Douro rather than shipping it all downriver. This left many of the historical warehouses un- or under-utilized and paved the way for developing the properties into something new.

The development took five years to complete and transformed the old warehouse district into a tourism experience with six interactive museums and nine restaurants, bars, and cafes.

Today, we would be visiting three of the museums and conducting a tasting of Vintage Ports from 1970 at The WOW School of Wine.

The Wine Experience

The first stop was the Wine Experience Exhibit.

We were met by our friend Tania Branco Oliveira, Marketing Director for The Fladgate Partnership, who would be our host for the day.

The Wine Experience is a hands-on museum that is focused on demystifying wine. Its exhibits explain in plain language how wine is made, and how the climate, environment, soil types, and grape varieties impact the wine that ultimately ends up in the bottle. There are exhibits about wine, including Portuguese wine-producing regions, viticulture, and wine aromas (to name a few). It is a comprehensive look at wine, intending to educate consumers about the journey of wine from “root to vine to grape to bottle to glass.”

The Bridge Collection

The next stop was The Bridge Collection, an amazing exhibit of drinking vessels from across history. There are more than 2,000 vessels and glasses on display, tracing the history of drinking vessels back 9,000 years. This is an impressive collection assembled by Adrian Bridge, CEO of Taylor Fladgate.

Porto Region Across The Ages

The final museum was Porto Region Across the Ages. This exhibit traces the rich heritage of the Porto region, shows how the region grew from ancient times and how trade, conquests, wars, and exploration helped to define the region. We were fortunate that Adrian could join us and give us a personal tour of some of the highlights of the museum.

School of Wine

After touring the three museums, we headed over to The Wine School for a tasting of 1970 Vintage Ports from the Taylor Fladgate Partnership portfolio.

1970 Croft Vintage Port – Ex-cellars. Amber in color with some pink hues. Breadfruit and spices on the nose. Warm mid-palate with rich raspberry, spice notes, and some dusty tannins. A touch of nice acidity leads into the long finish of red fruits, Christmas spice, and noticeable spirit. This is a very good showing for this wine. 96 points. 10/1/2021

1970 Fonseca Vintage Port – Amber with a slight orange tinge and subtle pink hues on the edge. Some faint chocolate notes on the nose. Rich mouthfeel with herbal notes, fresh cherry, and well-balanced acidity. Rich viscosity and a nice long finish. 95 points.10/1/2021

1970 Taylor Vintage Port – Amber-ruby and color with significant sediment. Subtle nose of… it’s corked. Not rated. 10/1/2021

1970 Taylor Single Harvest Tawny Port – Bottled in 2020. Amber-orange in color with a touch of yellow on the edges. Apricot, creme brulee, and rich buttery notes on the nose. Rich citrus with orange and well-balanced acidity on the palate. Nice sweetness and structure on the long finish. 94 points. 10/1/2021

Wrap Up

The 2021 FTLOP Harvest Tour was another wonderful experience in Porto and the Douro Valley. For some of the participants, it was the first trip since the Covid pandemic, and I think for everyone on the tour, it was an amazing visit to this special place, tasting amazing wines, seeing old friends, making new friends, and sharing experiences that will be remembered for years.

Any suggested corrections can be emailed to [email protected].