Wine & Spirits - Summer 2022 - 12

THE STONE TERRACES AT
QuINTA DOS mALVEDOS
PROVIDE THE CORE OF
GRAHAm'S 2020 VINTAGE
PORT, THE 200TH
ANNIVERSARY BOTTLING.
2020 Port LTD
By JOSHUA GREENE
" L
imited " is the word
to describe the 2020
Vintage Port declarations
from Portugal's Douro Valley.
While the heat was up, the
crop was down. The Instituto
dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto
(IVDP) has approved 40 bottlings
as of this writing, from 27
producers; even so, most producers
announced their declarations
with an emphasis on low yields
and extreme selections.
The cycle began with plentiful
rains at the end of 2019, providing
water reserves for the vines.
Rather than encouraging yields,
however, those reserves were
needed to sustain the vines as
temperatures peaked above 105°
F. in June. Extreme heat lasted
through the month of July. Yields
had already been diminished by
a meager crop-set in the spring
and sunburned grapes cut them
further. For many growers in the
Douro, harvest was concentrated
into the first three weeks of September,
running early and fast,
with all the varieties and exposures
ripening within a tight
timeframe.
The steep canyon walls of
the Douro Valley and the river's
meandering course create one of
the most intricate terroir puzzles
in the world of wine. That diversity
allows for successes in condi12
WINE
& SPIR IT S
tions that may be severe or challenging
overall. Dirk Niepoort
decided against a declaration in
2020, as did Luis Sottomayor of
Sogrape (there will be no Sandeman,
Ferreira or Offley). But, for
those with declarations, success
on a small scale plays into the
contemporary market for Vintage
Port-or, at least, aligns it with
the limited production of other
coveted collectibles from Burgundy,
Piedmont and California.
The two rows of vines at Nacional,
Quinta do Noval's ownrooted
post-phylloxera experiment
from the 1920s, often go
their own way with vintages.
Christian Seely, who has been
managing director at Noval since
1994, states, " There are years
when we know straight after the
treading in lagar that we will be
declaring a Nacional Vintage
Port, and 2020 was one of these. "
At Vargellas, Taylor's quinta in
the Douro Superior, head winemaker
David Guimaraens has
no record of a hotter July (they
started keeping track in 1931),
but says that August temperatures
were cooler than normal,
followed by rain from August 17
to 20, a reset for the vines, which
then raced their fruit to ripeness.
Guimaraens compares the character
of the wines to 2009 and
1820, both years with high sugar
Summ ER 202 2
levels in the grapes. He produced
2,500 cases of Quinta do Vargellas,
which managing director
Adrian Bridge plans to cellar for
late release.
For Charles Symington, winemaker
at Symington Family
Estates, the sweetness of the
grapes played into the 200th
anniversary of the founding of
Grahams. In 1820, the sweet ripeness
of the Port vintage caught
the attention of William and John
Graham, who received 27 barrels
of Port that year to cover a debt
to their textile business, convincing
them to shift their focus to
wine. For the Symingtons, 2020
is also the 350th anniversary of
RAmOS-PINTO'S QuINTA DA
ERVAmOIRA, IN THE ARID
DOuRO SuPERIOR
the founding of Warre's. Charles,
who has been actively playing
with pairs of varieties in co-fermentations,
blended his Graham's
Bicentenary bottling from
several lots, including one cofermented
with touriga nacional
and touriga franca, another pairing
sousão and touriga nacional,
a third combining a host of old
mixed vines, and a fourth, singular
alicante bouschet. He will
release 250 cases this year. And
200 cases of Warre's 350th anniversary
bottling, from two parcels
of old vines in field blends,
their yields per vine one-third of
normal.
For Jorge Rosas of Ramos Pinto,
the freshness of the 2020 Vintage
wine from Quinta da Ervamoira
seemed paradoxical, considering
the dry heat of the Douro
Superior. The wine is a selection
from three parcels planted by his
father, José António Ramos Pinto
Rosas, in the 1970s. " One parcel
has a north exposure, " he told me,
" another northeast. The exposure
might have something to do with
the freshness of the wine. For
me, it's promising, tranquilizing,
when you think about global
warming, in spite of the heat we
are able to grow wines that are
elegant and fresh at that quinta
in the Douro Superior. " l
Wine & Spirits - Summer 2022

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