Tardieu-Laurent dinner @ 28-50 with Bastien Tardieu...

This dinner ten days ago was one I had been massively looking forward to. I love the wines from The Tardieu family. 28-50 Fetter Lane did a really great job of hosting the dinner, efficient but understated service and cracking food - menu below!

You can see some other Tardieu-Laurent posts that show the range of the wines. This family firm with father and son team of Michel and Bastien at the helm on the wine side just do a great job. They work with, often in the vineyard as well as cellar, a whole series of producers from Condrieu to Bandol. Producing about 80% reds and 20% whites. They are just what a quality focussed micro-negociant should be. The firm started in 1994 and the 1994 and 1995 vintages were aged in Burgundy (hence the "Laurent" bit) and then from 1996 onwards in Lourmarin where they are based now.

We started this evening with Condrieu 2015 as an aperitif. Now I don't really "do" Viognier in the same way that some people don't like pistachio ice cream (they are insane) but this I did like, and not just because I am biased. Full rich texture but a good bit of acidity and a nice oak integration, I imagine this doesn't see much new oak. It worked well as an aperitif but has plenty about it to be a great food wine. Bastien said it was from a new producer to them, based in Vernon with a parcel facing full south and on thin soil.

It was then time to be seated.

Goose and mustard terrine

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Norfolk Horn lamb rump

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Cheese and Pudding

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Chocolate Cremeux and Fourme d’Ambert

As Bastien said a few words we were served the Hermitage Blanc 2007 en magnum. This was a real star of a wine. This sees 24 months in oak but not much new. One of the key aspects to this wine being the fact that it is possibly the most long-lived of all their wines. One important point of the ageing being that it is done on the fine lees, Bastien noting that this is crucial to the character and complexity. There is a lot going on here, waxy with notes of petrol and pear then lanolin and beeswax, a rich wine but not heavy, more intense than heavy, a little white truffle...splendid just splendid.

As we moved from Terrine to lamb (which was superb) so we moved to reds, all from magnums:

Gigondas 2004 en magnum this is from a higher part of the Gigondas area known as les dentelles, meaning silk or lace as opposed to teeth as one might think. It is an area known for grace and elegance. As an aside, if you get the chance to go to Gigondas then go. It is a beautiful village and has a great restaurant - Oustalet - as outlined in this trip. Back to the wine, this is perfect now, good slightly degraded character and nice earthiness to combine with red back fruits.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Spéciale 2006 en magnum what a wine this is. Year in, year out I love this. 100% Grenache ("as Chateauneuf should be!"), made with 100% whole cluster from 100year+ old vines in La Crau on a sandy soil (only really shared by Rayas, La Crau and Pignan). There is no pumping over, it is what Bastien described as a tea-bag wine. The colour, as Grenache should be, is not too deep. There is an extremely elegant freshness to this wine. I just love the poise and balance, the slight white pepper but mainly the redder leafy fruits. Spot on. All this from a decent, but not more than that, vintage. I have some mags of 2010 but Bastien made me promise I will leave them for a while.

Côte Rôtie Vieilles Vignes 1999 en magnum drinking a wine that is special for a particular reason is always great. The reason this is such is that it was only made in magnum and never sold. It was only the 3rd time Bastien had drunk it! Only three times have they made a Vieilles Vignes Cote Rotie and this was just 300 magnums (2 barrels). There was a "normal" Cote Rotie 1999. The nose is just classical Cote Rotie, all bacon fat and dark spiced fruit. The palate had a more ferrous feel, a savoury bite that left you wanting more. I would say it is mature now, clearly it will continue to age but is spot on at the moment.

When it comes to planning dinners one of the trickier areas is the last course, especially if the producer in question is white or red wine dominated. Here we had a great option. The other "first world problem" is whether you have cheese or pudding first so we served a fortified red with cheese and pudding alongside each other.

Rasteau Vin Doux Naturel 2014 this was a production of just 600 bottles and 2014 was only the second time they had made this. The only Rhone village that has an official appellation for Vin Doux Naturel (or Rhone Port as we simplified it to on my table) is Rasteau. This village, 50 years ago, made almost exclusively VDN. The vines are 80 years old. There is an insane drinkability to this, I am delighted that I bought some. It is redder in fruit than Port, elegant, more drinkable in volume at an early stage, also "only" 17% rather than 20%. Splendid!

And that was it really...a thoroughly enjoyable evening, Bastien throwing great nuggets of information into the mix and everyone just getting stuck in. Wine as it should be...

Domaine Leflaive 2015s...oh and a bit on my "warmer vintage theory"

So having left Bonneau du Martray we headed south to meet up with Brice and the team at Domaine Leflaive. We discussed the vintage and then straight into the tasting.

Brice de la Morandiere

Brice drew some parallels to the 2010s and some elements of 2014 in so far as there was rapid maturity in June and July. As far as harvest goes it was their second earliest start (Friday 28th August) on record at the Domaine. You'd think that the earliest one was 2003, I did, but in fact it was 2011 with 2003 in the bronze medal spot.

Bourgogne Blanc 2015 - Some yellow gold, fresh, generous, not overly lean...nice easy to enjoy, good wine. A dash of spice in there...lots of fruit too, decent acidity giving a nice bit of precision. 16.5 - 17.5 out of 20

Puligny-Montrachet 2015 - A glint of green in the colour, nice sweet attack then a grip of acidity, quite bold. There is a richness and weight to this, a shade heavier than the Bourgogne Blanc. Some lemon sherbet, impressive. 17 - 17.5 out of 20

Meursault 1er Cru Sous le Dos d'Ane 2015 - More gold to the colour, more restrained on the nose. Lovely wine, saline in the mix. Yellow fruits but properly subdued, balanced. Lemon, good spice on the palate, a little prickle of energy. Moreish texture with almost a little tannin. The best Meursault yet from this site and I have loved many of them. 18 out of 20

Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon 2015 - Hints of green again a little like the Puligny Villages. This is tasting the youngest of these, a month behind in evolution, a prickle of gas. A few good nuts and greener fruits, nice depth, spicier and serious. 17.5-18 out of 20 

Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Folatieres 2015 - Less colour here. Steelier...reminds me of Grand Cru Chablis, very mineral. Good weight of sweeter fruit on the palate. Good wine this, long and moreish. 18-18+ out of 20

Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Combettes 2015 - Limes on the nose and more to show that Folatieres at first, Again good weight and volume, great acidity. Long and Grand Cru like on the palate, some green spice, nice nice wine this. Lovely precision. Rich but in no way clumsy. 18+ out of 20

Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles 2015 - Pure light colour, behind Combettes in maturity to my mind. Primary and very focused. Very tight and mineral, a little cheesecloth, fruit character is more lean, less generous. More serious, more for the longer term. Lovely acidity, lively but with real balance, fruit is more on the green/white spectrum than yellow/gold. Strict and very proper. 18-18.5 out of 20

Bienvenues-Batard-Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru 2015 - Pure, Islay nose of brine and saline, very very poised and intense. Delicious palate, there is lively acidity but a sweet fruited nose and delightful richness, all in check and perfectly proportioned. A tiny dash of reduction then a log texture finishes, delicious and serious...pretty special. 18.5 out of 20

Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru 2015 - An immediately broader nose, weightier palate. More sun, more gourmand, more flattering. Delicious palate very rich, broader shoulders. Good spice and to a degree more of the character I expected in 2015. This is easy to "get" and easy to like. 18 out of 20

Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru 2015 - There is, to me, a line from this to Pucelles straight away. Taut, poised. Delicious weight to the palate. There is an understated confidence to it, even a slight smugness. Some brine but a lovely sweetness on the palate. Waxy and very long. My note ends "splendid". 19 out of 20

Domaine Leflaive Holdings

My warmer vintage theory - this isn't so much a theory as a series of observations from a few tastings. I have seen in more recent warm vintages, often the very same vintages that tend to get a better write-up for reds than whites (so 2003, 2005, 2009 and potentially 2015) that actually, by picking early, the great white Domaines can do just as well if not better than in the more classical years. This was born out to a degree in both of these tastings Roulot a good look and Burgundy pairs 2009 & 2010. I can hear the cynics saying... "well you would say that as a merchant about to sell exactly that sort of vintage" but I also happen to think it is true.

Back to Leflaive for a moment and before we headed into Beaune for a very speedy lunch we had a look at the developments in storage they are making and along the way we were shown the two barrels that are talked about in this story. The two, slightly differently sized, barrels will be raised at Domaine Leflaive. What will happen to the wine is not yet decided.

Bonneau du Martray 2015s - the first of three mini blogs from Burgundy, October 2016

So last Sunday/Monday, with two colleagues, I made a bit of a "dash in, dash out" visit to Burgundy. Strictly that's not true as Guido stayed there all week. But it is amazing what you can get to taste in 20 hours in the Cote!

We arrived and about 3 minutes later had supper in Puligny. The three bottles in the picture.
Puligny-Montrachet 2012 from Francois Carillon was drinking deliciously, just PnP and crack on, good intensity. The Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot 2012 from Domaine Ramonet is clearly less ready, more focussed, tighter and may be leaner but classy, I didn't really have a favourite right now. Hand carrying a bottle of Bordeaux - Roc de Cambes 2009 - to Burgundy may seen a little odd but actually there are very few occasion when Roc isn't a good idea. The 2009 shows all the promise of never closing down (the 2005 though did)...what's not to like, our guest certainly loved it.

Up at the "crack of sparrows" and down to breakfast in the hotel in Puligny at 7am, first tasting, for which we were 1 minute early was 8am at Bonneau du Martray with the ever charming and often slightly mischievous Jean-Charles Le Bault de la Moriniere. We chatted and then went downstairs to the tasting room which is new since I was last there back in 2009. I'll never leave it this long again!

It is lovely to visit this Domaine, almost unique in producing solely Grand Cru wine - even Domaine de la Romanee-Conti sometime does a 1er Cru!! Having just two wines to concentrate on is a blessing when at some producers it can be tens of wines. Red then white (leaves you better placed for the next tasting from a practical standpoint) as the locals prefer.

Corton Grand Cru 2015 - Good colour, bright and translucent. Very primary and airy on the nose, good wine, nice crunchy fruit and a proper backbone. A good mineral aspect, cherry fruits and a little black fruit but behind the red. Vibrant, freshness. 17-18 out of 20 Drink 2022-2032+ (40% new wood).

Then a chance to re-taste the bottled (end of March 2016) 2014 vintage. This was the first certified organic vintage for the estate.

Corton Grand Cru 2014 - Nicely complete, melds together well. Some sweetness to the attack, then structure. A little leaner than sometimes, good structure and a cool fruit character which adds to the crunchy fruit expression. 17 out of 20 Drink 2020-2026+ 

FYI - Jean-Charles likes to always wait 8-10 years before opening the red. About the only exception I have found was the 2007. 

Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2015 - In many ways this is the crucial wine of the visit. Bonneau du Matray is comfortably the largest landowner in Corton-Charlemagne. Lovely bright colour, waxy with some unctuousness, generous for the wines of this estate but some of that will be the ripeness of youth. A little grapefruit and great depth. Lemons and pears on the finish. This will tighten up and is very promising indeed. 18-18.5 out of 20 Drink 2019-2027

Then the 2014 which I have had in London a couple of times.

Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2014 - A good whiff of subtle reduction. A little prickle of spice, such supreme tension, this is the archetypal "coiled spring" but not to the degree that means you can't see how good it is now...you can! Savoury, intense, moreish and very long...18.5-19 out of 20 Drink 2020-2030+

A few words about the savageness of the production in 2016 here...well not as bad as many places is the answer. The 2016 Corton-Charlemagne is 40% down, the Corton is 66% down (usually 24 barrels, just 8 in 2016).

Bravo J-C!

Back to the beginning - Port and the Douro a magic couple of days...

When the alarm went at 3.10 on a Monday morning I can't say I was thinking about drinking Port much, however, this was to be quite a two and a half days. Port is the wine that first really made me investigate wine and start reading and researching it, ironically in nearly 18 years in the trade I had never been to either Porto or up the Douro.

First things first, special thanks must go to Richard Girling and the team at Fells for the invite and to our superb Guide and Symingtons man João Vasconcelos. It followed on in a way from a tremendous few days - Maderia lots of hard work and the odd ninja and Madeira - Blandys tour and tasting - in Madeira two years earlier. These trips are really great experiences and further re-iterate to me that whilst wine is a result of weather and environment the people involved in the production and selling of it are both crucial and often the most fun part of it all. 

My tasting book from the trip took the format I have tried to follow for trips - right hand page for notes and the "wine stuff", lefthand page for amusing observations, anecdotes and quotes - it is amazing how the lefthand page can make on smile months and years later.

So on with the "work"! Having got to Gatwick from north London for the 5.45am meet it was time for coffee. The flight was snug thanks to the easy jet seats but also the presence of Burns on my "loosehead" side and Girling on the "tighthead". We landed in fog and a cool 16 degrees.

From the airport it was a quick 20 minute ride to the Graham’s 1890 Lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia where the Port lodges are situated historically. I hadn't realised that, despite now being joined, actually Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia are separate cities.

We were met on arrival by João who then gave us a private tour of the Lodge. It's a wonderful spot and you get a real sense for the difficulties and significant challenges of Port storage and logistics as well as hearing some great stories and the colourful history. 

One of the many barrel halls.  

It is a sizeable place with essentially all the Ports that will be released from Ruby through Vintage and older Tawnies. And all this 2 hours away from the region where the wines are grown and made.

Lovely older vintages lying behind bars...

Having spent about an hour having a really good look around it was certainly time for a tasting - this was to focus mostly on the Tawny (wood aged) side of things. 

Graham's Six Grapes - This is a 3 year old wine with no sediment made, essentially, from declassified vintage wines. It was a good start, rich, full cherry notes with deeper darker fruit behind that. Creamy texture with a little spice. Juicily pungent!

Graham's LBV 2011 - Late Bottled Vintage is a style that is bottled 4-6 years after the vintage, in Graham's case 5 years. Deeper spicier, more savoury on the nose, the palate has a sweetness followed by savoury grip.

Graham's 10 Year old - Redder fruit and a little marzipan, lovely balance, a little spice but in a more leathery and nutty way.

Graham's 20 Year old - A little dash of leather and some nutty spice. Macadamia nuts, just delicious, then the nuts get more dark and rich before raisins arrive, very good!

Graham's 30 Year old - Beautiful colour…much more savoury bite to this, powdered citrus which reminded me a little of a Verdelho or drier Bual Madeira. Then there was a more savoury bacon note. Really zippy on the palate with so much life, some wine.

Graham's 40 Year old - Full tawny brown colour has a real tang, almost sherried in style. A marmite bite, less sweetness, less nuts more high toned and harder to describe.

Graham's 1972 Single Harvest Tawny - There have only been 9 barrels of this and it is almost all gone, each barrel was bottled in turn. The wine is delicious. There is still a little red to the core, a high-toned nose with a rancio note, very complex. There is real energy and zip here my note finishes with "Lift, lift, lift".

Standard Monday morning tasting…

We squabbled, entirely ridiculously, for a little bit about which we preferred Demetri probably summed it up best with "I prefer them all", that's what having MW after your name does for you! In honesty I loved the 20 and 30 a shade more than 10 and 40 but then how often are you going to have them side by side and all had serious class about them.

These wines never see new oak of course - I liked João's quote that they "always see tired wood never new oak".

The tasting had served to further awaken our stomachs (the acidity does this) to the idea of food and we were in for a treat as we joined Paul Symington for Lunch at Vinum Restaurant that they have built on site. The view is stunning and with the first White Port and Tonic, this would become a welcome theme, in hand we were very happy. Paul is about as driven a person as I have come across in wine, passionate but very pragmatic which has a nice openness about it. We spoke at length about the successes they have have had - Dow 2011 being amongst the most recent - but also about how the world of Port has to move with the times. Embracing Tawnies has been one such move, only making the very best vintages another and lastly (of the major moves) looking at the dry wines of the region.

Just stunning!

Over a lovely hour and a half we filled up on the lovely local dishes and drank a few good wines. It is a restaurant I firmly advise you to go to. The Symingtons have put together a list of wines there that is not just those they produce and this is a good idea and a good lead. We started our lunch with the Altano White 2015, this wine was to become a good friend, primary, clean, fresh, wonderfully unpretentious, it is thirst quenching and well focussed.

Post Scriptum 2014 from Prats + Symington was next this is essentially the second wine of the joint venture between the two families, more on which later. Dark cherry and almost serious Barbera like fruit, very good, open and ready but with years ahead if you want.

Ne Oublie (5cl) - About as serious a tawny as there has ever been. You can read all about it  HERE. I have been lucky to taste it once before and found it just as spellbinding on both occasions oranges, polished tables, pungent richness but with zip, there is a wonderful feeling of intense but totally natural reduction and focus, think of almost any natural but intensified by "dessication" flavour and it is there.

Graham's 20 Year Old was to be the last tipple but this time served from a splendid 450cl bottle (6 bottles in one). I've started to see this in restaurants more and more and Tawny served cool has to amongst the oct refreshing yet decadent wines there is.

From the table we bid Paul a grateful goodbye and transferred to, it has to be said the eastern block inspired, Porto Campanhã train station. Mr Girling yet again played the perfect host as he procured a few receptacles of Super Bock beer of the journey whilst our other host, João, made sure the next two evenings wines travelled in perfect condition by car. This sort of hosting and thought really does make all the difference…what's that thing about devil in the detail?

With a quick change in Regula we eventually arrived in Tua, sounds more Maori than European to me too. About halfway along the journey you suddenly start to really "get" the Douro….the sites are picturesque, the scale rather daunting, it has a natural and uncompromising grace about it, a certain timelessness.

Mr Girling helped an elderly lady with her potatoes on leaving the train. We then had time for that crucial cleansing beer. If we need to justify it, we didn't, then we could have said it was a chance to compare the two Portuguese beer brands of Super Bock and Sagres…I am firmly a Super Bock man.

João then arrived in the very smart Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos Landrover and set about rearranging or spinal columns on the short drive to the Quinta. Demetri saw this as an opportunity to lecture us on palmation (look it up, its a little dull). Lawrence did a good job of nodding appropriately.

Now I have stayed in some lovely places on wine trips and it has to be said some shockers as well. The one I place I could most get used to is now - Quinta dos Malvedos - it has wonderfully understates luxury, no frills just the things you need and a sense of space. It wasn't that hot but I could imagine that Malvedos would feel cool even in 40 degrees. We quickly changed, lying down would have been fatal after that early start…a swim was delayed until the following day. It was now time for a second and third Port and Tonic of the day on the terrace under the Portuguese and Union (hung the correct way up unlike some places) flags.

We drank and chatted over looking the splendid view back down the Douro. It had been a long day but a great one and dinner was still to come.

A great spot and I had to fight the urge (as did others) to hit golf balls!

We dinned outside hoping that we would not get rained on, there was a good amount due! The breeze was up but the temperature was lovely. In preparation for the day of Port ahead  we talked a bit about the holdings in the Douro from a grape variety standpoint. I had always been under the impression (ignorance being bliss) that a large proportion was planted to the most famous Port grape, that of Touriga Nacional. I was therefore a little alarmed to learn that only 4% is so planted. But in amongst the Symington holdings (those that make - Graham, Dow, Warre, Cockburns, Vesuvio etc) there is very impressive 20% Touriga Nacional. Why is there not more than 4% generally? Well, it is difficult to grow and not a massive yielder.

Back to dinner, Altano White 2015 kicked us off in reassuring comfort before we moved to Quinta do Ataíde DOC 2014 which is a new release, this was pretty, gentle, a nice easy wine to enjoy. The Quinta do Vesuvio DOC 2011 which is the dry wine from the Vesuvio estate could not be described as gentle or easy, this was rich and concentrated, stopping just short of being OTT. It will be better and better with another 2-5 years of mellowing, good body and spice, showing the quality of fruit that the stunning 2011 season produced. The food was delicious and just what we needed…lovely home cooking.

A delicious line up...

Right, Port time and Demetri got his hat on for the blind tasting…it was a new hat as he seemed to have mislaid his other one. We started with the Graham’s LBV 2011 that we had tasted earlier, it was rich and properly fiery with good spice and married superbly to the intense Chocolate mouse. Port with food, and not just cheese, is a terrific combination. We then had a blind Port and we all made a right old hash of it. We didn't make a mess of enjoying it but we were miles out on age. It was Warre’s 1980 and Ed claimed to have got close (he did really but we denied hearing him), the wine was so young tasting, rich and bold, just beyond primary but not developed, I can't remember what I guessed but it was certainly no older than 1997. A super wine. I had asked earlier if there was much crusted Port made. There still is and this is what we were served next. Crusted is essentially a multi vintage wine bottled like vintage Port and it therefore throws a sediment (a "crust"). The one we had was the Graham’s Crusted 1998, this being a blend of 1994/1995/1996. It was figgy, rich but loose and nicely developed, a nice note of bovril…a really good wine with which to economically give people an idea of what vintage is about…I think I'll be tucking some of that aside. We were then, before the cigars came out, blind tasted on the Graham’s 1972 Single Harvest Tawny from earlier in the day, simply lovely again, though I think I guessed it was the 30 year old!

The magician of Malvedos

Cigars were then lit (Kev doing well not to be tempted!) and a tremendous day came to an end. It was probably a good thing that we were tired as it absolutely hoofed it down overnight with 30mm falling, just what the doctor ordered and the potential start of harvest the following day was pushed back a further two days, it will then last about a month.

A more serious looking morning...

After breakfasting on scrambled eggs and lovely local jams and honeys if was time for a tour of the Malvedos estate. Just down from the Quinta they planted, in 2000, a few rows of each of the main varieties so we had a good look at those on the way down to the winemaking side of things.

You get a real sense of history at Malvedos with pictures everywhere showing how little has changed, it must have been some logistical exercise growing and making wine, it still is in truth.

The historical gates to the Quinta...

We were shown the electronic lagars at the estate and how all the plots were divided up. Interestingly the planting of which variety where is more related to altitude and exposure than soil type which is so different from many places. The wine making set up was slick and very well thought through. The number of different fermentations done is vast and again the scale of the logistical exercise really hit home. 

In the Malvedos winery we were lucky to taste two single Quinta wines. This is what is released from the estate as a vintage wine when Graham itself is not released. When Graham is released then 30-35% of the wine for that comes from Malvedos.

Malvedos 2009 - Ripe and full, primary for sure but so juicily balanced with a spice and Christmas herbs, moreish and black fruited…on its own a delicious drink.

Malvedos 2004 - This was one of the finds of the trip for me. I have to say the fact that 2004 was not declared had always been a surprise to me. In my simple little mind the fact that Ribera del Duero over the boarder in Spain had such a stunning vintage must have meant that a Vintage declaration was on the cards but with the 2003's having been universally declared it never happened. You might seem something similar with 2015 and 2016 both being very good following two wet and difficult years (2013 and 2014). Back to this wine, more savoury and in a lovely if youthful place, richness but not just of black fruit, almost a little saline…one to buy. We now had a few moments to kill as our boat was on its way up the river so Mr Burns took to even more sunbathing.

Burnsie in his natural habitat.

Before long we were heading down to the river and getting ready to travel downstream to Prats & Symington’s Quinta de Roriz. This is an estate that produces essentially dry wines (there is a little vintage Port from time to time, but rarely).

Looking up the river from Roriz...

The production is less than 200,000bts. The venture that combines the Prats and Symingtons started in 1999 and the first production of the main wine - Chryseia - was 2000 with a first release of the second wine - Post-Scriptum - in 2002. The four main people involved are Charles Symington, Bruno Prats, Luis Coelho (winemaker) and Pedro Correia.

Standard transport to a Tuesday lunchtime picnic!

We toured the Roriz (pronounced Horith) estate and got a real sense for the area. Interestingly they made the most of a change in regulations a few years back (since stopped) to plant up and down rather than across the contours making the plantings much easier to work and higher in density.

Currently the main barrel hall at Roriz

Luis gave us a brilliant insight into the winemaking and all that goes on, a brand new barrel hall is just being finished and clearly this estate has its sights set very high in quality terms.

Before lunch we had a cracking chance to taste the estates three wines from 2014.  

Prazo de Roriz 2014 - From a blend of Touriga Nacional (10%), Touriga Franca (35%), Tinta Roriz (24%) and Tinta Barroca (31%) this is the entry to the estates wines offering red cherry fruit and a moreish dryness, good grip and acidity at the price it sells for this is spot-on.

Post Scriptum DOC 2014 - from a blend of the same four varieties. Darker fruit, less cherry more blackberry, more depth and a little bit of understandable oak showing. Violets also and dry stones on the finish…a year or two will only improve this already impressive wine. 

Chryseia DOC 2014 - From just Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca. Vibrant, full, rich has a violet and dark cherry lift. The texture has richness and grip but no hardness.

To be abel to do the tasting with the wines alone but then try them with the food as well was great. It was all a little too much for out MW who decided to have a very brief power-nap, not that he released he would be dressed as the invisible man for doing so.

With the sun gloriously out on display it was back to the boat for the trip down to Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim. I have always felt a real affinity to Dow's Port…I have no obvious reason for this. It is no different from why we pick one team over another in a Sport when you don't have a reason to support a certain side but it is what it is. Bomfim produces around 80% of the port that goes into a Vintage of Dow. The Quinta is also the site of the only Symington's branded visitor centre, they have others but they are all focussed on one particular house not the "whole".

As we looked around you got a real sense for the history of this great region and the sacrifices (sometimes of life) that were needed to pick and make the wine and then get it down the river to Vila Nova di Gaia.

We had a real treat at the Quinta just before we tasted two wines and that treat was getting to see (no photos for obvious reasons) the entire harvest plan for the Symington estates…let's just say it was some spreadsheet and some exercise.

The two wines we tasted were:
Cockburn’s Canais 2006 - This showed a touch of eucalyptus and some menthol following to a focussed very fruited and a spicy palate.

Quinta do Bomfim 2005 - Nice nose with good development, a little savoury and rancio with some leather. Pure but bold spicy fruits and lots of damson and black cherry.

A fast walk down to Pinhao train station then followed and a 10 minute journey to Tua and on by Landrover back to Quinta dos Malvedos and a swim with a bottle of Super Bock or two.

Pre-dinner team picture!

The second dinner at Malvedos was inside and a splendid occasion. Henry Shotton, the winemaker at Malvedos and a key cog in the Symingtons machine joined us for dinner. The food was again splendid and after we had explained to Ed that "Duck and Rice" was Duck with Rice we all settled in for the evening. Pre-dinner Port and Tonics with the superb Almonds gave way to Altano White 2015 and then Chryseia DOC 2013. In the dining room there are some wonderful oars on the wall, almost as wonderful as the next question was silly…"what's with the rowing theme?" clearly one of us hadn't noticed the rather large river we had been on for the last 48hrs. The Chryseia DOC 2013 was a good opportunity to think back to the morning's tasting, I had the 2013 as more savoury and darker than the same wine from 2014. From here it was time for the real work to start. Blind Port tasting. A notoriously fun but difficult game... 

We actually did pretty well. The one of the below that confused us most was the 1983 Graham that we all judged to be older as it was less forceful (in a good way).

First came the Dow’s 1985 - raisin fruit, dates and prunes a little demerara, tar and savoury edges, a delicious glass of Port that will continue to age but is lovely now. Graham’s 1983 was delightful with fresh mint and then a really elegant palate and a charming weight. I don't feel my notes are doing these justice but then harmonius wines with such finesse and drive are always harder to write about. Graham’s 1966 was a star of a wine, super elegant with soy and sweet balsamic like decadence but so much perfect degraded sweet fruit, awesome length. All these wine disappeared down our greedy little throats but then that is exactly what they are made for. It is also important to note that our heads were as clear as a bell the next morning after both the dinners. Post meal we had a lovely relaxed chat outside over a few glasses of the Graham's 20 Year Old Tawny and Graham's 30 Year Old Tawny. These must be amongst the most incredibly drinkable but complex wines at there respective levels.

A lovely dinner to round off the two days.

The following morning it was an early start as we left the Quinta at 5.45am and made tracks back to Porto airport. All that was left was to have a coffee and a Pastel de Nata as we waited for our plane.

A magic couple of days and a massive thank you again to Richard, João, Henry, Paul and all the Symington team…all I can say is keep up the good work and this legendary wine producing area will only go from strength to strength…long may that happen.

Anyone for a Tappit Hen? Three bottles in one…yum!