2016 Declarations

[AHB]

A post and a thread to hold details of the 2016 vintage ports which are approved by the IVDP and offered for sale.

Sogrape:

• Ferreira,
• Offley,
• Sandeman

Links to other vintages:
2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005

[AHB]

Ferreira, Sandeman and Offley have just declared a 2016 vintage. http://www.revistadevinhos.pt/noticias/ ... ntage-2016

[uncle tom]

Niepoort Bioma (from email)

Kopke
Burmester
Cálem
Barros

http://www.revistadevinhos.pt/noticias/ ... ntage-2016

Javali (report from Denmark via FTLOP)

Noval (reported on FTLOP)

[Axel P]

The Symingtons will inform the press today that they are releasing the following Vintage Ports of 2016:

Graham’s
Graham’s, The Stone Terraces
Dow’s
Warre’s
Cockburn’s
Smith Woodhouse
Quinta do Vesuvio and Capela do Vesuvio
Quinta de Roriz

I am sure there is more to arrive soon.

[Axel P]

Noval
Noval Nacional

[forest26]

P r e ss R e l e a s e

Cut and pasted from the press release......


The Symington Family Declare 2016 Vintage Port

The Symington family is pleased to announce our decision to declare 2016 as a Vintage Port year. This is only the fourth Vintage declaration for all our Port companies since 2000 and the first since the magnificent 2011’s. Few wine regions anywhere restrict Vintage Years with such meticulous care and only truly exceptional Ports are declared in this way.

The 2015/16 winter was wetter than average, which provided a vital counterbalance to the hot Douro summer. Damp weather continued into May, which caused considerable fruit loss to the unwary. From June, normal service was resumed, and August was very warm although some welcome rain fell on the 24th and 26th. More heat ushered in September, and some started picking although it was clear to those who were properly monitoring their vines that the grapes were not ready. Furthermore, the long-range forecast predicted showers and sure enough invaluable rain fell on the 12th and 13th September.

This was the year to read the signs and to take risks; Charles Symington, head-winemaker, delayed harvesting until the 19th September and the best Touriga Nacional was not harvested until the 26th, and the late-ripening Touriga Franca only during the first ten days of October. The greatest 2016 Symington Ports were made during this later period under lovely blue skies. It is not easy in our incredibly diverse region to pick grapes at exactly the right time, especially when yields are amongst the lowest in the world at 26 hectolitres/ha, with high risk of dehydration and when many producers rely on bought grapes and are therefore dependent on farmers for picking. All the 2016 Symington Vintage Ports are made from our own Quinta vineyards where Charles and his viticulture team can be seen every day tasting and analysing grapes throughout August and September. All our Vintage Ports were made in our five small lagar wineries, using the classic treading method for great Port.

The 2016 Vintage Ports are exceptional with tannins that are amongst the most refined ever, supporting beautiful red-fruit flavours with extraordinary intense, purple colour. They have impressive structure and balance, with Baumés, acidity, tannins and colour in rare and perfect alignment. This is no doubt a result of the later ripening cycle which allowed our grapes to mature evenly and completely. Production of each of our 2016 Vintage Ports is approximately 1/5th below our previous declared Vintage following rigorous selection in the tasting room.

Vila Nova de Gaia, 9th April 2018

[jdaw1]

The Symingtons will inform the press today that they are releasing the following Vintage Ports of 2016:

Graham’s
Graham’s, The Stone Terraces
Dow’s
Warre’s
Cockburn’s
Smith Woodhouse
Quinta do Vesuvio and Capela do Vesuvio
Quinta de Roriz

I am sure there is more to arrive soon.

for all our Port companies

Gould Campbell, RIP. Quarles Harris, RIP. Martinez, RIP.

[uncle tom]

Gould Campbell, RIP. Quarles Harris, RIP. Martinez, RIP.

Gould Campbell - distinctive style, different.

Quarles Harris - 'best of the rest' really does have a place in a company's lineup. Have they declared a 'Symington family estates' VP - for use when Tesco or whoever want an 'own brand' vintage? The name Quarles Harris (even in small print..) looks better.

Martinez - this was a really great name up until the '60 vintage. After that the company was sold and the brand pauperised. Is there really no place for a Portuguese brand name in the Symington's stable?

[flash_uk]

Am I right in thinking none of QH, Mz or GC had an associated Quinta? I think that is quite significant. Anything produced under any of these brands would now be "a port wine produced from grapes/wines sourced from various places". What would be distinctive about say, Martinez versus Gould Campbell in this scenario? If losing these means scarce investment resources are more focused to drive higher quality elsewhere, maybe no bad thing?

I could also see an argument where thinning out the tail of brands creates a bit more space for newer, innovative producers to find a space (and for us to discover). I get the sense we've seen more new producers in the last 10 years than in the 40 before that, or am I imagining that?

[uncle tom]

Am I right in thinking none of QH, Mz or GC had an associated Quinta? I think that is quite significant. Anything produced under any of these brands would now be "a port wine produced from grapes/wines sourced from various places"

Correct - but bear in mind that blending vintage ports has always had less to do with terroir and more to do with maintaining the distinctive house style through blending stocks from a variety of quintas.

Single quinta is not inherently better than multi quinta, as it ties the hands of the blender.

What would be distinctive about say, Martinez versus Gould Campbell in this scenario?

It's quite hard to put the GC style into words, but it tends to be one of the more distinctive and recognisable wines in horizontals. It tends not to come over as a heavy wine, and is quite fragrant. Martinez from the glory days are getting old now, but the wines are still remarkably deep in colour, smooth and very elegant. Two very different port styles.

[JB vintage]

Martinez - this was a really great name up until the '60 vintage. After that the company was sold and the brand pauperised. Is there really no place for a Portuguese brand name in the Symington's stable?

I agree with your question, but Martinez is actually a Spanish name
Martinez was founded in 1790 by the Spaniard D. Sebastian Gonzales Martinez.
(see http://www.vintageport.se/house/Martinez.php for more information)

[uncle tom]

I agree with your question, but Martinez is actually a Spanish name

OK smartarse - Iberian name then..

A quick Google suggests its Lusitanian equivalent is Martins

[flash_uk]

Am I right in thinking none of QH, Mz or GC had an associated Quinta? I think that is quite significant. Anything produced under any of these brands would now be "a port wine produced from grapes/wines sourced from various places"

Correct - but bear in mind that blending vintage ports has always had less to do with terroir and more to do with maintaining the distinctive house style through blending stocks from a variety of quintas.

Single quinta is not inherently better than multi quinta, as it ties the hands of the blender.

Yes agree - but having a Quinta associated, offers another dynamic to the overall story of a brand. The ports from say, Graham, can still take advantage of the opportunity to blend wines for the vintage port. I'd say having Malvedos associated with it far outweighs the tying of the hand for including Malvedos grapes in the product. Indeed isn't that part of the story around house style for Graham?

What would be distinctive about say, Martinez versus Gould Campbell in this scenario?

It's quite hard to put the GC style into words, but it tends to be one of the more distinctive and recognisable wines in horizontals. It tends not to come over as a heavy wine, and is quite fragrant. Martinez from the glory days are getting old now, but the wines are still remarkably deep in colour, smooth and very elegant. Two very different port styles.

I agree these ports had some distinctiveness over the years. But what drove that? They were distinct houses not under the same group, who had distinct winemakers who perhaps tried to deliver the signature style of the house at that time. My assertion is that sustaining that in the absence of a more rounded story about the brand is difficult. Could you have say 15 SFE brands of "ports made from grapes/wines from various sources", all with some nuance to their character, and be able to establish that nuance in the eyes of the consumer? You could have a go, but I would argue that you'd never establish the brand of those ports to justify the effort in trying to do so.
An interesting topic, as it does in some way get to the heart of what "makes" a port. Terrior? Blending expertise? Viniculture?

[Andy Velebil]

Am I right in thinking none of QH, Mz or GC had an associated Quinta? I think that is quite significant. Anything produced under any of these brands would now be "a port wine produced from grapes/wines sourced from various places". What would be distinctive about say, Martinez versus Gould Campbell in this scenario? If losing these means scarce investment resources are more focused to drive higher quality elsewhere, maybe no bad thing?

I could also see an argument where thinning out the tail of brands creates a bit more space for newer, innovative producers to find a space (and for us to discover). I get the sense we've seen more new producers in the last 10 years than in the 40 before that, or am I imagining that?

To be accurate, most VP's don't come from just one Quinta. Even "SQVP's", by law, can have a small amount from other Quinta's and still be called a SQVP.

Perhaps one of the most famous VP examples is Fonseca in a classically declared year. It largely comes from grapes from many different Quintas, some not even owned by TFP.

I do agree with Flash_UK, nowadays it's hard not to have a Quinta prominently associated with your product. A Quinta gives one a story to tell, a place for people to see, a place for people to romanticize about. Sure, us Port nerds may not care if a VP has an associated Quinta because we only care about what's in the bottle. That generally isn't the case with the majority of the public.

[uncle tom]

Terrior? Blending expertise? Viniculture?

Terroir is only really apparent when people in other parts of the world attempt to copy the port style of wine. The schist adds a minerality that you can't overtly taste in reds, although it makes the Douro white table wines very distinctive.

Beyond that though, the perceptible differences in the wines of different quintas seems mostly down to viniculture, choice of varieties and age of vines.

Every quinta has its own micro climate, and some have conditions that make the vines struggle, concentrating the wines; but I'm not convinced that different types of schist deliver different flavour notes, and can't recall anyone extolling the advantages of a quinta for that reason.

[uncle tom]

A Quinta gives one a story to tell, a place for people to see, a place for people to romanticize about

If you researched the blending history of the 'estateless' names, you would probably find a quinta or two that had almost always contributed to the blend, so if that was a concern, a 'home quinta' could probably be found.

Of course, that quinta might well be in the possession of a Douro farmer and not the bottler..

[uncle tom]

It's St George's day, and yes, Taylor have declared.

The websites of Taylor, Fonseca & Croft are all announcing the declaration of the 2016 vintage.

I've not found a TFP press release yet, and no word on Krohn

[John Owlett]

... no word on Krohn

Krohn has declared to-day as well —

http://krohn.pt/our-port-wines/classic-vintage-port/

— but I can’t find a Fladgate Partnership press release, nor any news of Quinta de Vargellas Vinha Velha.

John

[uncle tom]

Mentzendorff is making no mention of VVV

http://www.mentzendorff.co.uk/

Do they handle Krohn now? No mention on their site or brand list..