Ports of Call - FT Article

[Christopher]

Interesting article about the 2011 Vintage in today's Financial Times ' How to Spend it ' section.
Berry sold over 5000 cases.
Summary 2011 vintage is fantastic , reduced supply, very undervalued, new savvy collectors starting to look at Port, very undervalued and back vintages very cheap. Also looks at the growth of super premium tawnies.

Luckily I think we knew some time ago it was fantastic and acted accordingly...

[djewesbury]

This trickle-down effect of 2011 marketing is certainly noticeable. Good that we bought it then.

If the market does suddenly take off, who will benefit most - the big brands (SFE / TFP) or the small producers revelling in the spotlight that's suddenly focused on them?

[jdaw1]

Cristiano van Zeller, owner of Quinta Vale D Maria and a specialist in curating older vineyards, confirms that 2011 is the finest vintage in the Douro since 1994, and will arguably surpass that superb year. His port is one of my favourites ”“ blind-tasted it has a whiff of forest floor as well as forest fruits, at once Bacchic and tobacco-ey with a succulently cedar palate ”“ Black Forest gâteau pulled into focus by a zesting of citrus.

Dirk Niepoort’s 2011, meanwhile, is quite beefy but more reticent on the bilberry-dense nose, leading in to a chalk-underpinned punch of ripe berries, kirsch and currants. Quinta do Vallado is more open and sweeter, well defined with prunes, Asian spices and mocha. More savoury, raw and darker-edged, Quinta do Crasto moves back to the forest fruits, adding liquorice and a hit of framboise, while Quinta do Vale Meão 2011 is pure and silkily charming, seemingly lighter in weight and elegant with plums, anise and cinnamon.

‟bilberry”? Blueberries, but posher?

[djewesbury]

Douro Boys PR puff. Bilberries and all.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Cristiano van Zeller, owner of Quinta Vale D Maria and a specialist in curating older vineyards, confirms that 2011 is the finest vintage in the Douro since 1994, and will arguably surpass that superb year. His port is one of my favourites ”“ blind-tasted it has a whiff of forest floor as well as forest fruits, at once Bacchic and tobacco-ey with a succulently cedar palate ”“ Black Forest gâteau pulled into focus by a zesting of citrus.

Dirk Niepoort’s 2011, meanwhile, is quite beefy but more reticent on the bilberry-dense nose, leading in to a chalk-underpinned punch of ripe berries, kirsch and currants. Quinta do Vallado is more open and sweeter, well defined with prunes, Asian spices and mocha. More savoury, raw and darker-edged, Quinta do Crasto moves back to the forest fruits, adding liquorice and a hit of framboise, while Quinta do Vale Meão 2011 is pure and silkily charming, seemingly lighter in weight and elegant with plums, anise and cinnamon.

‟bilberry”? Blueberries, but posher?

Blueberry tends to be used to refer to the cultivar, and I find is often very sweet and lacking in focus. Bilberries are generally the fruit of the wild blueberry plant, much smaller and usually less sweet but much more flavoursome and intense. You might also come across whinberries, but as far as I know this is a local term for bilberries growing on the Welsh mountains. In my youth, I used to trek up mountains at the right time of year and fill several carrier bags with whinberries which were then used in jams, compotes, crumbles, cakes, preserved in jars and even dried on sunny windows-sills if the summer was warm. Sort of the mountain-region equivalent of blackberry picking.