ThePortForum.com

Posted: **19:42 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

If shippers have excellent juice to ship they should ship it

Of course, but don't try to call a declaration if you know that others can't play.

Posted: **19:54 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

My understanding of grape physiology is poor at best, but I believe that it would take good grapes a few days to shake off the effects of heavy rain before they start to progress their ripening processes again. In addition, heavy rain is a lot less damaging to a harvest if it dries off through a combination of wind / sun that the same amount of rain falling as persistent light rain. Heavy rain tends to run off and not get absorbed by the soil and plants to the same extent as light but persistent rain.

I'm not writing off this harvest yet!

Posted: **20:05 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

uncle tom wrote:
If shippers have excellent juice to ship they should ship it
Of course, but don't try to call a declaration if you know that others can't play.

So 1966/1967 and 1991/1992 shouldn't have happened?

If it's good - ship it.

Posted: **20:10 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

Have to say I agree with Alex. The amateur oenologists commenting here are extrapolating an awful lot of information from very little data. Speculation is all very well but the certainty with which some of you are declaiming is a little amusing. The harvest reports quoted above give good cause to believe that, as Alex has said, the rain has run off and been dried out by the winds. With good forecasts from now on, it seems premature to start worrying (and in such great detail).

Posted: **20:23 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

djewesbury wrote:Have to say I agree with Alex.

That is something that hasn't happened for quite some time. I must open a bottle of port to celebrate. Would Dow 1970' suffice?

Posted: **20:25 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

AHB wrote:
djewesbury wrote:Have to say I agree with Alex.
That is something that hasn't happened for quite some time. I must open a bottle of port to celebrate. Would Dow 1970' suffice?

Nonsense, I'm always agreeing with you. It's Derek who gets my goat.

Posted: **20:25 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

djewesbury wrote:Have to say I agree with Alex.

Which means you agreeing with me. So both you and Alex are correct.

Posted: **20:27 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

djewesbury wrote:
AHB wrote:
djewesbury wrote:Have to say I agree with Alex.
That is something that hasn't happened for quite some time. I must open a bottle of port to celebrate. Would Dow 1970' suffice?
Nonsense, I'm always agreeing with you. It's Derek who gets my goat.

I don't care about you and Derek. The important question is whether I can open another bottle of Dow 1970?

Posted: **20:28 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

AHB wrote:
djewesbury wrote:
AHB wrote:
djewesbury wrote:Have to say I agree with Alex.
That is something that hasn't happened for quite some time. I must open a bottle of port to celebrate. Would Dow 1970' suffice?
Nonsense, I'm always agreeing with you. It's Derek who gets my goat.
I don't care about you and Derek. The important question is whether I can open another bottle of Dow 1970?

Yes, you can, if you have one with you?

Posted: **20:28 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

AHB wrote:
djewesbury wrote:
AHB wrote:
djewesbury wrote:Have to say I agree with Alex.
That is something that hasn't happened for quite some time. I must open a bottle of port to celebrate. Would Dow 1970' suffice?
Nonsense, I'm always agreeing with you. It's Derek who gets my goat.
I don't care about you and Derek. The important question is whether I can open another bottle of Dow 1970?

So soon after the last one? Of course.

Posted: **21:31 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

DRT wrote:I completely disagree with this, Tom. The Douro is not Communist. If shippers have excellent juice to ship they should ship it, not wait for some sort of collective agreement.

I completely disagree with this, Derek. The Douro is Communist. That is the basis of the beneficio.

Posted: **22:10 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

jdaw1 wrote:
DRT wrote:I completely disagree with this, Tom. The Douro is not Communist. If shippers have excellent juice to ship they should ship it, not wait for some sort of collective agreement.
I completely disagree with this, Derek. The Douro is Communist. That is the basis of the beneficio.

{Hangs head in shame}

Posted: **22:53 Thu 17 Sep 2015**

I finally make it home from a long long day at work that started way to early to this. Off to bed without your pudding, all of you.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Posted: **19:04 Fri 18 Sep 2015**

So, Derek has now got a goat, courtesy of Daniel, the red flag is flying over the Douro and awaiting the first state visit of el Corbynisto (probably in search of a terraced allotment), and as I don't care for puddings, have popped a bottle of Rayoso cream sherry that I've had for yonks and hails from the 1960's (I think) and is actually quite decent (if you ignore the haze..) - and will soon be paired with a Chicken Tikka Dupiaza from the curry shop around the corner.

As for the 2015 vintage, I'll believe it when I've tasted it..

Posted: **16:48 Wed 23 Sep 2015**

The Malvedos blog, in a post entitled [url=http://blog.grahams-port.com/2015/09/23/excellent-touriga-nacional-at-malvedos/]Excellent Touriga Nacional at Malvedos[/url], wrote:The decision to delay the picking of the Touriga Nacional vineyards at Quinta dos Malvedos and Quinta do Tua in the aftermath of last week’s rain has been amply vindicated. Early on Monday morning the roga returned to hand-pick the best parcels of Touriga Nacional at Malvedos and by evening one lagar had been filled. Henry and his winery team recognised that they had some exceptional grapes in the lagar from the lovely aspect of the grapes and the amazing colour and lovely aromatics that the must was showing. The Baumé of these grapes gave a healthy and promising 14.4º.

Posted: **16:16 Wed 07 Oct 2015**

Paul Symington, in [url=http://blog.grahams-port.com/2015/10/07/douro-harvest-report-2015/]The Graham’s Port Blog[/url], wrote:An exceptional viticultural year is coming to a close in the Douro with farmers and winemakers pleased that a year’s work has resulted in some very good Ports and Douro wines.
…
The harvest started earlier than normal and the quality of the grapes was immediately apparent. Our sorting tables were seeing hugely reduced rejection levels to the delight of our farm managers and our winery teams. Heavy rain fell on Tuesday 15^th September and on the morning of the 16^th, but this was followed by a strong wind that very satisfactorily dried the grapes. After 10 weeks with no meaningful rain, the vines greedily absorbed the water and dilution in the berries inevitably followed. This was the critical moment of this year’s harvest and Charles immediately called a halt to picking in our best vineyards. This is never an easy decision given the unsettled weather that often comes towards the end of this month. Picking in our vineyards only resumed on 21^st September and Charles said a few days later: ‘It is amazing how much difference 4 or 5 days can make’. Without this rain the final phase of maturation of the Touriga Nacional and especially the Touriga Franca would not have been ideal, as dehydration would certainly have occurred after such a prolonged period with no rain. In the circumstances the steady rain of 15^th and morning of 16^th September (77mm at Quinta da Cavadinha, 52mm at Quinta do Bomfim, 63mm at Quinta dos Malvedos and 27mm at Quinta do Vesuvio) was absolutely perfect, provided picking was suspended for a few days. The Nacional and Franca picked during the week of the 21^st and that of 28^th September were of simply extraordinary quality, as were some of the old mixed plantings picked during this period. The rain softened the skins, allowing the colour and flavours to merge superbly into the wine.

A very bullish report, and worth reading.

Posted: **06:34 Thu 08 Oct 2015**

The full harvest report from the Symingtons can be found here.

Posted: **12:24 Thu 08 Oct 2015**

At Vale de Mendiz, we tasted lotes harvested before the rain - great freshness and acidity - and those that had been picked after - predictably, much fuller and riper and bigger and bolder. (Incidentally at Mendiz, some of the lotes, coming from very small plots, are blended with others when they go in the lagar, meaning that the blender's judgement is needed right from the start of the process). This will hopefully be a blender's dream - distinctive lotes with great quality that can balance each other very well. Though of course Nick was very coy about whether Niepoort thought they might have a vintage! I'll post a fuller report of our trip soon.

Posted: **10:59 Fri 09 Oct 2015**

Though of course Nick was very coy about whether Niepoort thought they might have a vintage!

Dirk is always very careful not to jump the gun on declaration announcements, but from his correspondence with me, I think something has got to go very badly and unexpectedly wrong over the next two winters for there not to be a Niepoort 2015 VP.

Overall though, I remain cautious. Rain mid harvest last year resulted in a resigned shrug - better luck next year. This year most quintas got much more rain mid harvest and suddenly there's a million and one reasons why this was a great thing..

Well, maybe, and I'm confident that there will be some excellent vintage ports made. However, I would be surprised to see the same broad sweep of excellence that we did in 2011.

The smaller producers complain bitterly that it is almost impossible to get influential wine writers to tasty VP blind now (even though they sometimes pretend to..) and that label bias is as bad as ever. Well, they would say that, but I also believe there's a lot of truth in it.

I therefore think it comes down to people like ourselves to make a concerted effort in two years time to conduct extensive blind tastings under the most rigorous of conditions, and publish the results..

Posted: **11:38 Fri 09 Oct 2015**

uncle tom wrote:I therefore think it comes down to people like ourselves to make a concerted effort in two years time to conduct extensive blind tastings under the most rigorous of conditions, and publish the results..

Which is exactly what I did, with the results reported here. Based purely on the quality of the wines in the glasses in front of me I concluded that the best 3 wines from the vintage which I had the chance to taste were:
Graham
Quinta do Senhora do Convento
Quinta do Noval Nacional

Was I label biased? I find it hard to believe that I was since I had no idea what was in each glass until after all the bottles had been tasted.

Posted: **23:48 Fri 09 Oct 2015**

uncle tom wrote:Dirk is always very careful not to jump the gun on declaration announcements, but from his correspondence with me, I think something has got to go very badly and unexpectedly wrong over the next two winters for there not to be a Niepoort 2015 VP.

Would that be private correspondence, Tom, or something the "very careful" Dirk asked you to announce?

Posted: **08:30 Sat 10 Oct 2015**

DRT wrote:
uncle tom wrote:Dirk is always very careful not to jump the gun on declaration announcements, but from his correspondence with me, I think something has got to go very badly and unexpectedly wrong over the next two winters for there not to be a Niepoort 2015 VP.
Would that be private correspondence, Tom, or something the "very careful" Dirk asked you to announce?

Maybe just worth clarifying that this is your inference and not what Dirk has said. Nick said that they had tasted the lotes together only once (Nick has been at Mendiz at least part of every day since late August) and had not had the opportunity to discuss them properly yet. So whilst I would agree that there are some very high-quality lotes there, we should stress that no decisions have been made - at least, not by any of us!

Posted: **08:28 Mon 12 Oct 2015**

In a post on Facebook, Adrian Bridge wrote:In the Douro over the weekend where it is all now quiet after a very busy harvest. This year there were excellent conditions and we have made some very good Ports. Most exciting.

Another positive endorsement of the vintage!

ThePortForum.com

2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest

Re: 2015 Harvest