Douro Wines Fly High After Another Vintage Year

2015 is looking set to be a vintage Port year, the senior executives of two of Portugal's major houses have said. Paul Symington, managing director of the family house that owns Graham's, Dow's, Warre's and Cockburn's told Wine-Searcher that it had been an "exceptional viticultural year" both for Port and Douro still wines, and it would boost the "staggering" growth of Douro DOC wines.

He said growing conditions were ideal for Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca, the key grapes for Port. In particular, the rain that fell in the middle of September was "heaven-sent. If it hadn't been for that, the grapes would have raisined."

At the Fladgate Partnership, owners of Taylor's, Croft and Fonseca, head winemaker David Guimaraens was equally enthusiastic. "There is great consistency," he said. "The grapes are impressively healthy." Despite the heat of the season, the cooler August meant there was no sunburn.

Rainfall in the Douro was less than half the average in 2015, but "the little rain that did fall this year in the Douro was nicely timed in May and June and was of 'the right sort', being steady and prolonged," Symington Family Estates' official harvest report said.

The period from March to June was exceptionally dry and hot but July and August were cooler than normal, allowing some respite to heat-stressed vines. The heavy rain of September 15-16, followed by strong winds that dried the grapes, was an "absolutely perfect" set of conditions, allowing the grapes to rehydrate, softening the skins and "allowing the color and flavors to merge superbly" into the wine.

"The [Touriga] Nacional and Franca picked during the week of the 21st and that of 28th September were of simply extraordinary quality, as were some of the old mixed plantings picked during this period," Symington said in his report. "The potential is there for a vintage," he told Wine-Searcher. Guimaraens was cautious about suggesting there would be a declaration, whether a classic vintage across the region, or from single quintas. "A vintage declaration is judged across the generations and I won't forward guess on that level. But it's an excellent year, and standards are above average." As for still wines, Symington also said the prospects for the Douro DOC were "very good – particularly the Touriga Franca, which is so important for the still wines".

This vintage should confirm the worldwide popularity of both red and white Douro still wines, he said. "They are growing at a staggering rate – 10 per cent per annum in value for the last three years." Symington Family Estates' figures show some 3.2m cases of Douro still wines – including Quinta do Vesuvio, Altano and Chryseia – were sold in 2014, compared with 2.26m in 2009.

The strongest markets for Douro DOC wines remain the domestic market (which accounts for 60 percent of global sales, according to the Port and Douro Wine Institute), Canada, the US, Angola and Brazil. But interest in the UK is steadily increasing, also.

"To give you an idea of how things are moving in the UK, we now deal in mixed pallets, rather than mixed cases," he told Wine-Searcher.

Source: http://www.wine-searcher.com