http://www.ivdp.pt/noticias.asp News feed from IVDP - Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto ivdp@ivdp.pt (IVDP's Team) http://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=117<br /> HERS magazine - Japan<br /> <br /> <a href=&#34;/en/docs/HERS Clipping (2).pdf&#34;>Read article</a><br />Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000http://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=117ivdp@ivdo.pt (Notícia)Notíciashttp://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=116<p><br /> Seattle Post Intelligencer<br /> April 16, 2010<br /> By Marisa D&#8217;vari</p> <p>Read <a href=&#34;/en/docs/wine origins.pdf&#34;>here </a>the article</p>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000http://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=116ivdp@ivdo.pt (Notícia)Notíciashttp://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=115<br /> An <a href=&#34;/en/docs/Portugal&#39;s Red Power.pdf&#34;>article </a>by Kim Marcus for Wine Spectator magazine where the red wines from the Douro are on the top of the chart.Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000http://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=115ivdp@ivdo.pt (Notícia)Notíciashttp://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=114<p><br /> &#34;How far would you drive to taste some vintage port? That&#8217;s most often a rhetorical question but I actually confronted it head on last week as a rare vertical tasting including some legendary wines came on the agenda in Montreal. Since I tucked away some 2003 Fonseca from one son&#8217;s birth year, I thought this would at the very least offer a something of a preview of how it will taste when we drink it together in 2024 and beyond. So I hopped in the car.<br /> <br /> Organized by the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto and led by Dirk van der Niepoort, the tasting offered an opportunity to track the aging arc of port, one of the most age-worthy wines. Vintage ports represent one of the classic wines made from a field blend of grapes, all from one vintage. The wines only age about two or three years in barrel before bottling and spending the rest of their formidable lives in the cellars of collectors. (By contrast, the more popular tawny ports blend vintages and thanks to doing most of their aging in wood, are ready to drink upon release.) <br /> <br /> One impression that this tasting left me is that while young port is dark, fruity and tannic, more mature port grows more supple&#8211;but not always. We started off with the Dow&#8217;s 1994, which tasted and looked very young and seems to have excellent stuffing for the long haul. Then we leaped over the 21-year-old mark with a Taylor 1985 and a Cockburn 1983, both of which had flipped just to the other side of the young-mature divide. The Taylor still had big tannins; the Cockburn was more supple. (Incidentally, all three of these wines can be found for under $100 or so, making them relative bargains for any birth-year celebrations you may enounter; find these wines).<br /> <br /> Out of the next group, the most interesting comparison was two excellent 1970s, Graham&#8217;s and Niepoort. The Grahams was surprisingly exuberant and mouth-filling for this stage in the evolution; a showy, 40-year old cougar ready to devour something younger. The Niepoort was a slightly more youthful color, and had more focus but really expanded on the finish, a lovely, delicious wine today that no doubt still has many decades left in it. <br /> <br /> On a historical note, I was intrigued to learn that bottling mostly returned to Portugal only in 1970. Prior to that it had been in&#38;hellip;wait for it&#38;hellip; England! The wines were exported in cask and bottled and cellared there. Some of the older wines in this tasting had come from private cellars and some didn&#8217;t have proper labels (see the Croft 1966 above). <br /> <br /> The real highlight of the tasting for me was the last three ports, all superb, A+ wines. The 1948 Taylor had an alluring herbal aroma with a luscious mouthfeel and a layered, long finish&#8211;almost worth the drive itself. Dirk Niepoort said that a wine of this age can actually go through the supple stage of bottle aging and reemerge with newfound vigor. The alcohol was detectable in the &#8216;48, but well-integrated, unlike the 1955 Taylor which, for me, had a distinctly hot finish. <br /> <br /> The 1945 Fonseca is a top wine from one of the top vintages of the 20th century, a hot year with low yield. In the glass, the gorgeous wine has bittersweet chocolate on the aroma as well as surprising fruit; a dollop of chocolate permeated the array of flavors while the tannic structure was richer and rounder than the Taylor &#8216;48. This bottle was excellent and the wine is drinking well today but will probably continue that way for some time. <br /> <br /> Finally, we tried the 1927 Niepoort sourced directly from Niepoort&#8217;s cellars. In the glass, it was even more youthful looking than the &#8216;45 Fonseca. Sure enough, on the palate the wine exhibited a luxurious texture, tannins that had faded and folded into pure silk. The layered quality of the previous two wines was less, but the texture and poise were superb. <br /> <br /> So, as Michelin would put it, the tasting was very much &#8220;worth a drive.&#8221; And I&#8217;m tempted to get more 2003 to tuck away for birth-year celebrations well into the future.&#34;<br /> <br /> Tyler Colman<br /> &#34;Dr. Vino&#34;</p> <p> </p>Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000http://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=114ivdp@ivdo.pt (Notícia)Notíciashttp://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=113<p><br /> Port wine, or simply &#34;port&#34; is arguably Portugal&#39;s most identifiable product. Every year throngs of tourist flock to Portugal&#39;s second city of Porto to tour the port wine cellars of Gaia, the town across the Douro where port wine is aged and bottled. However, the port wine cellars of Gaia are not the only way to enjoy port wine tourism. Just like in the United States, Portugal has its wine roads, and in the north port-lovers can ply the rota do vinho do Porto, or wine route of Porto.</p> <p>The steep slopes of the Douro Valley are lined with terraced vineyards, creating a striking landscape that no lover of fine wines could fail to love. Better still is the fact that the vineyards of the Douro produce just as much table wine as port wine, a fact well-known inside Portugal but often obscure outside of it. The style of the reds range from light claret-like wines to rich, oaky Burgundy-style wines. Generally speaking, the ground determines what the grapes are ultimately used for. Granite-based soils tend to be used for table wine vines, while the product of schist soils are directed towards port wine. Varietals grown there include Bastardo, Mourisco Tinto, Tinta Amarela, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Francesa and Touriga Nacional for the reds, and Donzelinho Branco, Gouveio, Malvasia Fina, Rabigato, and Viosinho for the whites.</p> <p>The wine route embraces vineyards both inside and outside the Douro Valley in the Douro Denominação de Origem Controlada (officially denominated control region), or D.O.C. Avid hikers should take note that a path following the route of an abandoned railway allows one to pursue one of the wine routes of Porto on foot. However, the larger route requires a car, as the wine route visits vineyards from Porto all the way to the Spanish border. Accommodations can be booked in farmhouse bed and breakfasts, and in some cases at the wineries themselves.</p> <p>Some wineries also offer the opportunity to join in on one of the traditional early stages of the winemaking process, namely crushing the grapes under bare feet. To join in on grape crushing means timing your visit to arrive in the mid-autumn, although it is difficult to guarantee being in the right place at the right time for a foot-stomping. Like everything involving agriculture, a variety of only semi-predictable natural factors dictate when to pick the grapes.</p> <p>Rich Thomas<br /> <a href=&#34;http://www.associatedcontent.com&#34;>http://www.associatedcontent.com</a><br />  </p>Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000http://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=113ivdp@ivdo.pt (Notícia)Notíciashttp://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=112<p><br /> By: Scott Greenberg <br /> The Vine Guy<br /> January 28, 2010 <br /> <br /> Sometimes in life, it really is the simple things that can make us happy. Particularly when that simple thing doesn&#39;t cost a lot and can last a long, long time -- sort of like the mythical Everlasting Gobstopper of Willy Wonka fame.<br /> <br /> However, unlike the fictional candy that could last a lifetime, there actually is an unsung hero in winedom that provides a lot of pleasure for a long time. And while it won&#39;t last as long as a Gobstopper, it should get you through the week. I am referring to, of course, the renowned red elixir of Portugal -- port.</p> <p>While wine had been an important part of the Portuguese culture since the first century B.C., the invention of port wines began in the 17th century when Great Britain declared war on France, thus cutting off their supply of fine wine. The British promptly turned to Portugal, where they decided to add brandy to barrels of wine during fermentation in order to preserve it and keep it fresh for its long journey down the Douro River to the port town of Oporto. This &#34;fortification&#34; (today, a neutral grape spirit known as aguardente in used) stopped the fermentation process, resulting in higher levels of residual sugar in the wine. The end result was a sweet, heady wine with higher alcohol levels that nicely countered the prominent dark fruit flavors.</p> <p>Port is not a grape or a place, but rather takes its name from the city of Oporto that is situated at the mouth of the Douro River. The grapes used in port wines are grown in the Douro Valley, about 65 miles upriver from the port city. This remote appellation hugs the formidable Serra do Marao mountain range. The valley&#39;s widest point is no more than 16 miles across and the rocky terrain is home to more than 100 different types of grapes that can be used to make port. However, the three most popular varietals are Tinto Roriz, Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca.</p> <p>There are several different styles of red port wine. The four most popular include tawny, port wines with indication of age, vintage port and late bottled vintage port.</p> <p>Tawny ports are aged in wooden casks and are the product of several blends (to maintain a consistent &#34;house&#34; style). Port wines with indication of age are usually tawny wines that are &#34;better-than-average&#34; as approved by the Port Wine Institute. They will denote a bottling date along with an indication of their character by the age on the label: 10 years old, 20 years old, 30 years old and 40 years old. The most well known style of port wines is vintage ports, which account for only 2 percent of all port wine produced. Since port houses only make vintage ports in the best years, when they &#34;declare&#34; it worthy, the wines are eagerly sought after by collectors and can be expensive.</p> <p>However, one of the best values in port wine are late bottled vintage ports. These wines are produced in a good quality year from a single harvest and are bottled approximately between the fourth and sixth year of age. The label will show not only the year of the harvest but also the date of bottling and the designation LBV.</p> <p>Best of all, these wines do not have to be consumed immediately after opening the bottle. Thanks to the fortification process, LBV ports can be enjoyed up to a week after opening. And since a little goes a long way, just like the Gobstopper, they provide a lot of pleasure for a very long time. Retail prices are approximate.</p> <p>2003 Dows LBV, Douro Valley, Portugal ($16)</p> <p>A wonderful value in LBV, this port has a splendid nose of concentrated black plum aromas. The ripe blackberry and red plum fruit flavors on the rounded palate leads to a long finish featuring hints of cocoa.</p> <p>1998 Quinto Noval LBV Douro Valley, Portugal ($20)</p> <p>The nose accentuates scents of black plums, dark cherries and red fruits. On the palate the full-bodied wine cascades over the tongue with flavors of blackberry, black plum and spicy cinnamon. The balanced, elegant finish provides just a hint of licorice at the end.</p> <p>2003 Graham&#39;s LBV, Douro Valley, Portugal ($23)</p> <p>The fragrant bouquet possesses delightful scents of ripe blackberry fruit and licorice. The palate has warm flavors of black plum and black cherry fruit on a complex frame. The lengthy finish has remarkable depth and structure. Enjoy with a wedge of Stilton or Roquefort blue cheese.</p> <p>2001 Ramos Pinto LBV, Douro Valley, Portugal ($25)<br /> <br /> Prominent notes of dark cherry and blackberry aromas dominate the nose. The rounded palate has great intense dark fruit flavors with nice depth and good complexity. A perfect pairing with desserts featuring dark chocolate.<br /> <br /> Read more at the Washington Examiner: <a href=&#34;http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/entertainment/The-Vine-Guy_-The-value-of-late-bottle-vintage-port-82710517.html#ixzz0fuLSS4iF&#34;>http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/entertainment/The-Vine-Guy_-The-value-of-late-bottle-vintage-port-82710517.html#ixzz0fuLSS4iF</a><br />  </p>Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000http://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=112ivdp@ivdo.pt (Notícia)Notíciashttp://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=111<br /> By Roger Voss<br /> Wine Enthusiast<br /> <br /> <a href=&#34;/en/docs/Vintage Port.pdf&#34;>Read the article</a>Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000http://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=111ivdp@ivdo.pt (Notícia)Notíciashttp://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=109<p><br /> Over the next days, IVDP will join forces with the MONTREAL HIGH LIGHTS Festival to celebrate Portugal. Several events will be held to promote Port and Douro wines and many producers will be on site to discuss them with festival-goers.</p> <p><strong>Wine Fair<br /> </strong>From February 17 to 20, Port and Douro wine producers will welcome the public at Complexe Desjardins for a mini wine fair featuring Portuguese wines from renowned producers. Attendees will have the chance to sample products and interact with the producers on site. For a modest $5 entrance fee, attendees will enjoy three tastings and receive a specially engraved INAO tasting glass.</p> <p>Detailed schedule of the wine fair:<br /> &#38;bull; February 17: 11:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.<br /> &#38;bull; February 18: 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.<br /> &#38;bull; February 19: 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.<br /> &#38;bull; February 20: 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.</p> <p><ins>Location:</ins> Complexe Desjardins, Level 2</p> <p><strong>Port &#38; Chocolate seminars</strong><br /> Festival-goers will also have the opportunity to put their taste buds to work during IVDP&#8217;s Port seminars. Led by Bertrand Eichel, the seminars will feature three different Port wines, paired with gourmet chocolates prepared especially for the occasion by Montreal&#8217;s top chocolatier Geneviève Grandbois, as well as an assortment of Quebec cheeses.<br /> <br /> Detailed schedule of the seminars:<br /> &#38;bull; February 18: 12:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.<br /> &#38;bull; February 19: 12:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.<br /> &#38;bull; February 20: 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.</p> <p><ins>Location:</ins> Complexe Desjardins, Level 2</p> <p><strong>Port and cheese tastings</strong><br /> Participants who prefer salty treats will be tempted by the combination of Quebec cheeses with Douro and Porto wines organized by the Fédération des producteurs de lait du Québec. The tastings will take place twice daily at the association&#8217;s kiosk located just outside the mini wine fair.<br />  </p>Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000http://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=109ivdp@ivdo.pt (Notícia)Notíciashttp://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=110<p><br /> Today, a preview tasting of the wines to be poured by the IVDP during the Montreal High Lights Festival will be held at Restaurant La Colombe, at 11am. The event, exclusively for journalists, will afford a chance to taste at leisure  all the wines on show at the IVDP booth during the Festival.</p> <p>Bertrand Eichel and Geneviève Grandbois will do the Chocolate/Porto media tour starting Thursday morning, and will be taping a live ten minute appearance on the most watched television morning show in Quebec, on Sunday.</p>Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000http://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=110ivdp@ivdo.pt (Notícia)Notíciashttp://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=108<p><br /> This past Christmas my Father-In-Law sent us a bottle of W.&#38; J. Graham&#8217;s 20 year aged Tawny Port. I must confess, ports are a wine I have overlooked in the past but after just one sip of that warming liquid, that has all changed. Lucky for me and you, this is truly the perfect time of year to dabble in a little Port tasting. With the temperatures dropping, fire pit going strong, sweaters and gloves donned, a few sips of Port will truly warm your soul.</p> <p>Port wine is a Portuguese fortified wine meaning the wine has been blended with Brandy. In the latter part of the sixteenth century, red wines from Portugal were shipped to Britain only to discover the wines did not travel well. The British market grew tired of the poorly exported wines and the Portuguese king didn&#8217;t want to lose this potential financial windfall. Long story short, a monastery in Douro frequently added brandy to stop the ongoing fermentation. The blend produced a thick, sweet, high alcohol wine that Britain loved.</p> <p>After some arguments with the British over adulterated port wine, Jose de Carvhallo e Mello, established the first government controlled regional demarcation for wine production in Portugal. Much like Champagne, to be called a port, the fortified wine must come from Portugal. There are several styles of port, too many really to list here, but I&#8217;ll cover a few.</p> <p>Barrel-aged ports:<br /> Tawny ports are wines made from red grapes that are aged in wooden barrels, gradually turning a golden-brown color.<br /> Colheita is a Tawny port from a single vintage and will mention the actual year on the bottle.<br /> <br /> Bottle-aged ports:<br /> Ruby port is the most inexpensive style of port. After fermentation it&#8217;s stored in tanks and does not improve with age.<br /> Reserve port is a premium Ruby port approved by the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto.</p> <p>Port doesn&#8217;t come cheap but then again nothing is when aged for 10, 20 or 30 years. So go ahead and imbibe, it&#8217;s a fine sipping wine which means the bottle can easily last up to six months after opening. Pair with some pungent and great tasting cheese and enjoy.</p> <p>Author: Kellie Stargaard<br /> <a href=&#34;http://www.examiner.com&#34;>www.examiner.com</a></p>Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000http://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=108ivdp@ivdo.pt (Notícia)Notíciashttp://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=107<p><br /> The Center for Wine Origins has issued a &#8220;Location Matters&#8221; guide to wine retailers, restaurants and wine bars with &#8220;exceptional wine programs that cater to consumers&#8217; demands for authentic labeling and region specific wine varietals &#8211; from Champagne to Port.&#8221;<br /> On the list for Chicago are: Duchamp for restaurant; The Blue Bird for wine bar; Kafka Wine Co. for wine retailer. That&#39;s proprietor Joe Kafka, at right, in his shop.<br /> Other cities included in the guide are New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, San Diego, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C, and Las Vegas.<br /> Thirty restaurants, wine bars and retailers made the list. To see who&#8217;s been picked, <a href=&#34;http://www.designab.com/eu-wine/location_matters/location_matters_city_tasting_guide.html&#34;>click here</a>.<br /> The Washington-based Center for Wine Origins seeks to highlight the importance of location to American consumers and policymakers and to protect geographic names used for products, like Champagne, from being used by winemakers in other regions.<br /> <br /> Posted by Bill Daley<br /> Chicago Tribune</p>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000http://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=107ivdp@ivdo.pt (Notícia)Notíciashttp://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=106<p><br /> While a bottle of port may still be brought out at Christmas, the days of it being a regular tipple for most seem to be long gone. Humphrey Hawksley travelled to northern Portugal to see how an image overhaul is affecting the region&#39;s historic port trade.<br /> <br /> Paul Symington walks through his hillside vineyard, at ease with the land. With his steps, confident on the damp, sloping ground, he cuts a figure not unlike a Roman centurion.<br /> <br /> He stops to talk to his men pruning the vines. <br /> <br /> He confers with his caseiro - or farm manager. He consults his young viticulturist about the quality of the soil. Then he casts his eyes over the estate, where mist obscures the view of the Douro River below. <br /> <br /> &#34;The Romans dressed differently, of course. And you wouldn&#39;t have driven there,&#34; he said. &#34;But apart from that, what you see in these vineyards hasn&#39;t changed since Roman times.&#34; <br /> <br /> Paul&#39;s family have been working the hills in northern Portugal for more than 300 years. He has an instinctive sense of history and tradition, but he knows things have to change if his business is to survive. <br /> <br /> <ins>Table rituals</ins><br /> <br /> The business is port wine, and if one product is getting an image makeover it is this deep red tipple.<br /> <br /> It conjures up images of huge wooden barrels in cobwebbed cellars; of raising glasses at regimental dinners; of strange table rituals with crystal decanters and grumpy conversations among red faced colonels - when the women have been asked to leave the room. <br /> <br /> Paul has had to think very hard about his future. <br /> <br /> &#34;There&#39;s marvellous ceremony attached to port,&#34; he said. <br /> <br /> &#34;At state banquets the Queen always makes the toast with port, and we don&#39;t want to lose that. <br /> <br /> &#34;But we all live differently now. We don&#39;t have wine cellars. We eat around the kitchen table. We don&#39;t dress for dinner every night.&#34;</p> <p>&#34;We have to adapt our markets. We absolutely have to get more young people drinking port.&#34; <br /> <br /> He paused to sweep his hand around the view of the vineyards, and said: &#34;Otherwise this whole valley will revert back to scrub.&#34; <br /> <br /> It has not been scrub for a long time. <br /> <br /> Every year, the Romans ripped off their sandals to tread the Douro Valley grapes pretty much as some of Paul&#39;s harvest is trod by villagers today. <br /> <br /> The rest is done by computerised machines that simulate human feet. <br /> <ins><br /> Immediate hit<br /> </ins><br /> The area itself is one of the oldest wine-growing regions in the world - officially demarcated back in 1756, a century before Bordeaux. <br /> <br /> And port itself was created almost by mistake. To stop wine going bad on its sea journey to England, British traders fortified it with brandy. <br /> The new sweet taste and extra kick was an immediate hit with those who could afford it.</p> <p>The Douro River runs down to the town of Oporto where hoardings with names such as Sandeman, Taylors and Dow, dominate the skyline - showing how the British establishment took to port wine and made it its own. <br /> <br /> Over lunch in a small restaurant, it became clear that Paul need look no further than his own farm manager, Antonio, if he wants to expand his clientele far outside Britain&#39;s palaces and clubs. <br /> <br /> &#34;Do you decant port and insist on it being passed around the table to the right - or should it be to the left?&#34; I questioned Antonio. <br /> <br /> As Paul translated, Antonio&#39;s weather-beaten face broke into a huge grin. What on earth was I talking about? he asked. <br /> <br /> Paul clarified and Antonio threw back his head, roaring with laughter. <br /> <br /> &#34;He doesn&#39;t know about these quirky English habits,&#34; translated Paul. &#34;He makes port, puts it in the glass and drinks it.&#34; <br /> <br /> &#34;And here the women drink it just the same as the men,&#34; said Paul. <br /> <br /> &#34;They certainly wouldn&#39;t leave the table or the men wouldn&#39;t be allowed to sleep within the four walls of their own home.&#34; <br /> <br /> <ins>Perfectly filtered<br /> </ins><br /> Back in Britain, in the heart of the recession gripped City of London, one of Britain&#39;s leading port experts, Tim Stanley-Clarke, was keen to add his bit to the drink&#39;s changing image. <br /> <br /> He arrived at a top wine bar with a smart decanter, a vintage bottle from 1983 and a pair of tights. <br /> <br /> With jazz piano playing in the background, he flipped open a pocket corkscrew.</p> <p>&#34;Forty-eight percent of port is drunk by females and 44% by people under the age of 45,&#34; he argued, easing out the cork. <br /> <br /> &#34;I love it,&#34; chipped in 23-year-old Judith Hurrell, there with friends, sharing a bottle in an ice bucket. <br /> <br /> Behind us two young women executives each had a glass while working on their laptops. <br /> <br /> Tim stretched the tights over the mouth of a plastic funnel, dropped it into the decanter and began pouring. <br /> <br /> &#34;There you go,&#34; he said. <br /> <br /> &#34;No ceremony here and perfectly filtered through nylons. House port sold by the glass. <br /> <br /> &#34;The days of boring old men with expensive complexions, falling asleep over their port in leather chairs - they&#39;re long gone.&#34; <br /> <br /> Humphrey Hawksley<br /> BBC<br />  </p>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000http://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=106ivdp@ivdo.pt (Notícia)Notíciashttp://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=105<br /> <div>One of the most prestigious American magazines, Wine Spectator, includes an exclusive newsletter which presents the latest tastings and editorial picks of the magazine. Without any surprise, the Douro Wines were the centrepieces - with more published samples than Germany &#8211; with 13 chosen wines, ranging between 90 and 94 points and also 2 wines selected to feature on the hot list, a list of the most recent and exciting discoveries, considered by the magazine as high quality and rating wines. <br /> <br /> <div>Quinta da Romaneira</div> <div>Douro 2007</div> <div>94 points | $52 | 40 cases imported | Red</div> <div> </div> <div>Quinta do Vallado</div> <div>Touriga Nacional Douro 2007</div> <div>94 points | $30 | 375 cases imported | Red</div> <div> </div> <div>Quinta do Vallado</div> <div>Douro 2007</div> <div>93 points | $19 | 3,500 cases imported | Red</div> <div> </div> <div>Quinta do Noval</div> <div>Duriense Cedro 2007</div> <div>92 points | $22 | 500 cases imported | Red</div> <div> </div> <div>Quinta do Vallado</div> <div>Sousão Douro 2007</div> <div>92 points | $32 | 100 cases imported | Red</div> <div> </div> <div>Quinta do Vale Meão</div> <div>Douro Meandro 2007</div> <div>91 points | $28 | 3,750 cases imported | Red</div> <div> </div> <div>Casa Ferreirinha</div> <div>Douro Vinha Grande 2003</div> <div>90 points | $20 | 1,500 cases imported | Red</div> <div> </div> <div>Vitivinícola Carla Ferreira</div> <div>Unipessoal</div> <div>Douro Conceito 2007</div> <div>90 points | $49 | 50 cases imported | Red</div> <div> </div> <div>Quinta do Noval</div> <div>Duriense Labrador 2007</div> <div>90 points | $30 | 10 cases imported | Red</div> <div> </div> <div>Quinta da Romaneira</div> <div>Douro R de Romaneira 2007</div> <div>90 points | $22 | 100 cases imported | Red</div> <div> </div> <div>Quinta do Vallado</div> <div>Douro White Reserva 2008</div> <div>90 points | $32 | 50 cases imported | White</div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div><ins>Hot Wines</ins></div> <div> </div> <div>Quinta do Vallado</div> <div>Douro Reserva 2007</div> <div>96 points | $45 | 600 cases imported | Red</div> <div> </div> <div>Quinta do Noval</div> <div>Douro 2007</div> <div>95 points | $75 | 100 cases imported | Red</div> <div> </div> </div>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000http://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=105ivdp@ivdo.pt (Notícia)Notíciashttp://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=104<p><br /> Following the Vintage tasting and Official Declaration that were held in the Palácio da Bolsa (Porto) on the 23rd October, the 2007 Vintages were presented for the first time outside Portugal.<br /> Continuing with the events organized in the Brazilian market, on the 5th of November IVDP along with AICEP organised a 2007 Vintage tasting at the Portuguese Embassy in São Paulo. <br /> It was a technical tasting for food and wine specialists and journalists, with the main aim of presenting the 2007 Vintage, declared by a record number of Port houses, in a strategic market for the wines of the Douro Demarcated Region. Photos available at: <a href=&#34;http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivdp_ip/sets/72157622766926382/&#34;>http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivdp_ip/sets/72157622766926382/</a></p>Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000http://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=104ivdp@ivdo.pt (Notícia)Notíciashttp://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=103<p><br /> By ERIC ASIMOV<br /> Published: October 14, 2009<br /> The New York Times</p> <p>IN the year or so since the economy plummeted without a parachute, Americans have not stopped buying wine. They&#8217;ve simply bought cheaper wine. Whether this will ultimately be seen as a time of sacrifice or an eye-opening education remains to be determined, but I have a hunch that many people will find it easy, when the economy recovers, not to resume their free-spending ways.<br /> Why? Because this is a prime opportunity to learn that more expensive wine is not necessarily better wine. <br /> Oh, this is not a novel idea. In fact, it&#8217;s a much abused idea, brandished often by the reverse snobs who like to sneer at the suckers spending $50 for a bottle of Burgundy when they could have a couple of cases of Two-Buck Chuck for the same price. <br /> Of course you can. And for the price of the one-volume complete works of Shakespeare, you can buy a truckload of comic books. Some people would be happier with the comics.<br /> Just because a silly argument can be constructed on the foundation of a truth doesn&#8217;t make it less of a truth. So yes, more expensive wine is not necessarily better wine.<br /> This is true everywhere, but it&#8217;s an idea that I think has special resonance in areas with a rapidly developing wine industry. Case in point: the Douro region of Portugal.<br /> With its twisting rows of terraced vines, which seem to undulate down steep, rocky hillsides in the shimmering heat, the Douro (pronounced DOH-roo) is one of the most beautiful and forbidding wine territories in the world. It is indeed rapidly developing, but it&#8217;s by no means new.<br /> <br /> For centuries most of the Douro grapes went into fortified wine, Port, whether the cheap aperitif, the great tawnies or the prized vintage monsters that required decades to tame. But over the last 20 years, as the world&#8217;s tastes have evolved and as the Portuguese wine industry has modernized, still wines have become more and more important to the Douro economy.<br /> Once something of a curiosity, still red wines from the Douro are now easy to find in shops. I&#8217;ve written several times that inexpensive reds from the Douro and from Portugal in general can be great buys, but these wines tell only part of the Douro story. Equally important are the number of sophisticated, well-financed producers, many with ties to the great Port houses, who are making ambitious, expensive wines.<br /> In a recent tasting of Douro reds, the wine panel found an enormous disparity in price among our favorite wines. We sampled 20 wines, ranging from $7 to $85 a bottle, with nine bottles costing $21 or less and nine for $45 or more. <br /> Of the 10 wines we liked best, five came from the cheap group and five from the expensive group. And among those 10 bottles, we clearly preferred the less expensive wines.<br /> <br /> For the tasting Florence Fabricant and I were joined by Laura Maniec, director of wine and spirits for B. R. Guest Restaurants, and Byron Bates, a sommelier and wine consultant.<br /> The price disparity in the tasting was not by design, but it represented a cross-section of the Douro wines in the marketplace. Our No. 1 wine, the 2006 Altano from Symington Family Estates, was also our best value at a mere $10. It was lively and dry, with plummy, earthy flavors that were altogether pleasing.<br /> Why did we rate it higher than our No. 6 wine, the 2005 Reserva from Quinta do Vallado, a $66 bottle, or, for that matter, our No. 7, the most expensive bottle in the tasting, the 2005 Quinta do Vale Meão, an $85 bottle?<br /> No doubt, the more expensive wines were made with a great deal of care. Yields were kept low, and the grapes were babied from harvest through vinification. Winemakers sought maximum concentration and aged the wines in the finest new oak barrels. <br /> <br /> The result, very generally speaking, is powerful wines of great impact, with penetrating fruit flavors buttressed by the spicy, creamy chocolate and vanilla of new oak.<br /> The Quinta do Vallado, for example, is exuberantly fruity, with plenty of oak and a dose of spiciness for personality. The Quinta do Vale Meão is even more powerful, a veritable fruit and oak bomb.<br /> By contrast, concentration and power are not the aims with the less expensive wines. They are not lavished with new oak, and textures tend to be leaner rather than plush. <br /> We liked the balance of the No. 1 Altano, its easy drinkability and the fact that it would do well on the table. It didn&#8217;t seem expensive &#8212; the polished oakiness is often a giveaway in blind tastings &#8212; but it tasted harmonious.<br /> Similarly, our No. 2 bottle, the 2007 Quinta de la Rosa for $16, was fresh, bright and focused, while our No. 3, the 2006 Lavradores de Feitoria for $12, was a pretty, winsome wine. It didn&#8217;t have the concentration or lingering power of a more expensive bottle, but it made up for it by being delicate and engaging.<br /> OF course, this dichotomy is overly stark. Our No. 10 bottle, the 2005 Quinta dos Aciprestes from Real Companhia Velha, a $12 bottle, was extravagantly fruity, but without the intensity and concentration of the more expensive wines. Meanwhile, our No. 4 wine, the 2005 Quinta do Vale D. Maria, a $50 bottle, was huge and ripe, but well structured and focused.<br /> <br /> For the most part, these more expensive bottles are fine winemaking achievements, but not necessarily more enjoyable wines. A saving grace in all of our favorite wines, however, is that they show off the Douro&#8217;s indigenous grapes, like touriga nacional, the primary grape of Port; tinto roriz, which is otherwise known as tempranillo; and touriga franca, another Port grape. Their spicy, plummy flavors are evident in most of these wines, regardless of efforts to overwhelm them with oak.<br /> While these grapes are usually blended, as in Port, one of the wines was made of 100 percent touriga nacional. That was our No. 8 bottle, also made by Quinta do Vallado. Its fruitiness did not have the skyrocketing trajectory of the blended version, but at $60 its price was on the same arc.</p> <p> </p>Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0000http://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=103ivdp@ivdo.pt (Notícia)Notíciashttp://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=102<br /> <a href=&#34;/en/docs/Drink to your health.pdf&#34;>Read the article</a>Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0000http://www.ivdp.pt/noticia.asp?cod=102ivdp@ivdo.pt (Notícia)Notícias