They tell me the Algarve is really lovely and the wines aren't bad
but I've never been there.
I only ever go to Oporto or Lisbon. Today I did both. Because I
was in Oporto with three of our very best winemakers from the Lisbon area who came
up to present their wines to our much larger-than-usual Laithwaite's
contingent.
Jose Lobo de Vasconcellos and his winemaker Dina Luis represented Quinta
do Casal Branco, from whom we get a classic
oak-aged red and a mouthwatering
white blend of Sauvignon Blance and native Fernão Pires.
Jose Luis Oliveira da Silva represented Casa Santos Lima from whom we
get the brooding BIG RED Quinta
do Espirito Santo. And Jaime Quendera represented Casa Ermelinda Freitas who
supply us with their lusciously sweet Moscatel
de Setúbal.
 |
| Carlos and Fernando |
Carlos and Fernando were there too and a fine time was had in old
Oporto town. Perhaps too fine for the following day was a nine-hour Board
Meeting! The weather was the most beautiful of the trip but we could only look
out at it. I just mention that; I realise I'll never get sympathy in my line of
work.
Anyway, after work we all went over to the Andresen Port Lodge for
a treat. Andresen is not big. But not small either. They have around 4,000 barrels of Port in their
'Sleeping Lodges'. They all had mysterious and unfathomable codes written upon
them. Only two people know what these mean and therefore what is in each cask
or 'pipe' (twice the size of a Bordeaux barrel, never new oak, always old oak
encrusted with red crystals from years of precipitated sediment).
Carlos says the coding mystery is necessary because once people
(stares meaningfully at his friend Fernando) find out where the real old stuff
is it tends to 'evaporate' very quickly.
And Andresen surely do have old stuff! There are casks going back
over more than a hundred years.
For Andresen – and this is really why we love them – is a – maybe
THE – great Tawny Port specialist.
Explain.
The British have a taste for Vintage Port, Late Bottled Vintage
and Ruby … we traditionally prefer the red Ports. The Portuguese, on the other
hand seem to favour the brown ‘Tawny’ ports. Red ports keep their young colour
because they are bottled early. Tawnies go brown from living their lives in
casks.
They also become incredibly – really incredibly – complex. They
are only bottled just before they are shipped out. Because at that point their
development stops. Port shippers have always told me that what they prefer to
sell is vintage port – because it sells well. But what they prefer to drink is
… old Tawnies. And they've become my preference, too. And our customers now
seem to love them. And aged White port, also from Andresen, has gone crazy. It
seems we have seriously depleted their stocks.
The aperitif this evening was a Dry White Port, which we all loved
– not totally dry but clearly a drink for 'before' rather than 'after'. Andresen
is a 'working' Lodge … there is no set-up or shop for tourists. It’s just the
family; sisters, cousins etc. Working. But when Laithwaite's customers turn up
the welcome will always be warm. There'll be a visit to the cooperage where the
old chap works still with the old tools and fire. When Carlos took over the
firm he offered to bring in some machinery – a Black and Decker at least. The
old cooper said that well, he could but if that happened, he'd leave.
Everything here looks like a museum. But it isn't, it’s a real working winery.
The winemaker is Alvaro – young brother of Fernando; yet another
Van Zeller and generally thought to be the craziest. He works here with these
ancient brown wines. Then he goes to his place in the Vinho Verde region where
he makes that sharp, green-tinged dry white ‘Solar das Bouças Vinho Verde’ which sells so well for us every summer. Keep
your eyes peeled for the 2012 vintage.
Talk about different styles, this man manages to make brilliant
wines at both ends of the wine spectrum. This thought inspires me to quote here
the opening paragraphs of Hugh Johnson’s first book, 'Wine' which has always
inspired me;
“Think, for a
moment, of an almost paper white glass of liquid, just shot with greeny-gold,
just tart on your tongue, full of wild flower scents and spring water
freshness. And think of a burnt umber fluid, as smooth as syrup in the
glass, as fat as butter to smell and sea deep with strange flavours. Both are
wine.
Wine is grape
juice. Every drop of liquid filling so many bottles has been drawn out of the
ground by the roots of a vine. All these different drinks have at one time been
sap in a stick. It is the first of many strange and some – despite modern
research – mysterious circumstances which go to make wine not only the most
delicious, but the most fascinating, drink in the world.
It would not be so fascinating if
there were not so many different kinds. Although there are people who do not
care for it, and who think it no more than a nuisance that a wine list has so
many names on it, the whole reason that wine is worth study is its variety.” (Hugh Johnson, Wine)
Alvaro also has his little estate at the very top of the Douro
valley called ‘Quinta de Zom’. A
bit expensive but … maybe we should …
Carlos – we know for sure – has a pipe of 1900 Colheita port.
Colheita means it is not a blend but from just that one year. Now THAT is
expensive! The firm had laid down many pipes. They're down to their last one.
And it’s not full. It probably is worth its weight in gold. As the finale to a
great boisterous evening we are taken to where a pipe of 1910 lurks anonymous
in a great stack of pipes. We think he may have a few pipes of this year
but he won’t say. A tiny amount is siphoned into each glass. But you only need
a tiny amount; this is 100+ years of concentration. If you hold a sip in your
mouth the flavours wash through you in wave after wave for ages.
It’s quite humbling really. What does it taste of?
Everything.
Off into the night to the hotel and bed and I swear I was tasting
that wine all night.
Fly home most regretfully.
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