Tank Installation

Before the big push

This was a feat: installing a 7000 Liter tank with 3 cm on either side of the cellar’s entrance to spare!  The actual endeavor was close to a miracle, and we thank our lucky stars that we got the tank into the aging cellar, intact and without dismantling!  As you may know, in addition to the port and wine business, Vincent is also involved in the barrel business.   New and reconditioned oak tanks and barrels, mainly French, are an integral part of our port and wine’s quality.  Some of the larger tanks arrive disassembled, to be rebuilt inside the aging cellars by Vincent, Jorge and the quinta team.  We took our chances with this one, as you can see in the photo.

Unloading

Which of our ports age in the 7000 Liter tanks?  Ruby for a couple of years with different lots blended afterwards and Vintage for 18 months to 2 years.  Why such a big aging vessel?  We age with slow micro-oxidation, that softens the tannins yet saves the fruit and color, due to minimal contact between the Port and the wood.  This particular tank is from the prestigious French Troncais forest, and is an old reconditioned Cognac tank.  Our Quinta do Tedo policy is to have all ports foot treaded and aged in wood, for shorter or longer periods.  The Ruby is ready to enjoy after bottling, ad the Vintage generally is to lay down for further bottle aging.

Here it comes

In contrast, our Tawny and LBV spend longer periods of time in smaller barrels varying in size from 225L – 550L.   The Tawny ages up to 8 years and the LBV up to 6 years.  The focus is to accelerate micro-oxidation and concentration of aroma and sugar: smaller volume = more contact with wood, so that the fruit and tannins soften faster.  After bottling they are pronto for enjoying, but can also continue to age, especially the LBV.

At home in cellar

My next blog will talk about the wood that we use for aging at the quinta, a fascinating subject, especially because Vincent is so full of information after 30+ years of consulting internationally in the barrel business!

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Easter is coming....

Springtime walk

When I think about Easter holidays at the quinta, memories flood my mind.  The tapestry of blooming wildflowers, to include the blue of lupine, the red of clover, the yellow of buttercups, the white of field peas and etc reminds us that spring is really here, and this beautiful cover crop also replenishes nutrients to the soil.   With our menagerie of dogs, enjoyable walks are taken along the banks of the Tedo and beyond, listening to the song of the recently returned oenanthe leucura, aka black wheatear, the migratory bird that we proudly use for our quinta’s stylized logo.  Wild asparagus is foraged in the Mediterranean scrub around the quinta, by climbing over granite boulders to look for the spindly spears, destined to become part of a delicious meal. The grapevine’s buds develop and burst at this time, bidding adieu to winter’s dormancy as shiny green new growth takes over in the vineyard.   The natural light is special at this time of year, fresh and not too intense, yet hints at the heat that will soon arrive, so integral to make good port and wine here at Quinta do Tedo.

Easter egg hunt

Add to this the annual egg hunt on Easter morning, an American tradition, and guess where is a perfect hiding place for the decorated eggs….the olive tree!  Clever Easter bunny!  Afterwards we continue to celebrate the religious holiday feasting on leitão, or roast suckling pig or cabrito, roast young goat, garnished with creamed bitter turnip greens called nabica and the Portuguese tradition of serving both rice AND garlic potatoes, cooked in abundant olive oil from the quinta, all complemented by our Douro DOC.  A cheese course follows to introduce a LBV and dessert may be our winemaker’s wife’s delicious recipe for “Port Wine Cake” or my mother’s  tried and true recipe for “Citrus Surprise”, to enjoy together with our Tawny.  I will proudly share with you any of the above recipes, just send a request to my blog.

Easter week is also when the momentum of visitors coming to tour and taste picks up, after the long winter (and this winter has been especially long and wet).   We hope that one day soon we will have the pleasure of your visit at Quinta do Tedo.

Enjoy a glass!

Happy Easter to all, we wish you a wonderful time with loved ones together with an enjoyable glass of our port & wine.  Gretchen, thanks for the use of your fantastic photos!

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Eating in Douro Valley

Food in Douro Valley

The Douro river inspires all

Last month I wrote about food at our quinta, and I would like to extend the topic to food in the Douro.  Now this is very subjective, and I am not native to the region.  But I know and am passionate about good food, so I will take my chances and share with you a mere glimpse of culinary possibilities in the Douro, and will focus on bolas and 2 restaurants, to tease your palate and to inspire you to come and visit!

Every culture has a bread-based speciality; pâté en croûte in France, pizza in Italy, pasties in England, empanadas in Spain and BOLA in Portugal!  In the Douro bolas vary from town to town, bakery to bakery, home to home.  An egg and olive-oil based bread dough, filled with a myriad of stuffings from simple ham, ham and cheese, or ham, chicken and bacon to the more oh! so! savory stuffings of  bacalhau, sardines, or chicken, ham or bacon layered with slowly sautéed onions, black pepper and bay laurel, in sufficient olive oil, of course!   We serve small squares of bola during our guided port tastings and they disappear in no time.

Tucked away behind the marketplace of Regua is Cacho D’Oiro, simply decorated inside with enlarged black and white period photos of the port trade in the Douro, and with an ever so pleasant staff and owner Avelino Pereira there for you.  A favorite of ours since we bought the quinta in 1992, especially for a specialty picanha com feijão brasileiro, an aged rump steak, grilled whole on a spit with the thick layer of fat downside so most melts away and flavors the cut, seasoned with coarse sea salt, served tableside, sliced before you and others at your table and then brought back for additional grilling to repeat the process and the dining experience goes on and on…...  Served with black beans, carioca, sautéed bananas, rice, hand-cut french fries and a salad of greens, tomatoes and onions.  With a Douro DOC red wine you will think that you have gone to Heaven!

5 minutes from our quinta is D.O.C., a trendy and modern restaurant on a dock at Folgosa, where tradition successfully meets modernity in Portuguese cuisine with panache and skill.   Gorgeous location, with stunning views of the steep terraced vineyards meeting the Douro river.  Try the codfish with broa, shrimp with caril, pork cheeks with wild mushroom açorda (bread soup), serra cheese with Touriga Nacional marmalada and olive oil sorbet for dessert.  The place has a wonderful upbeat feel to it, the menu is seasonal, and you will be guided effortlessly by the staff.

Would you like more impressions of and tips for Douro Valley’s food?  Just let me know, send a comment and I will follow up in another blog in the future.

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Food at the quinta

When we first bought the quinta in 1992, in addition to being self sufficient in vegetables, fruit, olive oil, wine and of course port, we also had chickens, roosters, ducks and pigs.  We slaughtered 2 pigs a year, and always had legs hanging to season in the kitchen’s enormous chimney. Fowl was prepared in a myriad of ways and had flavor!  Vegetables were seasonal and picked fresh in the morning to be served at lunch.  I loved this ambiance, being a Californian who had never lived on a working farm, such as our quinta. Our children had a ball running around, being dirty most of the time, exploring and being part of the quinta in action.  Feeding the feathered animals and pigs was a highlight, and they would excuse themselves from the table to run outside with kitchen scraps and breadcrumbs to offer.  Of course they would much rather do that than to sit down and eat!  I remember one day at lunch when my then 3 year-old daughter Odile, looking at the steaming tray of rice with meat waiting to be served, asked “Mamma, where’s da red rooster dat I fed dis morning?”  You can only imagine! We no longer have these farm animals but we do boast home-grown seasonal vegetables, from tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, potatoes, beans, lettuce and one vegetable that finds its way into almost every meal….cabbage!  Oranges, tangerines, lemons and almonds also abound, and the cornucopia overflows.

The cabbage family dominates

Onions.....

Garlic.........

and potatoes go hand in hand

At Quinta do Tedo we do not have tractors to work the land, as mentioned in a previous blog, we have a horse and around 6 workers, in addition to our cook, manager/winemaker, assistant winemaker, tour guide, and occasional extra help, that mushrooms into a crew of 25 at harvest!  We have 2 meals a day for those who toil outside; a “snack” at 10 AM; typically soup, potatoes, grilled sardines or another protein source and at 1 PM; a proper hot lunch, starting with soup, following varies from baccalhau or fish, to grilled pork ribs, roasted chicken or braised beef to feijoada (a bean stew with pig ears, tripe and sausage), always accompanied by rice, pasta, beans or potatoes.  A full stomach=a happy worker is a saying that we believe in.  Our table wine is for all, mais bien sûr!  The vineyard workers have one room and the large kitchen is where we eat, together with the winemakers, the tour guide, and any visiting friends, family or business connections.  Lunch is the time to sit down and talk and to be together.

When people ask me how is the food at our quinta, given that I am not Portuguese, I generally respond that it is, in a nutshell, “simple, yet very flavorful”.  Now “simple” is very subjective.  The methods of making many dishes at the quinta are not simple, they take time; dishes simmer for hours on the stovetop or roast in the oven, meat and fish are marinated before grilling, discreet herbs and spices are used.  Ours is a working farm, the cook prepares for everyone, no one dish “jumps out” at you, flavors are harmonious.  The core ingredients are genuine, because for the most part they come from our land.  Our olive oil is soft and delicious, our table wine has a hint of port in the bouquet and is round and inviting in the mouth, and the port speaks for itself.

Life is good at the quinta and we are so lucky to be here.

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2009 in review and more....

With the holiday season upon us and another decade around the corner it is a good time to reflect on highlights of 2009 and of the decade that we will shortly bid “adieu” to. 2009:

- Among many international awards received for both our portos and table wines, Decanter lavished Quinta do Tedo with “International Trophy Best Blend” and “Best of Northern Portugal” for our Douro DOC 2007 red table wine, a lusciously round and mouth filling wine that sells at a very decent price.

- Aging cellar enlarged with 2 x 7500L new upright French oak tanks, for aging our Vintage, LBV, Tawny and Ruby ports.

- After a long process we have permits in hand to start the quinta’s restoration, that will include an apartment for guests.  Permits to build a new wine facility are close to approval, a challenging process since the Douro Valley is a UNESCO world heritage sight and the Tedo river is an ecological reserve.

Quinta do Tedo from Douro

For the decade:

2008 - All public places at the quinta paved in traditional granite cobblestones

2007 -1^st full-time tour guide hired

2006 - Process begins to go organic

2005 - Large tasting room finished and Tawny, Douro DOC’s Reserva and Grande Reserva added to product line

2004 - Small tasting room finished and direct shipment begins

2003 - Hugo Fonseca joins Quinta do Tedo as Assistant Winemaker and 1^st Douro DOC red table wine made

2002 - 4 traditional 5500L rotating stainless steel tanks purchased for Douro DOC red table wine program

2001 - Reconstruction and modernization of concrete tanks for Porto storage

2000 - ha/2.2 acres of Touriga Nacional planted

I already know what will be an important highlight of 2010: we will complete the 4-year process to become organic, to replace our current “protection raisonable” status. We are thrilled to start the restoration that will only improve Quinta do Tedo’s standards, not to mention enlarging to have guests!

Come and visit

WE TOAST TO YOU WITH A GLASS OF QUINTA DO TEDO PORTO AND WISH YOU ALL HAPPY HOLIDAYS WITH LOVED ONES, PEACE ON EARTH AND GOODWILL TO ALL!

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Harvest 2009 Reflections

Dear all, I have received repeated requests for Quinta do Tedo’s impression of harvest 2009, so here goes after consulting Vincent and Jorge…..

Time to harvest

Harvest 2009 - Started 3 weeks earlier than normal on 25 August for some older parcels, due to a 40°C/105°F week-long heat wave combined with drying winds in August.  Luckily we had a “cooler” July than usual (with even miraculous precipitation) that allowed the younger more resistant vines to mature slowly and to not stress.  Due to 35/40% less rainfall this year we have 30/35% less fruit, with 3 positives: concentration, acidity and sugar.  2009 will be a very good Douro DOC year, too early to predict if a “classic” or “normal” Vintage year, will be very good LBV and top base for Ruby and Tawny.

Grapes in baskets

Here are Jorge's comments:

“Douro: mature, level-headed grapes, with good acidity, minerality and fragrances gave rise to grand, intensely fruited, velvety wines; silky tannins,  good structure to grow old or to be appreciated in the near years. Marvellous wines."

Port: very mature grapes; balanced, healthy, they gave rise to concentrated, rich Ports in fragrances, tastes and tannins, able to support the aging in the near decades. A special year."

Cheers! “

Gorgeous!

All in all, sounds pretty good, eh?

I wish all a happy Thanksgiving in the company of loved ones.  A glass of Quinta do Tedo port would be a dream with a piece of pumpkin, mince and apple pie!

Liquid gold

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