Will the Port Industry Survive?

[Roy Hersh]

Although there are a handful of Port companies that are swimming in the black, the red sea is opening wider each year. How will the Port companies face the onslaught of challenges before them:

* Labor costs are rising steeply
* The labor pool is diminishing each year bringing immigrants into the Douro Valley to do the very difficult labor in the vineyards and lagares.
* The cost of grapes continues to rise
* The average age of the Port consumer continues to rise
* Not enough young consumers are not being won over to Port
* Douro reds are easier to produce and gaining in popularity
* consolidation of cash poor producers continues
* there are Port companies up for sale at the current time
* World wide Port sales have declined since 2000

I can go on and on and this is not the first time that the Port industry has seen most of these same dynamics. Will there be further fall out and serious consolidation, with new groups forming to take leverage their unified marketing strength? The next decade will be interesting to say the least.

What is your opinon?

[Al B.]

This sort of topic reminds me of the economics essays I used to write at college. Brings back a few memories (of my pre-port days).

My personal view is that the industry as a whole will survive, although I think it is inevitable that some individual producers will leave the industry.

If I gaze into my own crystal ball what I see in 50 years time is a very different shape to the industry. I see port production being significantly reduced but the premium types of port retaining their current volume or perhaps even having an increased volume. One of the features of increasing wealth is that consumption does not rise in volume above a certain point but rises in quality and cost - people trade up when they are consuming as much volume as they need/want. Therefore my crystal ball tells me that a declining demand for port wine is likely to be felt most significantly through falling sales of ruby port. New consumers will be less likely to discover the product through ruby port and more likely to drink a VP as their first port experience.

To balance this out, and the impact that this would mean on production costs (that vinified juice not suitable for premium wines would not be able to be sold for as high a price for inclusion in other wines) I see three things happening:
(i) an increase in the price of premium wines
(ii) an increase in the existing focus on quality and control over the vines and the grapes being grown in the region
(iii) a redistribution of the current quotas available for the farming of grapes used for port production (either through sales of estates or through individual estates completely exiting port production)

I also see the continued development of the current wave of new producers, potentially also with a handful of "garagiste" producers coming onto the scene.

The increase in the average age of port drinkers is not necessarily a problem. Firstly, the average life span of many parts of the world is significantly longer now than it was 50 years ago. My crystal ball says that while the rate of this increase will slow, that the average will still be higher in 50 years time than it is today. Further, I note that a drinker of fine ports has to have a relatively high level of disposable income. This brings two relevant points to mind:
(i) High disposable income is most likely to be found in an individual who is older than average
(ii) People of high disposable income are frequently amongst those with the greatest life expectancy
Thus, my crystal ball tells me that the market for fine port is aimed at a specific demographic that is, by its very nature, of higher than average age simply because of the cost of the product. This is no different than, say, the market for Premier Cru Bordeaux. My 50 year prediction is that the average age of the drinker of fine port in 50 years time will be older than today - but that there will be more people of that age and with the money to be able to buy fine ports than there are at present.

One consequence of this is that I believe that older wines will become more difficult to source and will become considerably more expensive than they are today.

There will also be a move by the quinta owners to generate wider varieties of income that are less dependent on growing conditions, but which still leverage off their brand value. My crystal ball sees the growth of tourism in the Douro with a number of Quintas creating destination hotels in the region, using their brands and products to attract visitors but providing visitors with full hotel and tourist facilities so that visit enjoyment is not dependent on the wine heritage of the region. I also see the growth of the Douro Wine Route to rival that of South Africa (the best I have yet come across). This creates a new employment infrastructure and may help to retain or even attract new labour into the region and keep people available for the manual work required in the vineyards and during harvest. My crystal ball also sees limited interest among tourists and eonophiles for visits to be arranged to allow tourists the opportunity to tread grapes and take part in the harvest - effectively the cost of the tourist visit would subsidise the costs incurred by the port producer in paying the labour needed for the harvest and treading.

In summary, my crystal ball predicts that there will be significant change in the industry over the next 50 years - after all, why should they be different from the last 50 - but that there will still be a strong and vibrant industry producing top quality port wines in roughly the same quantities as are produced today. However, I also see more tourism and a wider range of table wines being produced by the region - by a mixture of the same large organisations as today, a selection of some of the independent producers we see today and a significant number of new, small or niche producers who do not exist at present.

Alex

[Mike Kerr]

I'll have to see if I can dig it up, but I'm pretty sure I saw somewhere that port sales had actually increased since 2000.

Mike.

[Roy Hersh]

Not the case Mike. I will put the actual statistics into my next newsletter.

[Mike Kerr]

The graph in the following clearly shows you are correct Roy. While sales did increase through the 90's, they hit a downturn since the turn of the century.

http://www.ivdp.pt/en/docs/PortWine2004.pdf

This is the document I had read a summary of off of http://www.infoportwine.com. I may have misinterpreted the summarization.

Mike.

[Derek T.]

I have three observations to make on this:

1. Alex can now be entered in the record books for the longest posting on this or any other website forum

2. I have notice, but have no evidence to back it up, that supermarkets and high street wine merchants (not BBR etc, the ones who sell more beer than wine!) seem to have a subsantially increased selection of ports available than they did 5 or 10 years ago. This suggests to me that the UK port drinking public is either demanding more choice or better quality or the volume of sales have increased through this particular channel.

3. On age, I have been very surprised at the relatively young age of the people I have met from this forum. At the tasting event in London in November I was expecting to meet 10 60 to 70 year old men smoking cigars and talking about their retirement plans. Instead, I met 10 young to middle aged men who will more than likely be drinking Fonseca 85 on it's 50th birthday and still have enough grey matter to write a tasting note!!!

From my limited experience, I think the demographic of the port drinking public is changing faster than the industry is - could this be a more serious issue?

Derek

[Roy Hersh]

I am going to reserve further comment for the moment and really do hope that others will chime in here, as I think this could be one of the best discussion topics on Port that we've had in some time.

I am going to move this to the PORT FORUM and it will get more attention.

[Andy Velebil]

Roy, great topic, here's my $0.02 worth:

I don't think the recent down turn in sales is a sign of the end of the port trade. It seems a lot of luxury type items have had sluggish sales since the whole 9-11-01 incident. Coming on the heels of 9-11, was very rapidly rising house prices here in the US, and companies not being as generous with bonuses and pay raises, has had an effect of consumer spending. For example, on the west coast of the US an average 3-4 bedroom house is now at about $500,000 to $800,000. The average income for those in their mid 30's and younger is less than $80,000 a year. Doesn't leave much left over for non-necessitys. Will that change, yes, it almost always does. The economy is like a roller coaster going up and down. The down side, I do think smaller Single Quintas will suffer tremendously. If the current economic does not change some, if not most, will probably be bought up by the large houses such as Symingtons. This type of take-over is, and has been, a trend in the recent past. Although, hopefully those large houses will retain the old quinta name and improve the product awareness.

I do think there are more younger people getting into ports than the industry thinks. Being in my early 30's, and most of my friends being around the same age, I can speak from experience. A lot of my friends are just getting into ports. The largest problem is availability and unfamiliarity of port. My friends and I can go to a wine tasting almost everyday of the week here in Los Angeles if we want and try all kinds of wines, finding ones we like. I can count on one hand recent port tastings in the L.A. area in the past couple of years. Luckliy, for me, I have picked all of your minds for good stuff to buy (to cellar or drink now). However, my friends are a bit more sceptical to buy something so expensive as VP's that they have never heard of or tried. Plus, most younger people live in the "Now" generation. "I bought it today and I want to drink it tonight, not wait 30 years." That is a phrase I have heard many times. Luckily they have discovered LBV's, Tawny's, and Ruby's to satisfy there needs. Which as Derek has stated are much easier to find in regular markets. The solution you ask, I think the port industry needs to start doing more publicity and sponsoring tastings. Think of what Coke and Pepsi does. Get people hooked to your product when they are younger and they will be a customer for life.

A good way to counter sluggish VP sales and to hook younger people is what S/W and Warre's does. Put out an Unfiltered LBV that is already 8-12 years old on release and sell it in the $20-30 range. It is a price range that is cheap enough that people don't have an issue spending, can be drunk now, and it allows one to buy a great LBV that is a product closer in taste and make-up to a VP.

The douro red issue is one I have thought about alot in the recent months. I have only have a few douro reds recently, and most were decent, and a couple were very good. I think the port industry is going to have a hard time breaking into, in a large way, the red wine market. Read the posts on regular wine forums. (Warning I am going to stir the pot here, no disrepect is intended, just stating an opinion) most of those people are so narrow minded it makes me sick. If Robert Parker doesnt give it a 95, they don't want it. If it isn't a Rothchild, or some other "cool" wine of the month they don't want anything to do with it. They buy stuff by the case, not to drink, but to sell at a later date when prices have gone sky high. Then they complain when prices go up. I have stated this before, and have been told the same thing by no less than 3 friends, that most wine-geeks they have met are just snobby assholes. Where as most port geeks (ok, lets face it we are geeks too

) are much more laid back, friendly, easy going type people. For the most part they love to talk about port, and share their knowledge over and over again without all the attitude. THIS SINGLE THING HAS CAUSED MORE OF MY FRIENDS TO START GETTING INTO PORTS AND MOVING AWAY FROM REGULAR WINES. I do have a couple of friends that "lurk" here, but being burned on other wine forums, they are now reluctant to post in any wine chat forum.

Maybe that is part of the "old tradition" of ports that will continue to help it succeed in the future!

I agree with Alex, and as Derek mentioned, the port industry is not changing fast enough with the times. They still are relatively closed to visitors coming to the quintas. Look at Napa, you can visit almost every winery for a tour and tasting. Then buy what you like and have it shipped home or you can take it with you. This generates a huge amount of in-house sales and gets people "hooked" onto their wines. Quintas should do the same. Make it easier to access the quintas, allow people to stay at the quintas and help out in the harvest. I'm sure you could get a large number of people that would love to spend a few days or week at a quinta and help out picking grapes and then stomping them in the lagares. Not only would you get free labor, but the money these visitors pay to stay at the quinta. Thus reducing some of the labor costs and the most important thing, you probably just gained a life long consumer that will then pass on thier recommendation to friends.

[Jennifer Hart]

I think Andy brings up some good points. Port is not a well known wine among the 30 somethings. It is something that those of us whom are tired and wary of wine forums elsewhere are discovering if someone introduces us to Port. I agree that the 30 somethings are in the here and now. They don't want to decant, wait or cellar a port, they buy it, they want it now. It is something that today we are all struggling with.
As Roy can attest too, along with Andy, the housing market as well as the basic necessities of life have skyrocketed in price, making hobbies such as wine and other "wants" something that most of us are struggling to afford.

Thank you for all the insight, I am finding this thread particularly interesting to read and follow!
Jenn

[Frederick Blais]

I did not have the time to read it all. Though I just want to add my 2 cents quickly. I don't know the numbers but I think small vineyards and project will survive well in the Future. As anywhere else in the world, small cuvée of great quality with very good press coverage will always survive and make good money. Right now the Pintas, qta Valle Meao, Qta Do Vallado and few others are getting this press coverage and creates a buzz.

But the Douro may face the same crisiss as there is in France now. When critics start to write that too much mediocre wines are beeing produced in a region, it is enough to scare buyers from a region. As I've said recently with the article in the Decanter magazine, the results of the tasting are far from bringing new faces to buy these wines.

Which brings me to my main subject. How dependent is a wine industry from the critics? And there is truly a link. People can really see how much money they loose when their wines is scoring 89 instead of 90, same when it is scored 95 instead of 96. Critics have their role, it is important to make discover a region, new products, driving producer to make better products. Critics can be as good as it can be bad. Make you discover new products, and make die other ones.

Interesting thread, I'll try to read it all during the week-end and give more feedback.

[Stuart Chatfield]

I see three aspects to this.

1. Young Consumers

When I started drinking - especially at University - everyone drank port. It is an ideal lead into wine and drinking generally. It is sweet and, at the lower end, very good value for money - is there a cheaper way of getting drunk when you are 18? We only had cheap port (I think Cockburn Fine Ruby was the staple with Special Reserve on a good day). We'd quaff 1/2 pints after dinner in the bar at my hall. The port industry should encourage this (well, not encourage drinking fortified wine by the 1/2 pint - I mean drinking of port by youngsters!) These days when I go back to my old university they drink fashionable cheap East European lagers from bottles and "alcopops" (do you have them in the US? Sort of artificial fruit drinks with added alcohol). The industry should market the product better. At the moment I see adverts trying to encourage people to drink claret generally, that presumably the producers are clubbing together to pay for? UK people will remember the brilliant ad in the 80s where a Russian submarine captain (Richard Marner?) is won over to port by a British Navy officer who is lost at sea in a lifeboat/raft with only his last case of port; he rescues him and they have a hilarious discussion about how to pronounce "Cockburn" - we need a modern version of that!

2. Older more sophisticated drinkers.

Those of us who drink a lot of VP in the UK know that there is a VP lake (mainly of 70s/80s vintages bought 20 years ago by misguided speculators) to be soaked up in the secondary market that is leaving the younger VPs on the shelves. Over the next few years this will dry up, so we will have to buy more young to get the best price (like we do with claret) and I am sure that will right itself.

3. Casual buyers

Certainly in the UK, my friends who drink wine and port, but not daily, are coming round to the cheaper wholesalers like Farrs and FRW. More of a free market is developing and I bet that the traditional suppliers who buy on release are suffering with growing reserves. This is linked a bit to point 2. I hesitate to say it, but once again there needs to be a concerted advertising campaign to make port a bit more cool. I understand that Jose Mourinho (for those outside UK/Europe he's a famous, rather suave, Portuguese football coach, now based in England) is helping out the cork industry with some ads; what about signing him up to create a fashionable image?


We, as long-term port lovers, surely do not want the prices to suffer. The Parker effect (for all its faults) has allowed prices to go up there (probably with US money driving it) and has allowed the Bdx producers to invest and produce more consistent results year on year. However, the port release prices of 03 in the UK were unquestionably too high for the market. If port wants a release market like that for bdx it can't work if the top producers (Taylor, Graham etc) are still at the same price 9 months on (and they are) - people won't trust the statements that you have to buy it now to save money. Anyone who bought 03 on release has lent their money to someone else for no benefit.

Presumably, VP is a small part of volume and only a little larger in terms of revenue. Therefore it is marketing and image that must be changed if you want the public at large to buy everyday ports!

[pgwerner]

I don't think that Port is exclusively an old man's drink, I've actually been drinking Port and Madiera since my teens, albeit, I've only been drinking good Ports and Madeiras since my early 30s (not quite ten years now).

I got into wine through cooking, and luckily came across lots of recipes that featured things like a Madeira sauce or a Port deglaze - I'd always try some of the wine and found I really liked these wines. My learning curve went from Ruby Port and "Full Rich" Madeira to Vintage Character Ports and 5-year-old Malmsey to (presently) LBV Port and 10-year-old Malmsey. Beyond that, I start feeling the effects of far-from-unlimited disposable income. I also keep around an Henriques 15-year Malmsey and Fonseca 20-year Moscatel de Setubal, but these are on the upper edge of my budget, so I nurse these. Vintage Port is typically even more out of my "comfort zone", not because I couldn't afford the occasional bottle, but the fact that it has a 3-day shelf-life once opened makes it a very occasional extravagance rather than something I always have on hand and slowly work through.

I also sympathize with people who just can't see laying a bottle down for 30 years - I've certainly never done so. (I'd say 10-years is my upper limit, and I've only done this once.) However, if you were to lay down a wine for 30 years, you'd probably want to do it when you were young - after all, once you hit your mid-40s, there's a very good chance you won't be around in 30 years to enjoy it! Also, considering that I often see well-aged Vintage Port go on the market for not that much more than equivalent-quality younger Vintage Ports, perhaps it doesn't make sense to do your own cellaring, other than a few bottles that are "must haves" when they reach their peak.

Back to the subject of young people and Port - I think the biggest challenge is getting younger people to develop a taste for good wine, whether table wines or fortifieds. Based on recent grad student parties I've been to, a lot of people in their 20s are hopelessly stuck on beer - I remember one pizza party where the only drink was Anchor Steam - not even fruit juice or sparkling water for the non-drinkers. (Unfortunate for me - I hate the taste of beer, even good ones.) Their taste in beer is pretty good - IPA, Sam Adams, microbrews, and even exotic home brews. Most of these folks will finish off a bottle of wine if its offered, its just not something they buy, nor do they have the level of appreciation for wine quality compared to their appreciation for good beer.

Peter

[Richard Henderson]

Time for my two cents worth...

I feel like I have done my part and will so continue. I am the oldest of 6 siblings. I had my first port experience circa 20 years ago at age 34. The Ferreira 77.
At my second brother's 50th birthday last month, all 6 of us drank the 55 Taylor, 63 Graham, 92 Taylor and 94 Warre.
I began serving port to them over the past 20 years. Sailboat sunset cruises with Stilton and Walnuts on Copano Bay on the Texas coast with Burmeister 63 is one fond family memory. They all love port and buy it and drink it because of my efforts.
The key amoung us port disciples is to share with and convert others.
We have found converts amoung many other friends.
That said, the industry must market itself.
25 years ago, malt whisky distilleries were being dismantled in Scotland.
Today they are being built and rebuilt. That stodgy old industry got off its duffs ( McDuffs?) and got with the tourist and marketing program. It is now astonomically expensive. Every distillery has a tour and tasting room. I remember single malt tasting parties at my home in the 1980's and it was quite a novelty.
Also , I wonder if the port producers can't market the NV ports more to support the VP's?
I am told that bulk/ jug wines support the vintage wine industry in California. Maybe that is the key in Oporto.
Roy already has a medal for his port efforts from the port producers.
I applaud him for this board and his port museum.
This is a great thread. I did not know the industry had these problems.

[Tom Archer]

Well, this thread has seen some lengthy posts...

Will the port industry survive?

- Yes!

Tom 8)

[Shawn Denkler]

The following information is from - http://www.infoportwine.com:

Sales numbers January – October 2005.
31/12/05. For the first time in four years all the most important sale figures have increased.
This is shown by the information of the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto. The trend break is attributed to the launch of the Vintage 2003. All figures used are compared to the same period last year.

- the volume of all Port sold increased by 1%.
- the revenue of all Port sold increased by 0,4%.
- the volume of the Special Categories sold increased by 9,2%.
- the revenue of the Special Categories sold increased by 7,9%.
_____________________________________________________________

Comments on the future of port:

Happily the statistics show a small increase in 2005, but this is not enough to change the overall trend since 2000, which is down.
My opinion is that port sales will continue to decline. This is due to the trend of people drinking less, with lifestyle changes and the increase of penalties for drinking and driving. The French are still the biggest consumers of port by far, and their consumption of table wine and port are both declining. This will negatively impact the port market for many years to come.

The future of port shows in the statistic of Special Categories of port increasing. The special categories are the high end ports - vintage port, LBVs, tawnys with an indication of age. While the release of the 2003 vintage ports skewed the figure for last year, the special categories are going to continue increasing. People seem to be drinking less, but of better quality.

My crystal ball shows the Symington Group and the Taylor Group doing well, along with a few other big companies. I think most of the small single quinta producers will do fine because they produce mostly in the high end. Marketing problems will hurt some because many small producers are in the market now.

The big problem will be for many medium and large companies that make a large volume of port mostly on the low end. Medium sized companies are most at risk. They do not have the marketing power of the big houses, and will continue to be sold and consolidate. This is similar to the situation in California, where medium sized companies continue to sell out to larger ones. The trend of distributors consolidating as well has given only large wineries any influence with distributors.

The trends mentioned above are not news to many people in the wine industry. The real question is what will happen to the Baixo Corgo, the lower Douro. It produces almost 50% of all port, mostly the lower end light rubys and tawnys. I think much of its production will become table wine over the next ten to twenty years as the quality of Douro reds gets better known around the world. But will the Baixo Corgo produce the quality of wine necessary to sell in a world glut of wine? If not, the vineyards will be ripped out. The upper Douro regions will certainly see more production of table wine as well, with quality high enough to keep vineyards in production.

So my prediction is over the next twenty years there will be far fewer producers of port for the smaller port market. The highest quality ports will be a large percentage of the market and Douro red table wine will increase as vineyards are shifted to table wine production. This will not affect members of the forum as I suspect we drink mostly the high quality special category ports as it is. I think and hope sometime in the future port will become more fashionable as people realize how much flavor, body, and character it has for a reasonable price. But the higher alcohol of port will always keep it from increasing in production. Maybe the only thing that would really increase the market would be if the Russians started loving port. They traditionally loved sweeter wines, and port is far lower in alcohol than vodka. If China started drinking port everything would change also, but this is a very slim chance. If I were a port producer I would do some serious marketing in Russia. That would take care of the glut of cheap ruby.

My prediction does not see much of an increase of smaller producers. The successful large producers will continue to buy top quality vineyards from independent growers. To start a new port house you need a good quinta and capital for marketing in a saturated market. Most of the quinta owners that wanted to start production have already done so since the eighties when regulations were lifted. Port seems different than the rest of the wine world where a great vineyard can make wine and get a top rating. In vintage port only the top few well established producers get the highest ratings.

My crystal ball is getting cloudy, predicting the future is hard work. I need a glass of port...only to help the industry of course!

Shawn

[Derek T.]

Stuart Chatfield said....

"UK people will remember the brilliant ad in the 80s where a Russian submarine captain (Richard Marner?) is won over to port by a British Navy officer who is lost at sea in a lifeboat/raft with only his last case of port; he rescues him and they have a hilarious discussion about how to pronounce "Cockburn""

and

"I understand that Jose Mourinho (for those outside UK/Europe he's a famous, rather suave, Portuguese football coach, now based in England) is helping out the cork industry with some ads; what about signing him up to create a fashionable image?"


Stuart,

First of all - congrats on remembering the old Cockburns ad - especially with you having been downing half pints of port since your teen years (I don't believe the 18 bit ) - I also remember this ad - brilliant marketing which obviously worked on people like you and I. I tried to find some pictures of it on the net but failed - however, I did find a reference to Richard Marner - in his obituary from 2004 - I only hope port was not the c.o.d

On the Jose Mourinho idea - I think he would be as over-priced as a 2003 VP - also, not sure how he could reconcile being the coach of one of the top (real) football teams in Europe (or even the World) with trying to persuade young people to drink half pints of port :?

Having read through this entire thread I have to say I agree with Uncle Tom

Derek

[Roy Hersh]

THIS SINGLE THING HAS CAUSED MORE OF MY FRIENDS TO START GETTING INTO PORTS AND MOVING AWAY FROM REGULAR WINES. I do have a couple of friends that "lurk" here, but being burned on other wine forums, they are now reluctant to post in any wine chat forum.

Andy,

Please offer my personal appeal for any Port lover to feel welcome by lurking or posting here. I think what makes this place friendly, is that we are all willing to share, agree, disagree, make suggestions without having the testosterone laden issues found elsewhere on wine bulletin boards. Your friends can be assured that this won't change ... even if/when this Forum increases the number of subscribers. They are not pouring in here by the dozens and I don't think this will ever be a huge place with pages that whiz by like other places we both know of.

There are really just 50 of us "regulars" that are pretty vocal and a couple of dozen others who occasionally drop in to post. Then there are probably a few hundred that are regular lurkers and double that who come by just two or three times a month to check in and read. Hopefully, those that you mention above ... will eventually see this as a place worthy of posting in the future.

[Roy Hersh]

I agree with Alex, and as Derek mentioned, the port industry is not changing fast enough with the times. They still are relatively closed to visitors coming to the quintas. Look at Napa, you can visit almost every winery for a tour and tasting. Then buy what you like and have it shipped home or you can take it with you. This generates a huge amount of in-house sales and gets people "hooked" onto their wines. Quintas should do the same. Make it easier to access the quintas, allow people to stay at the quintas and help out in the harvest. I'm sure you could get a large number of people that would love to spend a few days or week at a quinta and help out picking grapes and then stomping them in the lagares. Not only would you get free labor, but the money these visitors pay to stay at the quinta. Thus reducing some of the labor costs and the most important thing, you probably just gained a life long consumer that will then pass on thier recommendation to friends.

Some of you that are newer to Port must realize that things do not change quickly in Portugal. Less so in the Douro and more specifically, in the Port trade. Comparing/contrasting the Douro to Napa in tourism is just something that does not work. Robert Mondavi was the ultimate visionary who rallied the troops in the 1960s to create a "destination spot" of the Valley. It had never been that way before. It took nearly 30 years to catch on. I remember an early visit in 1982 to Napa when I was a younger wine lover (25 years old) and visiting wineries. I had never been to the W. coast before (at least past Colorado where I worked at Copper Mtn. Ski resort) and first spent a month touring LA and SF before heading up to wine country to end my CA trip. It was still fairly rustic back then, kind of like (for those that may know the area) what the Foxen Wine Trail was like down in Santa Barbara country, prior to "Sideways." So it is really only in the past 10-15 years that Napa/'Noma has exploded in tourism, charged $5-10 to taste at the winery, seen trains, hot air ballons and rafting on the river .... for better or for worse.

When I first spent a few weeks in the Douro, only a dozen years ago, there were NO hotels. Almost NOTHING that you would call a "restaurant" and certainly no river cruises, helicopter tours, hot air balloon rides or what you would call "casual wine touring." Basically, if you wanted to enjoy the Douro, you had to be in the trade/media, have great connections or have a personal invitation to be there, unless you were willing to endure a VERY long single day of round trip trains, backpacking your meal(s) (6+ hours r/t that does not include your time once you get off the train).

The difference in a dozen years is startling. For Port purists it may even be alarming to see the "progress" in tourism. This is a region that only saw electric in the 1980s as a mainstay throughout the region and televisions were almost non-existent in the Douro until that decade as well.

Now there are hotels opening up all over the place, albeit small ones. You must realize that Quintas are used for trade guests and except for three or four that I can think of, they are not open to public visits without appointment. Is this what prevents Port from being more popular? I have my doubts. Would opening the region further, as is happening today ... make for a much more popular selling wine type, or would it just make the region more user friendly for those that already do love to drink Port?

You make the call.

[Roy Hersh]

FRED writes:

But the Douro may face the same crisiss as there is in France now. When critics start to write that too much mediocre wines are beeing produced in a region, it is enough to scare buyers from a region. As I've said recently with the article in the Decanter magazine, the results of the tasting are far from bringing new faces to buy these wines.

I am only half way through reading this whole thread, as I wanted to let others dig their teeth in here as I think that this thread will last for a long time and head off on many tangents, which is great!

Before I get to Fred's quote above, I also want to comment on his remark that followed, about the power of the press in popularizing a wine or specifically an entire region.

I liken the non-fortified wines of the Douro to a very similar dynamic that took place in the world of wine in the 2000-2005 period. In that half decade, the post-Apartheid sentiment had relaxed to the point, where the press was starting to visit the winelands of the Western Cape in So. Africa. I had been drinking SA wines as soon as they were allowed back in the USA. I then spent a few trips down there, worked with some properties and visited over 40 estates, while even blending my own line of wines that sold here in the USA. That is all just background though.

The Cape in 2000 was very much like the (non-fortified) wines of the Douro in that it was on the "verge" of greatness, but was still just in the phase of showing "potential." There were at most, a dozen names from the Cape that were known to mostly serious lovers of SA wines, here in the USA and double that in the UK (where SA wines had crept to nearly 10% of all imports ... with a ton of "BOB" wines at the large chains, fueling the profits of importers). SA wines were the new media darling in the first half of the decade with WOSA ... Wines Of So. Africa pouring lots of money into promotional campaigns in major markets. In 2002 or 3, while at the London International Wine & Spirits Fair (at the new venue for the first time), the WOSA exhibit was even larger than that of the Port trade. Anyway, So Africa wines were on the verge of a tsunami and their exports have exponentially grown every year.

The Douro is right on the cusp too and I think that by the end of this decade, it will be in the same place that SA wines are today. A dozen or so, well-known top producers that are gaining 90-95 point scores by those that count. More importantly, the overall quality level of Douro wines will improve as new plantings have a chance to gain in vine age, vineyard practices improve, site selection gets even better for vineyards and specific grape varieties as well as having another five years to experiment what works best in the bottle ... either single grape offerings which I believe will proliferate in the future and the ongoing greatness of blends. There will still be lots of room for improvement for the majority though, things will be moving in the right direction and significantly ahead of where they're at today.

Please forgive me for having this in this thread, as it should be in the Douro Forum ... but Fred did raise some very interesting points.

[Andy Velebil]

No Television until the 80's, holy smokes Batman :!:

But look what Napa is now. I know it may have taken a bit, but what a fun place to go to now. I have been there a couple of times and located, by word of mouth when up there, some very small producers who's wines I really liked and who were the most hospitable of people. When I can, I still try to get a few from them each year. Not only out of gratitude, but also because I liked their wines. Had I not been there to try them I probably would have never bought them at a wine store. Besides, from all the pictures and descriptions everyone here posts the place seems like such a beautiful place to visit, if only it was easier to get around and stay. I am glad to here you say that there are now hotels, but I am always up for a good camping excursion, haha!!

I am happy to see more of the larger houses now have really good web sites that are full of information. They appear to be quite cutting edge and portray port as a more flashy and hip product. A step in the right direction I suspect.

As a sugesstion to those in the industry that lurk here; Would it be possible to post more info on the specific vintages, such as total bottles produced, picking times, etc. Also, photos of the different properties. Quinta do Vesuvio's web site is very nice as I have been able to download High-Resolution pictures that I now use as a slide-show screen saver on my computer.

Oh yeah, you mentioned SA dry wines. A good friend in college went to SA for a debate tournament. While there he picked up and brought home several red wines. These wines stayed in his possession for about 6-7 years, and not treated with great care, before we drank them a couple years ago. I was shocked at how good they were. I wish wrote down their names, darn