For The Love Of Port

2003 Rio Bom Touriga Franca is always a pleasure to drink. It will be paired with dinner at our friends home who will be cooking some incredible Turkish dishes. The second red will be a 2002 Casa Ferreirinha Vinha Grande. Looking forward to this, as each bottle represents the birth year of my daughter and that of our friends.

Tough year in the Douro for the 2002. How did it show?

You know, while mature, there was still room for another 3-5 years of drinking ahead. It was not going to get any better than it was last night. Really soft and elegant and filled with fruit and secondary nuances too. But it wasn't just hanging on to life but still in the celebratory mode. Certainly not an easy year, but many who picked prior to the rain, which was much easier to do for DOC wines than Port ... were clearly successful. Niepoort and his Charme comes immediately to mind from '02.

This Ferreira was good enough that I do wish I had more bottles. Dorene mentioned, "if it was not served side-by-side with the 2003 (Rio Bom TF), it would have been even more impressive." The 2003 was a big step up, but the 2002 was better than I would have expected and I've had other 2002's from Ferreira before. This was the best showing yet, solid in every way and ticking all the boxes. Worthy of 89-90 points.

With time I have come to realize that it is not the vintage that is important but rather the producer and the wine. One of the finer young Portuguese wines I've had was an '02 Vinhos Sogrape Douro Reserva (black label with indistinct scroll writing). For all the reports of a weak vintage in the Douro this was a real surprise. I thought it had the fruit, density, and structure to age so a few bottles went into the cellar. So far I haven't touched them but Roy's note has certainly given me more confidence in my decision.

I really appreciate tasting notes on older wine. Thanks Roy.

Mahmoud.

Mahmoud Ali wrote:With time I have come to realize that it is not the vintage that is important but rather the producer and the wine. One of the finer young Portuguese wines I've had was an '02 Vinhos Sogrape Douro Reserva (black label with indistinct scroll writing). For all the reports of a weak vintage in the Douro this was a real surprise. I thought it had the fruit, density, and structure to age so a few bottles went into the cellar. So far I haven't touched them but Roy's note has certainly given me more confidence in my decision.

I really appreciate tasting notes on older wine. Thanks Roy.

Mahmoud.

Year helps a ton, especially in the long run. But the Douro is like most wine regions, big. So generally there will always be those few who make a really good wine even in a tough year. Always fun to find those gems.

Andy Velebil wrote:

Mahmoud Ali wrote:With time I have come to realize that it is not the vintage that is important but rather the producer and the wine. One of the finer young Portuguese wines I've had was an '02 Vinhos Sogrape Douro Reserva (black label with indistinct scroll writing). For all the reports of a weak vintage in the Douro this was a real surprise. I thought it had the fruit, density, and structure to age so a few bottles went into the cellar. So far I haven't touched them but Roy's note has certainly given me more confidence in my decision.

I really appreciate tasting notes on older wine. Thanks Roy.

Mahmoud.

Year helps a ton, especially in the long run. But the Douro is like most wine regions, big. So generally there will always be those few who make a really good wine even in a tough year. Always fun to find those gems.

I agree with both of you, even small regions have talented/lucky winemakers and little microclimates that buck the overall trends, the Douro is no different in that respect.


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