I was first invited to visit Porto in June 2011 by OIV to attend the 34th World Conference on Vine and Wine  where I was to receive “Mérite de l’OIV” – Medal of Merit, by the Paris-based International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV),as recognition for ‘my selfless and outstanding service within the international vine and wine sector’. This Award is given to 4-5 wine experts annually and I was to be the first Indian to receive it (to the best of my knowledge I am the only one to have been so recognized).

During my visit I planned to visit a few Port wineries as well and taste a lot of Port.

Douro Boys

On my wish list was to meet a couple of members of Douro boys to whom credit goes for orchestrating high quality performance with unique red still wines from local grapes, winning accolades from critics, competitors and consumers alike. Douro Valley has been known for its Ports for centuries but during the recent decades it has also carved a niche for its red still wines. This group of five top producers -forming the band of ‘Douro Boys’ are Quinta do Crasto (pronounced key-nta doo Craash-too), Vinhos  (pronounced Vinyos) Niepoort, Quinta do Vallado, Quinta do Vale Meão and Quinta Vale Dona Maria-owned by the Roquette family , Dirk van der Niepoort, the Ferreira family, the Olazabal family and Cristiano van Zeller.

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For the last 20 years when they bonded and banded together in 2003, they have made waves in the wine world and have become a brand representing modern high quality wines from Douro without losing the traditional touch.

I had indicated to my hosts, Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto (IVDP) my desire to meet with a couple of them. Dirk Niepoort was one of the speakers at one of the seminars at the OIV Conference and was glad to meet me-in fact he also invited me to his residence for dinner when I met him. A brilliant winemaker belonging to a family of winemakers of repute, opened his cellar and heart to me and I tasted several of his wines during the course of the evening.

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Quinta do Crasto run by Miguel Roquette and his family has a beautiful vineyard, winery and a guest house with a swimming pool overlooking the meandering Douro River, offering a stunning view of the Valley hundreds of feet below. He was at Vinexpo Bordeaux but was to drive back to Porto when I was there and he kindly agreed to meet me at the winery. I met him and his father at the winery which seemed very modern and picturesque.

Both these gentlemen are the rock stars of Douro and produce excellent wines. Niepoort Ports are iconic since the winery was established in 1842. It was a privilege to spend time with both of them. Although their wines were expensive, so are the Bordeaux Top growths and both produce ‘Grand Cru’ wines- for the top quality and the high price at which they sell, they are still very reasonable compared to the equivalent Bordeaux wines. Both expressed their desire to enter the difficult Indian market.

I strongly recommended them to contact the Portuguese Ambassador H.E. Jorge Roza de Oliveira and visit India. Since I knew him personally quite well, I presumed it would be pragmatic to follow up with him and organize a tasting at the embassy for a select audience.

Ambassador Oliveira

I had met H.E. Jorge Roza de Oliveira, several times after he came to India as the Portuguese Ambassador in or around 2009/10, at various wine tastings. A fine gentleman, he was a great proponent of Portuguese wines.  In fact, he had his office call me up within a few days after landing in India and set up a meeting at my residence to meet me. This was a privilege but surprising. But when he met me he said, ‘it was only proper that I come to meet you at your home rather than ask you to come to my office as it is I who would like to promote Portuguese wines in India.’ He also met a few other known wine persons in Delhi.

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As it happened, he had also met both Dirk and Miguel in Porto before taking up the assignment in India and was very pleased when I told him that they were both keen to study Indian wine market. He not only invited them to Delhi, but also put them up at his official residence and hosted an excellent wine tasting with dinner where a selected few people were invited. On their part, both of them had carried some iconic wines- Port as well as dry Douro wines, making the evening an affair to remember.

As I had expected, Ports did not have a good market for them and the dry wines, though iconic globally, had difficulty in finding takers as Portugal had not made a mark till then in terms of their quality in the Indian wine market.

Visiting the wineries in Porto in 2023

Though I had visited Porto a few times since this episode, I could not focus particularly on these two wineries. I was going to attend the Wine Future Conference in Coimbra, near Porto on 7-9 November so I decided to visit Porto a few days before the Conference and visit both the wineries with my wife before the Conference.

We took the dream train from Porto Campanhã to Pinhão- in the heart of Douro Valley- a must for anyone who is on a leisurely visit to the valley. We were picked up by a lady assigned by Miguel at Ferrão, a small station before Pinhão where we were given a tour of the vineyards of Quinta do Crasto and the new winery followed by a Tasting. The new winery was a pleasant sight in Douro using the latest technology and equipment and modern laboratory.

Also Read : Portugal: Dedicated Band of Douro Boys

The iconic vineyard of Maria Teresa was as surrealistic as the first time when I had visited, making the top quality red wine. The family is very protective of the legacy and terroir of the 4.7 hA of ancient vineyard that has field blend (a unique phenomenon in Douro where the mix of grapes has been cultivated for decades and the grapes are fermented together). Over 50 varieties have been identified so far. In order to maintain the same characteristics, the winery had engaged a consultant to identify the DNA of the cultivated grapes so that the vines to be replaced would give the same characteristics as the original vines. All but 2 varieties have been identified, so the continuation of the legacy can be maintained. The wine priced at around €300 is a collectible wine and worth every cent of the cost.

Later Miguel invited us for a dinner where a few more wines were tasted. He also presented me with a book of legacy that had the 400-year history of the family and the winery since the property was born in 1615. Incidentally it was acquired by his Roquette family in 1918. To visit the winery parched on top of a hill from where Douro River and the valley is visible, contact enoturismo@quintadocrasto.pt.

Visit to Niepoort

Despite a confirmed program Dirk Niepoort had to be out of town unfortunately, but his son Daniel Niepoort was waiting for us at their original wine cellar in Vila Nova de Gaia, where a quick tour of the property was to be conducted, followed by Lunch from where we were escorted and dropped to the train station, leaving by train for Lisbon.

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I consider Dirk Niepoort as the Einstein of wines. Always clamouring to experiment and do something new, his brain is always filled with new ideas. A Promoter of Natcool concept, he prahas been working with a producer in Vinho Verde, making red wines. He has similar projects in other parts of Portugal as well. Known as ‘Jerk’ by his friends, he has been cultivating tea in Portugal and also making 2 variants of Kombucha Tea which I tasted and found delectable.

It was not surprising to discover at Lunch that when pitted against a high quality Domaine Roulot Bourgogne Blanc 2020, the Niepoort Coche 2021, a DOC Douro, made from 80-year old vines came out ahead in a blind tasting, though the Burgundian wine costs 60% higher at €160-180.

Tasting at Wine Future

There were 3 tastings at Wine Future Conference where sets of 12 wines were selected- one was for Portuguese wines and another dedicated to Porto wines. It was not surprising that Coche 2021 and Vinha Maria Teresa were both selected in the Tasting for Portuguese wines.

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Both these Douro Boys- Niepoort and Crasto are fine producers-spearheading the Portuguese revolution in which the quality improvement using traditional grapes is the key. Ambassador Oliveira is a fine Ambassador who is currently the Ambassador in Hungary.

I dedicate the blog to H.E. Jorge Roza de Oliveira and these two fine producers.

You may contact Dirk at dirk@niepoort-sa.pt or visit his website www.niepoort-vinhos.com and
Miguel at miguel.roquette@quintadocrasto.pt after visiting www.quintadocrasto.pt

Subhash Arora