Fred, Tom and Derek's Big Adventure

[DRT]

I will use this thread to post reports of our trip to the Douro this weekend. Please take a minimalist approach to posting in this thread so that my BlackBerry doesn't implode

Minimalist = Please don't post pictures or use quotes as they make the thread long and slow to load on my BB.

I have made this a Sticky just so it's easy and quick to find. It will become a normal thread when I get back.

[jdaw1]

[email received from DRT]

Tom and I are now in the Douro. We arrived at Pinhao at midnight as planned and then went to Quinta de Napoles to meet Fred. David Eley was also there taking pictures of the action. It was good to meet both of them for the first time.

We were put straight to work sorting grapes for an hour with Dirk, Luis and their team. This wasn’t what Tom and I had expected to be doing tonight but it was a great experience as it was a first for both of us. The 1978 Colheita helped too!

Here is a picture of Tom, David Eley and Fred sorting grapes. [Jdaw1 will upload tomorrow.]

More tomorrow.

[Andy Velebil]

I'll take care of the pic for you...

[jdaw1]

DRT writes: Blue sky, sunny and warm at Pinhao. The attatched pictures are from my hotel balcony overlooking the steep slopes of Quinta da Carvalhas and another looking down the river to Quinta de la Rosa.

[jdaw1]

DRT also sends:

[jdaw1]

DRT sends: The weather has been hot and dry today with full sun since early morning. We spent the day at Vargellas in the upper Douro where the harvest has not yet started. We had a fantastic tasting of Vargellas, Tiera Fieta, Vinha Velha and classis Taylor VP followed by a delightful lunch. TNs will follow when I get home.

[jdaw1]

DRT sends: Ahead is Pinhao with Quinta da Foz behind, Carvalhas to the left, Roeda and Bomfim to the right and Ventozelo in the foreground

Note from DRT: Oops! I sent Jdaw the wrong picture this is a picture of Quinta de Vargellas on the right and Quinta de Canais of the left. Will find the one that Jdaw described and post later.

[jdaw1]

DRT sends: We had a great tour of Macedos by the owner, Paul Reynolds. It was fantastic to see his passion and enthusiasm for what he is doing there. They have now finished the harvest for their own grapes. Tom and I had the opportunity to do some treading which was a first for Tom.

[jdaw1]

DRT sends: We had a wonderfull visit to Quinta do Noval yesterday hosted by the delightful Rute Monteiro.

We toured the Quinta and the cellar and then had a fabulous tasting of Vintage Ports: Noval, Silval & Nacional 2003; Noval and Romaniera 2004 and Silval and Romaniera 2005. The tasting was followed by a fantastic dinner accompanied by Nacional 1967, Noval 1995 and Colheita 1968 & 1937. WOW!!

[jdaw1]

DRT sends: Have just returned from our visit to Nápoles. Fred gave Tom and I a tour of the winery and a taste from a few barrels of dry reds. We then had dinner with Dirk and his team which included lots of very interesting wines and a fantastic bottle of Niepoort 1970 VP.

The weather has been warm and humid today with reports of rain near Pinhao but not where we were at Napoles.

[jdaw1]

Sent by DRT on Sun 21 Sep 2008: Heavy rain started to fall in Pinhao at 8.45. Still warm and humid.

And, a few hours later, DRT wrote again: The rain has now passed and it is warm and sunny with lower humidity.

[Glenn E.]

Here's a picture of the four of us from Quinta da Pacheca! I hope that 640 x 480 isn't too large... it's about 200k. If that's too much, feel free to edit to make it more appropriate. From left to right: Derek, Tom, Fred, Glenn.

pacheca.jpg (201.17 KiB) Viewed 2350 times