Portugal Part 4 Quinta do Tedo

I had the unexpected pleasure of visiting Quinta do Tedo during our trip. Due to a schedule change by our riverboat we scrambled to find a way to get from Porto to  Régua to meet our tour guide from CMTour. Thanks to the flexibility of Carlos, the owner of CMTour, we were able to work things out. We boarded a train at 7:15 AM in a downpour that lasted all day and ended up in Régua much earlier than we had originally planned. We were met by Bruno, our excellent guide, who suggested a stop at Quinta do Tedo. How could we say no?

Photo courtesy of Quinta do Tedo

Quinta do Tedo was purchased in 1992 by Vincent Bouchard and his wife Kay Staffey Bouchard. Vincent grew up  among vines and wines since he was part of the well known family running Bouchard Père et Fils in France. The historic 250 year old Quinta was restored and now produces an excellent line of Portos, wines and olive oil. Their vineyards are all rated class "A", the highest level awarded by the Instituto do Vinho do Porto. A visit here is a refreshing change from the experience at the very large producers.

The Rosé style is a recent addition to the world of Portos. Aged in stainless steel, it is designed to be drunk early. 

This is my new favorite Tawny. Along with the typical flavors of caramel, raisin and toffee there was a wonderful touch of walnut that stood out. The Tawny had a finish that went on for a couple of minutes. I bought a bottle to bring home thinking I would hold it for a few years but I couldn't wait and opened it the second night after we got home. A beautiful wine, I should have bought more.

Sadly, this was the last wine we had time to try. LBVs are made to be enjoyable upon release and this was a great example of the style. A nice way to end our visit before heading back out into the rain. For some background information and a behind the scenes look at the estate, check out Kay's Blog.

We had a tour just before tasting. Tiago, who showed us around and did our tasting was very knowledgeable and made us feel at home. He explained that until the rules were changed in the 1980's, Portos had to be sent to Vila Nova de Gaia to be aged and bottled. Now they can be produced, aged and bottled in the Douro. 

Bruno, our guide, holding a slab of cork. Bruno is part of CMTour and thanks to him we had the unannounced visit to Quinta do Tedo. He made sure we made all of our appointments and showed us parts of the Douro that we would never have seen otherwise. We highly recommend CMTour. They were very easy to work with and on top of that the van even had WIFI!