Recent international tastings, and our new Grande Reserva Savedra 2020 and Olive Oil 2023

While Quinta do Tedo is first and foremost a winery, owner Vincent Bouchard always said “it’s easy to make wine, the challenge is selling it”… 

Well, good wine is not so “easy” to make, and great wine takes many more hours of skillful vineyard and cellar work to nurture, which our small, savvy Adega Team is dedicated to at Quinta do Tedo.

At Quinta do Tedo we do not just nurture great Portos, Douro DOC wines and Extra Virgin Olive Oil, but a unique story, terroir, heritage and savoir-faire and our Bouchard Family values. This differentiates our premium quality and authentic products those reputation-tarnishing, mass-produced Portos you find for 5-10€ on the supermarket shelf, or those that grandma serves once a year, quasi-warm, from the cupboard in decorative aroma-crippling glasses.

We invest in qualified, local staff to host professional and personable technical tours at Quinta do Tedo, enlightening wine-curious visitors and aficionados about Douro Valley region and history, the traditional transformation of our estate’s grade-A grapes into a range of fine Portos and Douro DOC wines, when and how to enjoy them, and with what gourmandises.

For the sake of dividing and conquering duties, when not on-site at Quinta do Tedo, our Bouchard Family Brand Ambassadors embark on busy Port education and tasting itineraries to complement our on-site Team Tedo’s efforts, internationally. Let’s recap some recent Tedo appearances…

September 30, 2023 - Port Wine Day in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.

October 13, 2023 - Quinta do Tedo was the 7th top-selling producer at our Dutch importer Okhuysen’s Open Doors Tasting in Haarlem, Netherlands.

October 14-20, 2023 - Spirits Festival and La Part Des Anges in Nantes, followed by visits to 28 wine shops, bars and restaurants between Roche Sur Yon, Angers, Tours, Rouen and Paris with our French importer, Jean Boyer.

November 16 & 20, 2023 - sharing a stand with Odile Bouchard’s Gamine Rose personal white wine label at La Rèleve tasting of next generation Burgundian wine projects in Beaune, France followed by the infamous La Paulée harvest luncheon at Château de Meursault.

November 24, 2023 - launching our Tawny 30 Year at Germany’s premiere Port tasting, Portweinmessen, full of Tedo Fans and next generation of Port Lovers.

We hope to see you at one of the above tastings next year! In the meantime, mark your calendars for the following near-future tastings at which we’ll showcase some new products (see below):

• December 15 & 16, 2023 - annual Quinta do Tedo tasting “entre amis” in Merceuil, France.

• February 12-14, 2024 - Vinexpo in Paris, France.

• March 10-12, 2024 - ProWein in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Grande Reserva Savedra 2020 (shop online)

We produce Grande Reserva Savedra only in high-quality years - 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and, our most recent release, 2020 - when our old vine Savedra parcel, a 75-year-old field blend of 18+ varieties, shines especially bright. Recent warmer and sunnier growing seasons charge our grape skins’ with more color, tannins, and aromas, which we finely extract via delicate macerations that preserve this iconic vineyard’s unique mineral, cherry and forrest berry, wild herbs and floral expression without losing freshness. 2 years of aging in mostly new 228L French oak barrels of various forest origins and toast profiles softens age-worthy grip and imbues noble chocolate and tobacco aged aromas in our Grande Reserva Savedra, focusing its tension and persistence. Pair with wild mushrooms, slow cooked beef or boar stew or blue cheese and confited-tomato tart, or cellar and enjoy its evolution over 5-20 years.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (shop online)

Considering our extremely limited albeit high quality 2022 olive harvest, which we quickly sold out of in September 2023, were happily blessed with abundance this year - our 4 hectares of 50- to 150-year-old olive trees literally overflowed with healthy fruit, which we started harvesting in October, preserving freshness without adding aggressive spice or bitterness to our in our rich and greatly gastronomic cold-pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The first batch is decanted, bottled and back in stock in our Tasting Room and Online Shop for your enjoyment.

Tawny 30 Years (shop online)

Our “newest” old Tawny is an exquisite elixir celebrating 30+ years of Bouchard Family ownership at Quinta do Tedo, since 1992. Its limited-edition packaging includes a velvet Quinta do Tedo embroidered bag, with our signature wooden bar top cork, soft wax seal with opening instructions, and hand-written bottle number. Read more about this new product in last month’s blog.

~ Kay & Odile Bouchard

Notre Tawny 30 Ans est (finalement) disponible!

Sans plus attendre, notre très attendu Tawny 30 ans d'âge est disponible à la commande, inaugurant les 30 ans et plus de propriété de la famille Bouchard sur la Quinta do Tedo depuis 1992 !

Vieilli en moyenne 30 ans dans des fûts de chêne français neutres, ce nectar évoque la beauté et l'unicité. Issu de raisins cueillis à la main et traditionnellement foulés au pied, cultivés biologiquement dans les vignobles à faible rendement de catégorie A de notre domaine, notre Tawny 30 ans d'âge affiche un autre niveau de panache. Je partage avec vous les notes de dégustation magnifiques et suggestives de notre vinificateur en chef Jorge Alves, qui guide Tedo depuis plus de 27 ans :

“Belle couleur combinant brun-orange avec de longues larmes de glycérol. Arômes éthérés montrant une grande quintessence, et un équilibre sérieux et distinct entre les noisettes, le curry et la mélasse. Des saveurs complexes de raisins secs, de prunes sèches et de vanille avec une texture soyeuse, une profondeur en milieu de bouche, une structure douce et une très bonne concentration. Plein d'énergie et de longueur, avec une persistance très intense.”

Bien que des décennies de vieillissement dans nos caves induisent un affinage lent et naturel de l'expressivité donnée par nos raisins, il ne fait aucun doute que l'expertise de nos équipes de Viticulture et Œnologie participe au perfectionnement de la fraîcheur et complexité qui percole l'ensemble de notre PORTfolio et qui brille particulièrement fort dans notre Tawny 30 Ans. Au cours de 30+ ans de présence sur les mêmes 14 hectares, nous nous sommes familiarisés avec nos divers microclimats et nos 24+ cépages, et nous nous efforçons d'en extraire la meilleure de leurs expressions.

Sousão, Tinta Barroca et Touriga Franca plantés dans des microclimats plus frais, ainsi que quelques assemblages de vieilles vignes dotées traditionnellement de quelques cépages blancs, garantissent l'équilibre de l'acidité de nos Portos Tawny. Après une rigoureuse dégustation annuelle, nous sélectionnons le meilleur aguardente pour fortifier nos Portos, en ajoutant 20 % de cette eau-de-vie neutre de raisin à 77 % d'alcool pour arrêter la fermentation, ce qui donne à nos Portos entre 18 et 21 % d'alcool et de la douceur naturelle.

Nous vendangeons nos raisins généralement plus tôt que les autres maisons de Porto, à la recherche de la fraîcheur du fruit, et nos lagares à température contrôlée permettent des fermentations plus lentes et longues pour une extraction plus délicate des arômes, des tanins et de la couleur, afin d'équilibrer le sucre et l'alcool bien intégrés.

D'innombrables nuits à assembler nos vieux fûts de Tawny ont retardé la sortie de ce nouveau produit - comme nos "fans" reviennent chaque année pour nos Portos Tawny et Ruby assemblés selon notre "style maison" Quinta do Tedo, nous devons nous assurer qu'ils sont parfaits dès le départ, pour l'avenir ! Les problèmes de chaîne d'approvisionnement liés à Covid ont rendu difficile l'approvisionnement d'emballages spéciaux - la jolie bouteille transparente, le bouchon en liège-bois idéal pour une ouverture-fermeture facile, le sceau en cire souple, l'étiquette sérigraphiée en or et la série de bouteilles écrites à la main.

Cependant, ces difficultés et retards ont fait naître une anticipation et une "liste d'attente" inattendue que nous avons décidé d'officialiser dans une prévente de notre Tawny 30 Ans Édition Hommage, comprenant un sac en velours brodé et un prix spécial pour les premières de notre petite production de 2.666 bouteilles.

Découvrez plus d'infos - production et notes de dégustation alléchantes - de notre nouveau Tawny 30 Ans et assurez-vous (au moins !) une bouteille à partager entre amis et famille pendant les fêtes de fin d'année via notre shop online ou formulaire de commande traditionnel. 140€ par bouteille jusqu'au 21/11/2023 ; 160€ à partir du 22/11/2023.

Pré-commandes acceptées dès maintenant, avec expédition à la mi-novembre. Contactez-nous via commandes_orders@quintadotedo.com si vous avez des questions.

~ Kay & Odile Bouchard

Our Tawny 30 YR has (finally) arrived!

Without further ado, our much-anticipated 30 YR Tawny is available to pre-order, inaugurating our Bouchard Family’s 30+ years ownership of Quinta do Tedo since 1992! 

Aged an average 30 years in fine neutral French oak barrels, this nectar evokes beauty and uniqueness. Squeezed from hand-picked and traditionally lagar-trodden grapes, organically-grown in our estate’s low-yielding grade A vineyards, our 30 YR Tawny flaunts another level of panache. I share with you beautiful and suggestive tasting notes from our Head Winemaker Jorge Alves, guiding Tedo since 27+ years: 

“Beautiful color combining browning-orange with long tears of glycerol. Ethereal aromas showing great quintessence, and a serious and distinct balance between hazelnuts, curry and molasses. Complex flavors of raisins, dry plums and vanilla with silky texture, mid-palate depth, smooth structure and very good concentration. Full of energy and long length, with very intense persistence.”

While decades of ageing in our cellars induces a slow and natural fining of our grapes’ innate expressivity, no doubt our Vineyard and Winemaking Teams’ expertise helps hone the freshness and complexity that percolates our entire PORTfolio and shine especially bright in our Tawny 30 YR. Over 30+ years working the same 14 hectares, we’ve familiarised ourselves with our diverse microclimates and 24+ grape varieties and strive to coax out their best expression. 

Sousão, Tinta Barroca and Touriga Franca planted in cooler microclimates, as well as some old field blends dotted with white varietals, ensure balanced acidity in our Tawny Ports. Through rigorous tasting each year, we select the best aguardentes to fortify our Ports, adding in 20% of this 77% alcohol neutral grape spirit to stop fermentation, leaving our Ports with between 18-21% alcohol and natural sweetness.

We also pick our grapes on average, earlier than other Port houses, in search of a fresher fruit character, and our temperature-controlled lagares allow for slower and longer fermentations for more delicate aroma, tannin and color extraction to balance out non-cloying sugar and well-integrated alcohol.

Countless nights blending our old Tawny barrels delayed this new product release - our Tedo Fans come back year-after-year for our “house style” blended Tawny and Ruby Ports, so we need to ensure they’re perfect from the start, for the future! Covid-related supply chain issues made special packaging hard to source - the handsome transparent bottle, the ideal cork and wood closure for easy opening and closing, the soft wax seal, the serigraphed gold label and hand-written bottle series.

However, the above challenges and holdups blossomed anticipation and an unexpected “wait list” that we’ve decided to formalise into our Tawny 30 YR Celebratory Edition pre-sale, including an embroidered velvet bag and special pricing for the first limited release of our small 2,666 bottle production. 

Find more production and mouth watering tasting notes for our proud new Tawny 30 YR and secure yourself (at least!) one bottle to enjoy with dear friends and family this holiday season via our shop online or traditional order form. 140€ per bottle until 21/11/2023; 160€ from 22/11/2023 onwards.

Accepting pre-orders now, with shipping mid-November. Contact us via commandes_orders@quintadotedo.com if you have any questions.

~ Kay & Odile Bouchard