Miguel Côrte-Real, Viticulture and Commercial Director at Cockburn Smithes, comments: “2001 kicked off with a very wet, mild winter. The rainfall in May remained slightly above average but the warm weather, which was hot and dry without ever being excessive, began in early summer and continued well into September. This gave a regular uniform grape maturation until mid-August and we began vintage in the Upper Douro in the second week of September. We believe that this wine is a great example of the quality that Quinta dos Canais is capable of producing.”
Jim Reader, Head of Winemaking and General Manager at Cockburn Smithes describes the resulting wine as: “Deep, dark and blackish purple with a wonderful fresh and floral nose that positively leaps from the glass. On the palate it is rich with concentrated fruit flavours and good tannins. I believe this wine could be enjoyed young, but it will reach its full potential from 10 years of age.”
Quinta dos Canais is the jewel in the crown of Cockburn Smithes, based in the heart of the Douro Superior. The property has played a crucial role in the unique style of the company’s Vintage Ports over the past seventy years, and will continue to do so following the success of the current replantation programme.
This programme to restore the Quinta to its former glory began in 1990 just after Cockburn Smithes’ acquired the property. The previous proprietors had sold their wine to Cockburn’s for more than 100 years, and in exceptional years more than 50% of the fruit in Cockburn’s Vintage Ports came from Canais. Based on the northern riverbank in the Douro Superior, Canais offers spectacular views from its south facing slopes. The land is extremely steep and stony, making viticulture difficult, but its vines produce grapes of exceptional quality. Of the total area of 300 hectares, approximately 100 only were approved for the planting of vines - and since acquiring the Quinta, these have been almost totally replanted.
“Although painstaking, we are delighted to see that the task of replanting Canais has yielded superb results,” says Miguel. “The Quinta now produces 10 times more fruit of exceptionally high quality than it did in 1989.”
Quinta dos Canais 2001 Single Quinta Vintage will be available on allocation in the UK. For further details please contact Allied Domecq on 01403 222703.
-Ends-
Note to Editors:
1 . LONDON INTERNATIONAL WINE & SPIRITS TRADE FAIR
Jim Reader, Head of Winemaking and General Manager at Cockburn Smithes, and Miguel Côrte-Real, Viticulture and Commercial Director will be at the London International Wine and Spirits Fair 2004 at the IVDP stand. The Quinta dos Canais 2001 Single Quinta Vintage will be available to taste throughout the fair, which runs from 18th - 20th May 2004.
