The
wines of Quinta da Romaneira, Douro, Portugal
A great Douro estate, recently revived
Quinta da Romaneira is a beautiful property in the Cima Corgo
region of Portugal’s Douro. A consortium, including Christian
Seely, MD of the AXA wine properties, including nearby Quinta do
Noval, bought it in 2004 when it was in a run-down state. The plan
was to restore the vineyards, make great wine, and open a
super-luxury hotel. This plan is well on its way to fruition.
‘The reason I was driven to this insane enterprise is there were
400 hectares, with 300 hectares of grade A vineyards overlooking the
Douro, with the potential to make great wines,’ says Seely. At the
moment, 81 hectares are under vine, with a target of at least 200
plantable if things go well.
The hotel is in a beautiful location, near the river. It is as
high-end as they come, with room rates of 1000 Euros per night for
two people. This is expensive, but everything is included, and
there’s no television in the rooms! ‘If we manage to make
something great, people will come from afar,’ states Seely,
admitting that it had been quite tough to fill the 23 rooms because
of the difficult economic times. ‘The target market is time-poor,
big budget individuals,’ says Seely. ‘Everyone who comes here is
utterly happy.’
Christian Seely
Romaneira was originally created over a 150 year period by
swallowing up other estates. In a survey of the property, 20 ruined
buildings were found, indicating that these had once been quintas or
winery buildings. The vineyards may have been run down, but the
originally quality of the terrace walls was excellent, and because
this is a conservation area, it is possible to get subsidies to
rebuild them; this is one of the projects that has been undertaken.
There are teams cleaning up the original vineyards with bulldozers,
repairing the walls, and replanting vines.
What about the wines? Seely suggests that if Noval is Bordeaux,
Romaneira is Burgundy. The wines so far have been stunningly good:
second wine R de Romaneira is a bargain, and the Quinta wine (made
since 2004) is beautifully focused and elegant. Vintage Port is also
thrilling, so far made in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008 – all are
excellent.
THE WINES
R de Romaneira 2005 80% Touriga Franca, 20% Tinta Roriz. Lovely focused, sweet pure
nose. Lush yet fresh at the same time. The palate shows beautifully
expressive bright cherryish fruit with just a hint of grippy,
savoury structure. Good acidity and lovely freshness with beautiful
purity of fruit. 91/100
R de Romaneira 2006 Open, sweet cherry fruit nose is aromatic and appealing: Douro
Beaujolais. Lovely vibrant sweet open cherry fruit palate. Fresh and
appealing; much lighter than the 2004 and 2005. 88/100
R de Romaneira 2007 Highly aromatic nose of ripe dark cherry fruit with hints of tar
and spice, as well as floral notes. The palate is midweight, juicy
and quite spicy with immediate pure berry and cherry fruit as well
as some savoury grip. Great balance. 91/100
Quinta de Romaneira 2004 Lovely focused presence on the nose, which shows sweet dark
blackberry fruit with some spicy notes. The palate is ripe and well
defined with lovely freshness and acidity. Very ripe with a sweet
fruit profile but also a nice savouriness. Lovely focus. 93/100
Quinta da Romaneira 2005 Beautifully defined sweet dark cherry and blackberry fruit
nose with some floral overtones. Quite elegant. The palate has
lovely fruit purity and some complexity with good concentration of
pure, focused fruit on the palate. Nice dark cherry and spice notes
with some structure under the fruit. A serious wine. 94/100
Quinta da Romaneira 2007 Heavenly aromatics. Floral and perfumed with violets, roses,
dark cherries and raspberries. Complex and full. The palate is
smooth yet dense with such elegant, pure vibrant cherry, plum and
raspberry fruit. Beautiful presence and fruit purity, yet still has
structure. 94/100
Quinta da Romaneira 40 Year Old Tawny Seely got rid about half the stocks of Tawny Port, but found
some very good ones. This is amazingly concentrated, bold, spicy and
dense with exotic flavours. Beautifully expressive with intense,
raisiny notes. Lovely complexity. 94/100
Quinta da Romaneira Vintage Port 2004 Fresh, aromatic
nose: floral and spicy with some olive notes, and sweet black
fruits. The palate has nice structure and focus with lovely tannins
and purity of fruit. Brilliant with a savoury, spicy finish. 95/100
Quinta da Romaneira Vintage Port 2005 Very sweet
lifted, aromatic nose with berry fruits and some warm spicy notes.
The palate has firm, spicy structure under the fresh, focused fruit.
Spicy, lively, tannic and long. 94/100
Quinta da Romaneira Vintage Port 2007 Fantastically
focused dark spicy nose with amazing floral aromatics, and
blackberry and blackcurrant fruit. The palate is dense with focused
dark fruit. Complex with notes of olive and spice, as well as
complex herby notes. Delicious, pure and vinous. 95/100
Quinta da Romaneira Vintage Port 2008 Very deep colour. Fresh, vivid sweet blackberry and plum
nose is pure and intense. The palate shows lovely fresh, pure fruit:
concentrated raspberries and blackberries with nice tannic structure
and sweetness. An elegant, almost Burgundian Vintage Port with good
structure. Try again in 10 years. 94/100 (06/10)
