2001 Quinta do Fojo Douro Vinha do Fojo- Portugal, Douro (1/31/2022)
After PnP trial, I gave this 3 hours of air in bottle and decanted 1 hour before service (little fine sediment).
The nose is super intense. I was trying to figure it all out (ripe plums, lots of florals, kirsch, cacao, oak spices, damp earth) but the first impression was “pot-pourri”. This is a loaded nose. Some will love it, I did, others won’t. This has a nice concentration and the initial palate is rather lush but there is still a nice young streak of acidity that lifts it all up. The tannins are chalky and still a little astringent. This must have been a monster when young. At this age, it is starting to show balance between the ripe fruit, the acidity, the still present tannins, the oak spices and the alcohol which does appear on the nose and palate. It finishes very long with a lot of complexity still on the ending. It’s a great contemplative wine but in order to go through the bottle, proper food pairing is a must for me. No rush on this. There is plenty of everything to keep going. Not necessarily my cup of tea but I’m happy that I have another to see how it will evolve in 10 years.
We had this with Argentinian grass-fed New-York strip, Roquefort sauce, sauteed mushrooms, haricots verts and pommes noisettes. It was a pretty decent pairing. I could see this doing really well with Saucisse de Morteau with lentils (the lentils cooked with mustard being the key here). It would also work with slow cooked lamb shoulder. Heck, it would probably do nicely with burgers on the grill depending on the fixins (I would stay away from anything too sweet or spicy). Some cassoulet recipes could do very nicely with this (thinking of you Pied de Cochon cassoulet). I could probably think a few other things that I’d like to have with this if you need a longer list.
Added: Moussaka, Champvallon. I’ve had to watch what I’m eating recently so I’m just salivating thinking about all of this!
This was the “second” wine of Quinta do Fojo. I had a bottle of this with Dirk Niepoort, who was involved with the project, just before Covid kicked in. It’s now past it’s prime days and is on a slow decline. I wouldn’t hold these for another 10 years. Just my $0.02 based on having it many times over the past 15 years and drinking it with Dirk and his intimate knowledge of the wine.
Sadly the project didn’t last long, the full Quinta wine was a rock star, but I heard someone either revived it or was trying to, forget which now.
I’ve only had it this one time so I cannot tell how it has evolved since release (2006?). I guess this would definitely help judge where it is in its lifecycle at this point. So, I’ll take yours and Dirk’s word for it. How was it in its prime?
That being said, the bottle I had still showed ample structure (fruit, acidity and tannins). It would have to be on a pretty steep decline to lose this all in a couple of years. I have half a bottle left under Repour so I’ll see how it managed after 24 hours opened.
Looking at recent CT notes, we don’t see a consensus: “Drink without decanting”, “still young”, “Doubt this will improve with any more time”, “should have years of life left in it”, etc. So it appears that most CT tasters are having a hard time pinpointing where this is at or bottles vary a lot.
I agree that I doubt it will improve with time. As I said, I just don’t think this is particularly in my wheelhouse, but I am still curious as to how this will evolve. I’ll adjust from 10 to 5 based on your input . Maybe it’ll drop like a rock and I’ll be left with dead leaves juice and curse my experimentation but I’m ready to take that risk all for the sake of my wine journey!
Dear Andy Velebil,
If Dirk Niepoort has informed you about Quinta do Fojo that way, it seems like you should be more careful who you trust as you are spreading fake news. For truthful information look for sources that have no ulterior motives. Reading for instance Mark Squires is the least you can do or just search on the web for our wines.
By the way, Quinta do Fojo wines are in a very good shape and are highly recommended.
I have started this life as a winemaker 30 years ago, I have started the Fojo wine project 25 years ago and I believe Quinta do Fojo’s contribution to the Portuguese wine scene deserves more than fake news.
Yours sincerely,
Margarida Serôdio Borges
Can you elaborate what happened after the 2001 vintage? As from what I was told the project ceased, as it was a sought after wine back then, then it just seemed to disappear. even checking CellarTracker there’s no listing for wines again until 2013 (2013/2015/2016). That’s a big time gap. The correct history would be appreciated.
Hi Andy,
It is true that there is a gap between the years 2001 and 2013. When I created the Fojo red wine project in 1996, I was the winemaker and one of the owners of the property with my family. At the same time, since then, the Douro has changed a lot and has seen several wine producers grow and increase their portfolio with wines to all levels, obviously becoming négociant companies.
In the family we had different visions for the future and I have refused to change the way of working the Quinta do Fojo, which consits of making wines only from the grapes produced by their vineyards focusing on ultra-premium wines. With such a unique place nothing else made sense to me, even though I knew it would be a long and difficult road.
After 2001 my family and I share the properties between us, meanwhile I got married and have two children. The opportunity to develop the Fojo wine project had to be postponed until when I had again the time for this full-time work, Quinta do Fojo winemaking. Having full control of the Quinta do Fojo made it much easier to place this property exclusively on the road of fine wines.
We produce two wines per year, one from the old vineyard and one from the 30-year-old vineyard. The wine from the 30-year-old vineyard is released as Quinta do Fojo (the first vintage of this wine was the 2015). The wine from the old vineyard in perfect vintages is released as Fojo, in the remaining vintages, which are the majority in a decade, it is released as Vinha do Fojo.
The wines are released 4-5 years after the vintage for the Quinta do Fojo, 5-6 after the vintage for the Vinha do Fojo and Fojo.
Recently in the 2020 harvest I have started a new project in the Vinho Verde region on my husband’s property, the Casa da Bouça. As Quinta do Fojo only produces red grapes/wines, now with Casa da Bouça we are able to offer white wines. So, we have reds from the Douro Region and whites from the Vinho Verde Region.
I hope this conversation helps you to get to know Quinta do Fojo better.
Cheers,
Margarida
Hi Margarida,
Thank you for the information, very helpful. As I said earlier they were rock star wines, so I am glad to hear you are making them again. I haven’t run across new vintages, yet, but will have to keep an eye out for them here at home and next time I am in PT (same for the C.d. Bouca whites). Is there a USA importer?
Andy
. Maybe it’ll drop like a rock and I’ll be left with dead leaves juice and curse my experimentation but I’m ready to take that risk all for the sake of my wine journey!