Events

Douro Boys Cuvee under hammer
«Vinnaya Karta» №1 (92) January-February 2008

Douro Boys — five leading producers of high quality table wines from the Douro Valley in Portugal — held an auction that featured a special edition of Douro Boys Cuvee 2005.

Each winemaker chose the best barrel of the vintage. Then wines were blended to make the final cuvee which provided a unique mix of characters of the five quintas — Quinta do Vallado, Niepoort, Quinta do Crasto, Quinta do Vale D. Maria and Quinta do Vale Meao. 712 magnums were bottled in total, of which 500 were sold at the auction. The event was attended by 60 buyers, and another 20 were bidding by telephone. “We reached an average price of approximately 380 Euros per magnum. This is nearly three times higher than what we expected”, said Cristiano van Zeller from Quinta do Vale D. Maria.

The Portuguese acquired the largest number of magnums — 391 in total. Other lots found buyers from Macao (China), Holland, Norway and Sweden. Along with Douro Boys Cuvee 2005, the lots also included rare ports and best table wines made by the estates, as well as special events such as tastings, dinners, holidays in the Douro, etc.

The earnings from the auction will be invested in activities that will further promote the Douro and its best table wines. “The auction is a milestone in the history of the Douro, and is important for all Portugal. Its result demonstrates that the Douro and Portugal already belong to the top wine regions of the world,” commented Dirk Niepoort of the renowned eponymous estate.