1978 Port Vintage
Not a generally declared year, but the one that produced the first Vintage Port bottled by a producer in the Douro.
1978 was not generally declared as a Vintage Port year. The IVDP records a spring of very poor weather followed by a long, hot summer that yielded some good wines. Ten Single Quinta Vintages were declared, among them the first producer Vintage, Quinta do Infantado, bottled in the Douro. On the Symington side, Dow's Quinta do Bomfim, Graham's Quinta dos Malvedos, and Warre's Quinta da Cavadinha were bottled as Single Quinta wines. Taylor Fladgate and Fonseca both skip 1978 in their own classic vintage listings.
Growing Season: A Poor Spring, a Long Hot Summer
The IVDP, the body that regulates Port and Douro wines, keeps its own year by year record of the region's vintages. Its entry for 1978 is short and direct: after a spring in which the weather conditions were very poor, a long hot summer produced some good wines. That is the full extent of the official growing season account for the year. It explains the shape of the vintage, a difficult start recovered by a long warm stretch, without reaching the level of consistency that a general declaration requires.
- IVDP record: spring weather conditions in 1978 were very poor
- A long hot summer followed and produced some good wines
- The recovery was enough for selected estate wines, not for a general declaration
- 1978 carries the verdict "Not Generally Declared" on Symington Family Estates' own vintage record
- The IVDP describes 1978 as a year whose spring weather was very poor, followed by a long hot summer that produced some good wines
- Ten Single Quinta Vintages were declared in 1978 according to the IVDP
- Quinta do Infantado 1978 was the first producer Vintage, bottled in the Douro
- Symington's record names three Single Quinta bottlings from 1978: Dow's Quinta do Bomfim, Graham's Quinta dos Malvedos, and Warre's Quinta da Cavadinha
- Taylor Fladgate's classic vintage year list runs 1980, 1977, 1975 with no 1978 entry
- Fonseca's classic vintage year list runs 1980, 1977, 1975 with no 1978 entry
Not Generally Declared
Symington Family Estates lists 1978 as "Not Generally Declared" on its own vintage record, and adds the note that the IVDP remarks this was a year in which many Single Quinta Vintage Ports were produced. The absence of a general declaration is corroborated by the houses themselves. Taylor Fladgate's classic vintage year list moves from 1980 straight to 1977 and then 1975, with no 1978 entry, and Fonseca's classic vintage list does the same. For collectors, that means there is no Taylor Fladgate or Fonseca classic 1978 Vintage Port to look for, and no house tasting note for a wine that was never made.
- Symington Family Estates verdict for 1978: "Not Generally Declared"
- Symington notes the IVDP's remark that many Single Quinta Vintage Ports were produced that year
- Taylor Fladgate's own year list has no 1978 entry between 1980 and 1977
- Fonseca's own year list has no 1978 entry between 1980 and 1977
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See it in the WineShopTen Single Quinta Vintages and a Historic First
The IVDP records that ten Single Quinta Vintages were declared in 1978. Among them was the first producer Vintage, Quinta do Infantado, bottled in the Douro. That detail is the reason 1978 matters in Port history well beyond the quality of its wines: it marks the point at which a Vintage Port was bottled by the producer itself in the Douro. Symington Family Estates names three of the year's Single Quinta bottlings from its own houses: Dow's Quinta do Bomfim, Graham's Quinta dos Malvedos, and Warre's Quinta da Cavadinha.
- Ten Single Quinta Vintages declared in 1978 per the IVDP
- Quinta do Infantado 1978 was the first producer Vintage, bottled in the Douro
- Dow's Quinta do Bomfim 1978, named by Symington Family Estates
- Graham's Quinta dos Malvedos 1978, named by Symington Family Estates
- Warre's Quinta da Cavadinha 1978, named by Symington Family Estates
- 1978 = not generally declared. The undeclared years are where Single Quinta Vintage Ports come from, and 1978 is a textbook example of that pattern
- IVDP growing season for 1978: very poor spring weather, then a long hot summer that produced some good wines. Enough for estate selections, not for a general declaration
- Ten Single Quinta Vintages were declared in 1978 according to the IVDP record
- Quinta do Infantado 1978 was the first producer Vintage, bottled in the Douro. Know this as the historical marker for producer bottling in the region
- Named 1978 Single Quinta bottlings from the Symington houses: Dow's Quinta do Bomfim, Graham's Quinta dos Malvedos, Warre's Quinta da Cavadinha
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