2000 Port & Douro Vintage

After pleasantly wet weather during and following the 1999 harvest, the Douro winter was cold and dry. Bud break came during this abnormally dry period, which reduced potential yields. In April and May half the normal annual rainfall fell in just two months, and the wet, damp weather hurt the flowering. Flowering in late May coincided with heavy showers and cool weather, which caused coulure, particularly in the A-grade vineyards at lower altitudes that flower first. Fruit set was poor and yields were dramatically reduced. Warm, dry weather returned in June and July, with homogenous ripening in mid-July, and the dry weather continued through August. Rain fell at Bomfim on 22 and 24 August and again on 11 September, which Dow's called ideal, and a few days of rain in mid-September helped finish off ripening. The harvest began around 20 September. Graham's began picking at Malvedos on 22 September and ran off its last lagar on 10 October, an unusually short and compact vintage, while Dow's started on 25 September at Bomfim and Senhora de Ribeira, rather later than usual. Dow's described the picking weather as perfect throughout, with hot days and cool nights. 2000 was a year of very low average yield across the Douro: Graham's own yields were under three quarters of a kilogram per vine, while Dow's averaged just 830 g per vine at Bomfim and 385 g at Senhora de Ribeira. Decanter gives yields per vine of little over half a kilo, and Wine Spectator reported Rupert Symington's figure of yields down 35 to 40 percent in some of the best areas of the Douro, which he put down to a bad berry set in June.

Dow's declaration statement for 2000 is dated April 2002. On 14 March 2002 the Symington family, owner of Graham, Dow, Warre and Quinta do Vesuvio, was the first Port shipper to officially declare the 2000 vintage, making 2000 Vintage Ports at Dow, Graham, Warre, Smith Woodhouse, Gould Campbell and Quarles Harris, plus bottlings from Quinta do Vesuvio and Quinta do Roriz. Wine Spectator's James Suckling reported at that point that Taylor, Fonseca, Noval and Niepoort were expected to follow. The 2000 wines were universally declared, and Decanter's guide refers to a unanimous declaration in 2000.

• The Symington family was the first shipper to officially declare 2000, on 14 March 2002
• Symington 2000 Vintage Ports: Dow, Graham, Warre, Smith Woodhouse, Gould Campbell and Quarles Harris, plus Quinta do Vesuvio and Quinta do Roriz
• Taylor, Fonseca, Noval and Niepoort were then expected to follow (Wine Spectator)
• The 2000 wines were universally declared

Graham's called its 2000 a landmark wine, the first Vintage made with the new robotic lagares at Malvedos in the inaugural year of its remodelled winery. With the grapes unusually lacking in liquid and the juice to skin ratio well below normal, the house ran these mechanical treaders alongside the two original 1890 stone lagares still worked by human feet. The blend reinforced the Malvedos core and the Rio Torto lots from Lages with a larger proportion than usual of mature Touriga Francesa and Touriga Nacional from Vila Velha and old vine lots from Vale de Malhadas in the Upper Douro.

• Graham's 2000 was its first Vintage made with the new robotic lagares at Malvedos
• Mature Touriga Francesa and Touriga Nacional from Vila Velha and old vine lots from Vale de Malhadas reinforced the Graham's blend

Decanter advises approaching the 2000s from now and says the best will last a lifetime. Its Richard Mayson highlights the sheer depth of colour and richness in nearly all the wines, with aromatic qualities, balance and harmony, while those that lack intensity show as sweet and rather one-dimensional. Paul Symington described Dow's 2000 as remarkably concentrated, with a rich velvet structure backed by ripe tannins. Graham's noted ripe plum, esteva (gum cistus), fresh blackberry and red plum, and advised laying the wine down for fifteen to twenty years. Peter Symington told Wine Spectator: "I don't see anything lacking in the structure of these wines to put them behind 1994."

• Decanter: approach from now; the best will last a lifetime
• Decanter's Richard Mayson highlights depth of colour and richness in nearly all the wines
• Dow's 2000: remarkably concentrated, with a rich velvet structure backed by ripe tannins
• Graham's advises laying the wine down for fifteen to twenty years