Barca Velha, does it live up to it's iconic status/price

Let me preface that I have never tasted it. It seems odd that such an iconic wine is so rarely discussed here.

I’ve tasted and enjoyed many of the various wines coming from Casa Ferreirinha, most are well made and represent good value.

The production of Barca Velhe runs 18,000 bottles and seems readily available at $400.
The employ a very modern winemaking style (long cold soak, 18m new French oak), has this always been the case?
I believe there are only 17 vintages since 1952.

Just looking to hear about experience and if it is worthy of it’s status/pricetag.

Chris , we had the 1982 not so long ago at our Euryanthe wine club . The wine was stunning , somewhere between a mature Bordeaux and a mature Burgundy ( report on my nephew’s website Vinotopia ) . It’s expensive but we were all very pleasantly surprised how good it was .

A few years ago a shop had several vintages for +/- $100 per bottle. I bought a 94 and it was really good. At the time my impression was that it was pretty subtle and elegant (Burgundian?!?!?) and has me keeping my eyes open for it again at a similar price. At $400 I’m not so sure.

Have a few '85s and '83s in the cellar. in my opinion definitely it’s definitely a true classic and will hold its own in practically any company. It does need aignificant age though, and quite a bit of air, to show its true colours!

A bit of history first…The wine (grapes) originally came from Quinta do Vale Meao, which is WAY out east in the Douro near the Spain border. I’ve been there and it’s really really remote, though much easier to access now due to a newer highway than even 7 years ago when the best way to arrive was the train, then a bumpy car ride. In the later 1990’s the managing director at Ferreira (parent company is Sogrape), Francisco Javier de Olazabal, who’s family owned the Quinta, left Sogrape and branched out on his own. He started making his own wines wines under the Quinta’s label. When he did so he immediately took away the source for grapes for this old iconic Douro wine. As a result Sogrape had a real issue on their hands and now, largely, the grapes come from another of their excellent Quinta’s, Quinta da Leda.

The wine was first created in 1952. I’ve had every vintage now going back to the 1970’s (so about 4 or 5 older ones I’ve not had). with the exception of the later 90’s they are mature and probably should be consumed in due course and not held for decades longer. That’s may shock some people, but one has to remember this was the first high end wine made in the Douro in what can be considered modern times. As with any iconic wines that aren’t made very often, there is a lot of inflated scores that tend to happen with it. The older ones are rustic and as mentioned by others a bit of a cross between old Burgundy and Bordeaux, with more of a Burg leaning. I’ve not had older ones from the 1950’s or 1960’s, which are exceedingly rare, but have heard that they seem to have held up better. The 1999 and 2000 vintages are good, but as one would expect with a sudden shift of winemaker and where the grapes came from meant that those two have not lived up to the hype or price IMO. By 2004 they had once again dialed it in and the quality, IMO, is the best it’s ever been going back to at least the 1970’s. Granted, I’ve not yet had the 2008 but hope to change that later this year. Though from reports I’ve heard so far it’s also of excellent quality.

This is a wine that in its youth (1999 to current) needs a long decant or needs at least a decade of cellaring after release to really pull together and show it’s best. Pop and pour for current vintages isn’t recommended. Older ones, anywhere from an hour or so for the 1995 and 1991 to less for the older ones.

As for price, this is wine so price is relative to the person buying it. Is a 92 point DRC worth $800 or more? I rest my case.

I have drunk two vintages 1982 and 1991. The 1982 was at Sparks steak house in the early 1990 and cost $55 (not a typo), Strangely enough it had two capsules and no cork. Wine was fine, but tasted like an old Barolo.

Same with the 1991, which actually had a cork. Good Barolo traditionally made not great. I bought a fair number of them, so the second bottle I slipped into a flight of Barolo served blind to the group. This showed better, probably around 92 points, and fitted in well with a flight of Burlotto and Marcarini.

Had it quite often in Portuguese Restaurants at the Algarve in our annual Golf holidays between 1980 - 2000. A very good wine, quite expensive but in the lists easily under the equivalent of 100 € at that time. Would I pay 400 € nowadays for a young Vintage ?
Most probably not but I don’t want to miss those bottles.

Until about a year or two ago, Bern’s used to have the 1978 for $100 a bottle. Too bad they are now gone, what a deal those were.

Thanks for the feedback. I’ll keep my eyes open for a well priced bottle languishing on a list somewhere.