Vintage Port 07 - Jasper's Overview
Very pure and fine-boned with impressive mid-palate weight, the stylish 2007 Port vintage has just been declared and includes some wonderful wines that are less rich and less explosive than in some years.
My favourite wines were Dow and Graham, the former as ever noticeably drier than most other great Vintage Ports, but with remarkable fragrance and exceptional length. Graham was amazingly intense, sweeter than Dow and more tightly knit than Warre; it is brilliantly integrated.
Quinta do Vesuvio was impressively dynamic, but perhaps a little simpler. The limited release Quinta do Vesuvio Capela did have an extra spice to it, but this seemed like a distraction, especially if it is to be offered expensively. Warre, like Croft, seems to fall between two stools as neither wine competes with the top examples from their respective stables.
Fonseca is very
good, with charm, grace, rich fruit and fine depth of flavour. Taylor was very
pure and the house style of this group is clearly to emphasise fruit rather
than spice and perhaps the wines could have done with a touch more complexity.
Taylor’s Vinha Velha comes from an old plot at Vargellas and is
enormously succulent, almost tarry, and displays notable silky tannins.
Noval was
very intense, in a fruit forward style. Soft rich blackberries abounded on the
palate before a tannic finish. Perhaps it could have done with a touch more
spice. I enjoyed the elegance of Quinta do Romaneira, less weighty but very
stylish.
Of the less expensive wines, Smith Woodhouse was attractive, with pretty fruit, obvious sweetness and an old-style pepper character, but was noticeably less concentrated or well knit than its more expensive siblings. Skeffington was well made, fruity and modern, perhaps not classic but definitely a success.
Mature Vintage Port is one of wine’s greatest achievements and this magnificent 2007 vintage certainly merits being declared. The high levels of rich fruit, well knitted with a tannic structure, will see them last and develop for decades.
Jasper Morris MW, BBR Buyer
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