Vintage Port

This is made from the same varieties which would be used for Port production, but from sites more suitable for table wines. Imagine a fine Port, but dry and with lower alcohol: all the notes are here; tobacco, liquorice, plum, cinnamon. Delicious, heady and evocative.
Full & bold.
Touriga Nacional (60%) and Touriga Franca (12%) with 8% Tinta Roriz, 5% Sousão and the rest (5%).

Martinez started as an importer of port into London over 200 years ago, peaking in 1849 as the largest importer to the UK. Harvey's of Bristol then acquired the company and it is now a minnow in Allied-Domecq's portfolio. They made a very successful wine in the very fine, universally declared, 1994 vintage and it is good to see such an historic name back in business.

Rather than maturing their wines in Vila Nova da Gaia, Martinez keeps their casks for as long as possible in the heady temperatures of the Upper Douro. As a result, the wines can be distinctive and idiosyncratic, full-bodied and rich. From the attractive burnt nose to the palate, which marries raisin and cherry flavours, this wine oozes class and potential. Drink now to 2020.

Taylor's is one of the most well known of all Port brands. The first Taylor joined in 1816, followed later by a Fladgate and a Yeatman. Taylor’s is the only Port shipper to remain completely independent throughout its history. British ownership continues to this day. The wines are typically closed and austere when young; it is only with adequate ageing that they loosen up and offer their subliminal qualities. They are worth waiting for, though.

With a beautiful, rich and complex nose, on the palate this is quite dry. There is a serious juxtaposition of the ripe and dried fruits with expansive tannins. This has challenging, layered flavours and the promise of longevity. Very expressive and powerful Port.

The major shareholders here are, as usual, Quinta de Vargellas and Quinta de Terra Feita. Vargellas is located in the hotter eastern sector and it is significant that the selected grapes were farmed on the higher terraces, preserving acidity and balance in addition to the traditional aromatics of violet, ripe blackberry and herbs.

Taylor’s is always a treat for the senses and intellect alike, its synaesthetic appeal the fruits of ancient vines and traditional vinification. David Guimaraens, Head Winemaker, is delighted with the wine and praises both its grip and its overall complexity. We concur!

When tasting the 2003s for the first time, we kept going back to this wine, as we so often do with Taylor which is surely the most cerebral and complex of all the Vintage Ports. Effortlessly eschewing the excesses of the vintage, 2003 Taylor's Vintage is superb. Dense and inky, with a nose of woodsmoke, cassis, leather and meat, it is richly textured, firmly tannic, with peppery grip and a long, rewarding finish. This is, without doubt, a Vintage Port of the highest quality.

As always, Taylor's 1985 is among the very best wines of the vintage, with a complex, dense palate which is still evolving and will continue to develop for a further 5 to 20 years. This house must certainly be the Latour of Portugal. Their ports are remarkably backward yet still impressive when young. Of all the vintage ports, those of Taylor need the longest time to mature and even when fully mature seem to have an inner strength and firmness that keep them going for decades.

When we asked Charles Symington, Head Winemaker at Dow, Graham and Warre, to send in samples for our Own Selection from the superb 2011 vintage, he was happy to oblige. After extensive tasting, we concluded the wine made in the style of Graham best captured the essence of this extraordinary year with its precision, purity and power.

The blend is mainly Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz, with a small percentage of Souzão sourced from some of the best vineyards of the Douro Superior. The nose glories in notes of gum cistus and violet, and the palate is beautifully rounded, yet with finely etched tannins on the finish – making this vintage, to my mind, the best since 1994.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer

Molasses and rich, black fruits shine through on the nose, and a sumptuous velvet-textured palate with fine, soft and integrated tannins follows. Figs and opulent fruit leave a lasting impression on the palate.

1970 Dow ticked all the boxes: elegant and amenable, with some energetic tannins still there to tickle the tongue – it is a delicious vintage to drink now or keep another 20 years.
(Tom Cave, Berrys' Cellar Plan Manager)

Rich and highly concentrated, it has evolved into to open into a superb Port. Fragrant cassis and prunes nose, fleshy texture, loaded with ripe berry flavours, mellow tannins and a lush fruity finish. Powerful, yet impressively balanced. The 1977s have reached the middle stage of what will prove to be a long and distinguished life. Hugely enjoyable now and it will only get better. 

The 77s are starting to come round now, their evolution of late a little more rapid than some may have predicted a decade ago, but still very fine wines. Dow, of course, the most puritanical and upstanding of the Symington Houses, always produces a wine worthy of long cellaring and rigorous intellectual scrutiny on opening. I suspect the 77 will not disappoint; the tannins have softened with great dignity and the fruit is still wonderfully present and perfectly balanced within the ensemble.
(Simon Field MW - BBR Buyer)

Graham is renowned for producing one of the most dense and sweet styles of vintage port. Richness amd sumptuous character are the hallmarks of Graham.1977 offers an impressive bouquet of fragrances reminiscent of liquorice, plums, dried fig, followed on the palate by spice and  mocha chocolate notes underlying the powerful, concentrated fruit cake flavours.

42 years on, and revealing all the riches that the finest vintages and shippers can show provided they have been stored impeccably (as this has) and allowed enough time to mature steadily and gracefully into a wine as handsomely gratifying as this.  A very fine Vintage Port with th masses of concentrated fruit and years ahead of it but simply wonderful now.
(Tom Cave - Cellar Plan Manager - 29-Nov-2012)

Ruby garnet. Quite old-looking. Toffee, berry and milk chocolate aromas. Round and delicious, very sweet and beautiful. Very long and fruity. Balanced and refined. All in the right place and very ready. More like a tawny now.
James Suckling - Wine Spectator, 2008

Closed and austere when young, it is only with adequate ageing that Taylors sublime qualities come to the fore. This rich, structured Port shows that they are well worth waiting for.

When last tasted in November 2010, the Fonseca impressed with both its charm, about which we knew, but also its structural power, about which we may have been less sure. The 1977s Port wines were much lauded on release, but one or two questions were asked as to whether they would indeed, as expected, last the course in the manner of the greatest vintages. Tasting, inter alia, the Fonseca, was therefore reassuring: the black fruits, cassis and morello, are still evidenced, the spirit has integrated nicely and there is gentle spice on the finish. Fonseca's famous elegance pervades, effortless and evanescent.
(Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer)

The 2011 Noval displays the hall-mark purity of this House, challenged teasingly by an incredible blue fruit ripeness and rich, peppery finish. Notes of eucalypt, forest floor and violets provide a perfect counterpoint to the sweetness and the tannins, which are firm and resolute, if not yet completely resolved. They will be by, say, 2024 and the wine will continue to evolve gracefully until 2040 and beyond.

The blend is 60% Touriga Nacional, 30% Touriga Francesa and 10% Tinto Cão and, as always, comes from a homogenous plot around the Quinta. Uniform brilliance is the livery here; this is a spectacular Vintage Port.
Simon Field MW, Port Wine Buyer You arrive at the Quinta do Noval by means of a long, sweeping, white-walled, vine-trellised drive that finishes atop the hill where the handsome villa and farm buildings sit very much in the middle of the estate with wonderful views all around.   Here, unlike most Port houses, the wines are from a single 145 hectare ‘Quinta’ and this helps impart a consistency of style to the wines each vintage. Noval’s Vintage Ports, certainly in recent declarations, have a purity and almost lithe-like feel to them, and a polished and cultured charm prevails.  The 2011 starts dense and cool with a plump ripeness preceding firm, discreet tannins – there is some real power here, with aromatic hints joining in to add lift and intrigue.   This is a very refined 2011 that will age gracefully for decades.
Tom Cave, Cellar Plan Manager

The 2004 Quinta do Noval Nacional has a show-stopping bouquet that is cut from a completely different cloth than the 2004 Vintage. This is far more extravagant and decadent, with kirsch, camphor, incense and crushed violets exploding from the glass. You might think it was some super Barossa Syrah if you nosed it blind. The palate is intense with penetrating, citrus-fresh black currant and dark-plum fruit. It is has lovely caressing, slightly grainy textured, well-judged acidity and a composed, elegant finish. This is pure class, a hedonistic Nacional surfeit with swagger and style. Drink 2020-2050.
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate - eRobertParker.com - Apr 2014

Quarles Harris has produced a solid and well-made wine, with lively aromas of blackberries and cream and an aproachable, soft palate with agreeably chewy tannins. Although not as overwhelmingly sweet or rich as some, this wine is rounded and charming and will be excellent for early drinking. Drink now to 2018.

Low yielding ancient vines in some very privileged locations (Mendiz, Soutelo and Pisca inter alia) have combined to make what Dirk describes as a ‘perfect year for Vintage Port’, and, tasting the evidence, we are disinclined to demur.

Destemming was not deemed necessary; such was the quality of the vintage. The wine has an incredible dense colour and a pronounced nose of graphite, black tea and spice. Black pepper and dark fruit inform the palate, which is fresh, pure and powerful.
Simon Field MW, Port Buyer

80-years of age at their youngest, these venerable vines at the beautiful Vinha da Pisca have been foot-trodden in unique circular lagares and aged in pipas for their (cold) second winter. Near opaque in colour and aromatically reticent, the wine starts to sing on the palate, where dark chocolate and dark fruit do not presage a heart of darkness but rather an exceptionally pure and powerful core, bolstered by dense assertive tannins and a fresh, incisive finish.
Simon Field MW, Port Buyer

Fonseca is the Dark Lady to Taylor’s Master and Commander, its feminine charm, courtesy of the Panascal vineyard, evidenced throughout its long life and its tannins characteristically silky and rounded.

Violets, black tea and cassis dominate the aromas, followed by trademark sweetness and tannic elegance on the palate. There are notes of graphite and herbs mid-palate, just to reassure that one is not to be overwhelmed by the sheer generosity of fruit content. The clean, pure finish provides further reassurance, unnecessarily because by this stage of the tasting one is more than satisfied that this is a top class Fonseca, sui generis and built to last.
Simon Field MW, Port Buyer


With a lifted, multi-faceted nose of damsons, black cherries, cassis and violet, this is pure and majestically structured, and oozes aristocratic class. The seamless tannins are beautifully integrated and frame the ripe black fruit perfectly. It is superb, and one for the long haul.
Fergus Stewart, Private Account Manager