This is a blast of a young, intense and modern vintage port.
It can, if you are a tough guy m/k, be drunk already now – but with a guarantee of blue teeth.
Forget that vintage port absolutely must age for 30 years before it is drinkable; this 2018er lasts nicely for a few decades, but there is also a great drinking experience in it already now. It’s just that the wine isn’t ripe now.
The wine has been made from grapes from class A patamares on the neighboring fields of Quinta dos Muros and Quinta da Manuela. They lie side by side on the deadly steep eastern side of the Pinhão valley, next to Quinta do Noval, whose slate-covered terroir sits comfortably in the ‘grand cru’ class.
A poor flowering in the spring meant a small harvest, but the quality of the grape material was healthy and not least good. The harvest was long, so there was plenty of time to fine-tune the harvest strategy: the last grapes were harvested on October 20, which is unusually late.
The blend consists of touriga nacional, touriga franca and tinta roríz, which are fermented respectively in closed steel tank and traditional, open warehouse to optimize fruit focus and complexity.
2018 is a vintage in which the fruit is dense and balanced, so for port wine drinkers over 30 years of age it probably doesn’t make a world of difference that the wine isn’t fully ripe until 40 years later….
This port wine bomb detonates its black-violet fruit with the aromas in the direction of elderberry, mulberry and blackcurrant with dark chocolate and some slate minerals. Sweet, polished tannins and acidity already harmonize nicely, and there is plenty of substance for possible aging.
Enjoy with desserts with chocolate, with the rice salamander of the Christmas meal, with the strong blue cheeses or with pickled cherries with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.
If the wine is stored for a long time, remember to decant the wine carefully before pouring it. We recommend spacious white wine glasses and a serving temperature of around 16°.
94 points Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
94 points + ‘cellar selection’ Wine Enthusiast
