Winemaker Notes
Bright, amber/copper color. On the nose, a complex and seductive combination of aromas of cigar box, toffee and cedar wood with hints of fresh, black fruits. Elegant and enveloping on the palate, combining freshness with ageing, showing notes of dried fruits and orange peel along with floral and menthol undertones, ending in a long velvety finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
The liquorous old gold color of this wine indicates the long barrel aging. It is rich with spice, dried fruits and old wood flavors all finely interwoven. The wine, which originated in a field blend of old vines, has a final shot of acidity to bring it to life.
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Wine Spectator
Alluring, with walnut husk, hazelnut oil, dried bergamot and bitter almond notes lending this a slightly earth-edged profile. Sleek and racy through the finish, featuring a long echo of salted caramel. Marries hedonism and intellectualism. Drink now. 50 cases imported.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The NV 30 Years Old Tawny Porto, a field blend, was bottled in 2016 with a bar top cork and comes in with 114 grams per liter of residual sugar. This is not the most concentrated or gripping 30-year-old tawny ever but when I pulled the cork the aromas of caramel, molasses and a hint of treacle filled the area. Smooth and balanced, this is easy to drink and the finish is as long as the aromas were pungent. While in terms of power and concentration this is a bit understated, perhaps to a fault, the rest is exceptionally fine. You won't want to stop drinking it.
Port is a sweet, fortified wine with numerous styles: Ruby, Tawny, Vintage, Late Bottled Vintage (LBV), White, Colheita, and a few unusual others. It is blended from from the most important red grapes of the Douro Valley, based primarily on Touriga Nacional with over 80 other varieties approved for use. Most Ports are best served slightly chilled at around 55-65°F. To learn more, see our full Port Wine Guide
The home of Port—perhaps the most internationally acclaimed beverage—the Douro region of Portugal is one of the world’s oldest delimited wine regions, established in 1756. The vineyards of the Douro, set on the slopes surrounding the Douro River (known as the Duero in Spain), are incredibly steep, necessitating the use of terracing and thus, manual vineyard management as well as harvesting. The Douro's best sites, rare outcroppings of Cambrian schist, are reserved for vineyards that yield high quality Port.
While more than 100 indigenous varieties are approved for wine production in the Douro, there are five primary grapes that make up most Port and the region's excellent, though less known, red table wines. Touriga Nacional is the finest of these, prized for its deep color, tannins and floral aromatics. Tinta Roriz (Spain's Tempranillo) adds bright acidity and red fruit flavors. Touriga Franca shows great persistence of fruit and Tinta Barroca helps round out the blend with its supple texture. Tinta Cão, a fine but low-yielding variety, is now rarely planted but still highly valued for its ability to produce excellent, complex wines.
White wines, generally crisp, mineral-driven blends of Arinto, Viosinho, Gouveio, Malvasia Fina and an assortment of other rare but local varieties, are produced in small quantities but worth noting.
With hot summers and cool, wet winters, the Duoro has a maritime climate.