Winemaker Notes
Churchill’s 2017 Vintage Port has a very deep violet colour, with a resinous intensity on the nose and layers of fresh blueberry aromas upfront. Exuberant and vinous on the palate, with flavours of crushed blackberries in combination with a gravelly tannic structure, this wine has a vibrant natural acidity contributing to a long-lasting finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
The potential of this great wine is enormous. Floral and richly structured, with layers of black fruits, the Port has a density and tough edges that are both essential to aging. Drink this rich, ripe wine from 2032.
Editors' Choice
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Wine Spectator
Ripe, juicy and focused, this features a core of steeped fig, boysenberry and blueberry fruit, well-harnessed by a sleek, graphite-edged structure and infused liberally with anise, fruitcake and Christmas pudding notes. Vivid and racy in feel through the finish. Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barocca, Tinta Francisca and Tinta Cão. Best from 2035 through 2055.
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James Suckling
Lots of raisins and tar, as well as ash and treacle tart, making for a heady, powerful nose. Full-bodied, sweet and quite tannic with juicy layers of morello cherries and blackberries. Drink from 2030.
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Decanter
Sultry and brooding, with a rich black fruit character that's spicy on the nose and sweet on the palate.
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.