Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A pureness and focus to this young vintage Port makes it exceptional. Aromas of blueberries and raspberries. Full body, medium sweet with an integrated fruit and tannin structure. Lasts for minutes on the palate. Extremely well-made. 500 cases produced of this foot-trodden wine. Better in 2022.
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Wine Spectator
Powerfully fruity, with deep, rich flavors of dark plum, raspberry preserves and violet, accented by plenty of ripe, spicy notes. Dark chocolate and allspice accents linger on the long finish, revealing hints of cardamom and ginger. Best from 2020 through 2040. 500 cases made.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2011 Delaforce has a slightly smudged, gingerbread-tinged bouquet with plenty of ravishing ripe black fruit and a whiff of tobacco. The palate has a slight hickory note on the entry with a fine seam of acidity. Hints of cigar box remain patiently in the background, while the finish shows fine structure and weight. It is a slightly broody infant port, but one with charm and breeding.
Range: 88-90
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.