Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
This is bursting with gutsy red and black currant, fig, and boysenberry compote flavors, infused with black tea, anise and wood smoke notes. The brambly finish shows latent energy as it pumps along, ending with nice dry cut. A rock 'em sock' em Port, with an old-school hint. Best from 2035 through 2060.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Vintage Port is a field blend from old vines aged for 24 months in used Portuguese oak. It comes in with 103 grams of residual sugar. This is sourced from the same quinta as the separately listed Carvalhas Port (namely, Carvalhas), but the selection of parcels is different. They are very different wines. This is not as bright and has a more brooding demeanor. Dry and stern, this shows off serious power and fine focus. It's not as exuberant as some 2017s—its fruit is not quite as vivid—but it is beautifully structured and should age well. It has good concentration as well. Give this some time, but it won't be unapproachable if drunk somewhat young. It should hold for 50 years or so. There were 441 cases produced, set for September release.
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.