Winemaker Notes
Deep red color with dense violet tones. Intense and elegant aromas dominated by ripe black fruits such as blackberries, prune and cassis alongside balsamic aromas of resin and cedar. Full-bodied with great structure, well balanced acidity, with firm, ripe and well integrated tannins.
Vintage Port is an excellent accompaniment for small plates that feature ingredients such as blue cheese, dark chocolate, figs, and walnuts (which add their own tannic tango to the mix).
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Vintage Port, the first declared vintage here since the 2011, is a field blend from centenarian vines. It is equal parts Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca with 20% Tinta Roriz. It comes in with 127 grams per liter of residual sugar. It was aged for 12 months in old Portuguese wood. This is round and luscious on opening. With some air, it becomes a very different wine, showing its class and its muscle. It shows far more power and pop as it airs out, becoming very persistent. It's always most notable, though, for the rich fruit and velvety texture. The mid-palate just seems to absorb the lurking power.
-
Wine Enthusiast
A fruity, perfumed style of wine that has fine black fruits and generous tannins. The wine has a sweeter character that goes with the spice and jammy blackberry fruits. Drink from 2028.
-
James Suckling
Rich, big and extremely concentrated, with iodine, sweet blackberries, mussel shells, violet extract and dark chocolate. Lush and bittersweet on the unctuous, full-bodied palate, with plenty of dissipated tannins and deep flavors helping conceal the alcohol.
The name Duorum, which is Latin for "from two," captures the spirit of this renowned Portguese winery. The perfect union of unparalleled talent and unique terroir, Duorum is widely recognized as a gold standard for Portuguese wines. With over three generations of history between their families, internationally acclaimed oenologists João Portugal Ramos and José Soares Franco both graduated from El Instituto Superior de Agronomia (Higher Institute of Agronomy) in 1977.
In the thirty years that followed, João and José have left an indelible mark on the industry, both domestically and internationally. Seeking to combine their superior skills and passion for winemaking, João Portugal Ramos and José Maria Soares Franco founded Duorum in 2007. By combining the best qualities of the Douro & Alentejo, two of Portugal’s most celebrated wine regions, Duorum has consistently produced wines of exceptional style and quality.
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.