Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Though 1977 got all the acclaim, a number of houses declared Vintages in 1978, including Kopke, which also held back this Tawny in barrel. This is fresher than any of the 40-year-olds we tasted for this issue (which have the advantage of being able to blend in both younger and older wines). It offers an immediate hit of jasmine, a scent of beeswax and figs, a butterscotch buzz. One taster described its freshness as “mossy,” while another added, “as in an enchanted forest.” And it’s easy to be enchanted by this open, welcoming wine, saturated with fruit in shades of nectarine, plum and peach pit. It’s somehow zesty in its caramelized generosity, which is just a long way of saying, “Yum.”
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Wine Enthusiast
Not one of the generally declared vintages for Port, this year produced some ripe, sweet single quinta vintages. It also was a good year for rich, sweet tawnies. This is ripe, toffee-like in character packed with ripe raisin and sultana flavors. It is a luxurious wine, of course ready to drink.
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Wine Spectator
Crisp and spicy, with dried citrus, maple and ginger flavors, supported by fresh acidity. White chocolate and cardamom notes flood the tangy finish.
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.