Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
This has an intense nose of orange peel, old leather and caramel. The palate has otherworldly elegance, with oxidation, subtle sweetness and acidity in perfect harmony in a subdued, very elegant way. The wine persists on the palate with a subtle note of sweetness.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The NV 30 Year Old Tawny Port was bottled in 2023. They sell very small volumes of this wine so that they can keep up with it, as they are making a little bit more Port to keep and age for these blends and maybe aged colheitas (and Garrafeira!). It's moving in the direction of a liqueur or a brandy; the evaporation makes the wine concentrated, and the aromas are clearly more in the nut and varnish category. It's dense and impressive, pungent and powerful, with a round palate and a soft texture. They never made a 40 year old (or even less, the new 50 year old category), because it's not their style. But I have to admit that this 30 year old is very nice. This should last forever.
-
Wine Spectator
Distinctive, with a light Sherry edge of walnut and dried lemon peel flavors amid more typical tawny notes of golden raisin, ginger, dried orange and green tea. Light floral hints line the finish. A very elegant style, with a decidedly dry feel. Drink now.
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
Best known for intense, impressive and age-worthy fortified wines, Portugal relies almost exclusively on its many indigenous grape varieties. Bordering Spain to its north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean on its west and south coasts, this is a land where tradition reigns supreme, due to its relative geographical and, for much of the 20th century, political isolation. A long and narrow but small country, Portugal claims considerable diversity in climate and wine styles, with milder weather in the north and significantly more rainfall near the coast.
While Port (named after its city of Oporto on the Atlantic Coast at the end of the Douro Valley), made Portugal famous, Portugal is also an excellent source of dry red and white Portuguese wines of various styles.
The Douro Valley produces full-bodied and concentrated dry red Portuguese wines made from the same set of grape varieties used for Port, which include Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Spain’s Tempranillo), Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cão, among a long list of others in minor proportions.
Other dry Portuguese wines include the tart, slightly effervescent Vinho Verde white wine, made in the north, and the bright, elegant reds and whites of the Dão as well as the bold, and fruit-driven reds and whites of the southern, Alentejo.
The nation’s other important fortified wine, Madeira, is produced on the eponymous island off the North African coast.