Winemaker Notes
On the nose, very intense and complex, combining tobacco notes and dried fruits.
Very concentrated with excellent structure. Notes of fruitcake, fig and toated dry fruits. Very long finish.
A blend of different grape varieties from old vines: Tinta Amarela, Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional among others.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Loads of toffee with some caramel and walnut undertones on the nose. Full-bodied with so much toffee and hints of peanuts and chocolate too. So flavorful and long. A beautiful 40-year-old tawny.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 40 Year Old Tawny was aged in very old oak 600-liter casks and old oak vats. It is an old-vines field blend with residual sugar of 196 grams per liter. Even more so than its 20-year sibling reviewed this issue, its sugary with an endless finish. It adds a layer or two of depth to the 20, but it is so sexy and so rich that it seems a bit less complex, which is not always the way this works in comparing 20s and 40s. As it airs out and that first rush blows off, though, you do begin to get the complexity this has in spades. It is more piercing and gripping. You eventually taste the treacle and concentrated molasses underneath. You realize how fine it is when you notice that the powerful and sugary finish never seems to end. It is a rather decadent 40, taking no prisoners and going for the sex appeal, but it doesn't ignore other aspects. This will make you swoon, if you haven't already, from looking at the price point.
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Wine Spectator
A flash of cherry gives way quickly to date, green tea, ginger and sandalwood notes, with an echo of persimmon through the finish. This has a rounded, viscous feel but manages to stay lithe and alluring as the flavors play out.
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.