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Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesThis is a ripe and generous wine, with tannins that are well integrated into the powerful black-fruit core. It is rich in a black plum flavor that's cut by fine acidity. Complex, balanced and full of long-term potential, drink this impressive wine from 2029.
Cellar Selection
The 2016 Vintage Porto is a mostly an equal blend of Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca, with various others comprising the last 20% of the juice. It comes in with 95 grams of residual sugar. This was in bottle about two months when tasted. Dark in color, with fine and expressive fruit, this shows intensity of flavor more than pure power. The fruit demonstrates nice lift as it opens with air. As with the Offley, this is a very nice success in this vintage, showing me fine fruit and reasonable structure. The concentration is good too, but it's not quite as impressive as the first two components. It is still excellent overall, the most exuberant of the three Sogrape Portos. We'll see how it ages and develops. For the moment, it is worth leaning up.
The House of Sandeman was founded in London in 1790 by George Sandeman, a determined young Scotsman. From a modest start two hundred years ago as a wine merchant in the City of London, to today's impressive lodges in Oporto and bodegas in Jerez, and the world's best known brand of Port and Sherry, there has been a continuous commitment to quality. The growth of Sandeman Port and Sherries over two centuries has been based on a balance of tradition and innovation, respecting heritage but always seeking improvement. In 1980, Sandeman became part of Seagram; today, as the seventh generation of the family and Chairman of the old firm, George Sandeman continues the Sandeman commitment to the quality of Sandeman Ports and Sherries, and to the future.
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.
Blended from the most important red grapes of the Douro Valley, Port is the famous fortified wine from Portugal. It is based on the Touriga Nacional grape with over 80 other varieties approved for use in the blend. However, typically about four other varieties play a major role: Tinta Barroca, Tinta Cão, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo) and Touriga Francesa. Other wine regions of the world can produce fortified wine of a similar style from the same grapes or other grapes.
There are numerous styles of Port: Ruby, Tawny, Vintage, LBV, White, Colheita, and a few unusual others.
Ruby ports usually pack the most value and are ready to drink once bottled. Typical characteristics are ripe cherry and blackberry flavors with stewed plums, cocoa and dates.
Tawny ports are “tawny” in color and have flavors of toffee, caramel, toasted pecans, vanilla, dried apricot, citrus peel, green figs and roasted espresso. The age designation on a Tawny Port indicates the average vintage age of the grapes in the bottle. These are not intended to be aged once bottled.
When Port is made with high quality grapes selected from a single notable vintage, it is called Vintage Port. Some of the best recent vintages are 2016, 2011, 2007, 2003, 2000, 1997 and 1994. Vintage Ports are complex and full-bodied with many flavors possible: concentrated blackberry, black cherry, raspberry and spice, smoke, coffee and chocolate. Vintage ports tend to improve in the bottle up to approximately 30 years from the vintage.
LBV Port comes from a single-vintage Ruby Port and may spend six years in the barrel before being bottled. These are ready to drink upon release. Serve most Ports slightly chilled at around 55-65°F.