Winemaker Notes
Very deep-colored crimson center, just beginning to fade along the rim. Bright, intense aromatics of fresh, red fruits, eucalyptus and fragrant rose scent (typical signature of Touriga Nacional). Substantial and weighty on the palate with fleshy, plummy wild berry fruit and chocolate nuances. While full and assertive, the fresh fruit flavors are balanced by the smooth texture which the combination of wood and bottle ageing (4 and 6 years) has given the wine. Pairs with a wide selection of cheeses, suchas blue cheese (Stilton, Roquefort, etc) as wellas sweet desserts and dark chocolate.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2008 Late Bottled Vintage Port is an unfiltered field blend bottled in 2012 with a long cork and 103 grams per liter of residual sugar. The 2008 vintage was not exactly a classic Port year, but it was possible to make good wines, this being a case in point. This is basically a Vintage Port, no matter what the label says. I've had Vintage Ports with less complexity and less power. You're paying a little extra because of this late release, which is fair. Overall, this is exceptional. Very graceful, it shows off elegance in the mid-palate, persistent, if maturing fruit flavors and plenty of power even now. It is simply gripping on the finish. This is always balanced and understated until it finishes with a bang. It is not, perhaps, the most expressive Port, if I had to quibble, but if you want that Vintage Port experience without the price tag, this is a good bet. This should easily last the rest of the decade, barring cork failures, and it may develop more.
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Wine Enthusiast
The Late Bottled Vintage Ports from this producer are made to be aged after bottling. That’s why this wine still has great freshness as well as tannins. It is dry, showing the blackberry fruits with acidity as well as richness. Drink now or certainly until 2023.
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.