There are wines being released right now that most Wine-Searcher readers won't buy.
They are wines of compelling purity and presence; they’re made by winemakers at the top of their game, who have been making these wines, in this region, for hundreds of years. It's one of the most beautiful and challenging wine regions on earth, and the wines, though equivalent in quality to the best in the world, are still affordable. Yet most people who would enjoy them, won't buy them.
Why is this? Because the wine is Vintage Port, and most of the people who would enjoy it, don't understand it. They think it's for old men, sitting in clubs. They think you're only allowed to drink it when it's as old as you are, or possibly vice versa. They think it's for special occasions only. They don't have a decanter. They don't have a corkscrew.
Well, maybe not the last. But Vintage Port is still vastly misunderstood – mostly because it has changed, and most people haven't noticed.
The main difference is that these days it is utterly delicious young. It used to be so black in its youth, so intense, with such a tannic grip – "blackstrap" was the adjective often used. Rupert Symington, who makes such brands as Dow's and Graham's, points out that the 1983 wines couldn't be touched for 10 years, so hard and tannic were they. So at the moment when Bordeaux had just begun to make wines that were much softer, much younger – the warm 1982 vintage was the first "modern" year in Bordeaux – the Douro Valley was still making wines that not just could be aged, but had to be aged.
A gradual change
I don't think there was a single watershed year in the Douro in the way there was in Bordeaux. Stylistic change happened more insidiously with Vintage Port. Single Quinta wines appeared – Vintage Ports from a single estate, designed to be drinkable earlier. Originally these appeared in years when "classic" Ports – Dow's, Graham's, Taylor's, all those – were not released. So they were wines from not-quite-top years. And then the distinctions got blurred, and some years saw some of each. And then more quintas appeared, and winemaking got more precise, and viticulture got more precise, and everything got better, and here we are: most years see some Vintage Port released. Sometimes powerful, long-lived classic wines are released, and sometimes lighter, aromatic single quintas. Does anyone worry about the differences any more?
For drinking young, in the first couple of years after bottling, I'd go for a single-quinta wine. Classic wines have that extra concentration, that extra power; there’s no reason why you shouldn't open them right away, but it depends on how much power you like. The crucial point is that the tannins are now so much more supple than they used to be, so much finer, so much more tucked in and clothed around with silk and velvet, so elegant and fresh, that they will seduce right away.
The wines being released at the moment are 2018s. It was a rollercoaster year: a soakingly wet spring, a dry summer and a hot late summer – up to 46ºC sometimes. But the thing about the Douro Valley is that it winds and twists, and you get vines facing in all directions. In a cool year south-facing vineyards might do best. In 2018 it was often the east-facing ones that were happiest; and those in the Douro Superior, too, the region furthest up the valley, where Spain lies just on the horizon. Of the valley's many grape varieties, Touriga Franca emerged with lovely aromas and freshness; Touriga Nacional, too. Sousão added useful acidity, as did Alicante Bouschet.
Style-wise, 2018 sits neatly between the tight linearity of 2016 and the opulence of 2017. Most releases are single-quinta wines, with Taylor’s and Sandeman the only classic names, but 2016 and 2017 saw a lot of classic releases, so we're not deprived of choice. In 2018, look for violet-scented Quinta do Romaneira, probably the best release ever from this historic quinta; Quinta do Noval, more spacious, very alive; Quinta da Gricha from Churchill's, north-facing, all sleek blackberry fruit and a dry finish; Quinto do Vesuvio, sappy, cool and fresh, vibrant and vivid; Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira from Dow's, more muscular, deeper and darker; pretty, elegant Sandeman and supple, black-fruited Quinta do Crasto. The Fladgate Partnership has also released Guimaraens and Quinta da Roeda, and Quinta do Vale Meão is releasing a 2018, but I haven't tasted them. Symingtons will release Quinta dos Malvedos from Graham's, Quinta do Bomfim from Dow's, Quinta da Cavadinha from Warre's and Quinta dos Canais from Cockburn's, but later; they're not available en primeur.
Attainable rarity
Quantities are not high: looked at invididually, these wines are rare. There are 960 cases of Vesuvio, which represents 3 percent of the production of the quinta; 550 cases of Romaneira, which is 7 percent of the quinta's production; about 500 cases of Gricha. So we're talking about rigorous selection of the best barrels of the best parcels at the best properties. Which begs the question: why aren't these wines sought-after as investment wines? Why aren't the collectors who bully their wine merchants over their allocations of Grand Cru Burgundy and First Growth Bordeaux also stamping their feet over these?
Maybe they are, a bit: these wines will sell out, no question. If you were to cellar them for 20 years you might well sell them at a reasonable profit. But in the end, the reason why Vintage Port keeps not becoming the investment wine that its quality seems to warrant, is simply that not enough people are drinking it. Burgundy is made in small quantities but everybody wants it; top Bordeaux is made in large quantities and even more people want it. Vintage Port is available more frequently than it used to be, now that most years see some released, but quantities have been cut, partly because of stricter selection and partly to reflect demand.
Which means that, for most of us, it's an opportunity. But we need to forget everything we ever heard about it. Yes, you can age it for 10 or 15 years and it will be wonderful. Most traditional drinkers of Port prefer it like that. (Rupert Symington describes young Vintage Port as "like 100 people in a room, all screaming".) But if you put it in the fridge right now, while it's young, for half an hour and have a glass on a warm evening you will be amazed.
Yes, those 100 people are all chattering away, all wanting their say; so just sit back and let them talk. It's the nearest most of us will get to a party for a while yet.
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June 27, 2020 at 07:00AM
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Who Will Drink the Latest Vintage Ports? - Wine-Searcher
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