Douro Wine

Juicy, with still-youthful plum, cherry and blackberry compote flavors, flanked by hints of ganache, licorice and bramble, which keep the finish lively. Drink now through 2023. — JM

The 2016 Vintage Port is a field blend originally seen about a week before bottling. It comes in with 104 grams of residual sugar. Not a lot has changed except that it seems even more approachable and much better balanced now.... Read More

Always a delicious and very good Port. Lovely aromas of strawberry, currant and spice, with a hint of flowers. Medium-bodied, with a sweet and balanced palate. Silky and fine.--Dow vertical. Drink now. -JS

Always very good, with wonderful spice, cherry and berry character and hints of raisin and chocolate. Medium-bodied and sweet, with a long, silky finish.--Dow vertical. Drink now. -JS

This is an extraordinary house that seems to have been particularly successful with its vintage port since 1977.The 1977, still a baby, is fabulously scented, very rich and concentrated, and has a potential longevity of at least... Read More

This is an extraordinary house that seems to have been particularly successful with its vintage port since 1977.The 1983 is rich, concentrated, very fruity, and magnificently perfumed, suggesting that it is going to mature early,... Read More

This is an extraordinary house that seems to have been particularly successful with its vintage port since 1977.The 1985 is dark-ruby/purple with a rather closed one-dimensional aroma. On the palate, this Dow is restrained, but... Read More

The 1994 Vintage Port is set for re-release. It has about 92 grams per liter of residual sugar. It's a beauty, with all that Dow power and structure that I've loved over the years--even after some hours of decanting. Intensely... Read More

The 2016 Vintage Port, bottled in May for release in October 2018, is mostly a 48/31 blend of Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional, with various other grapes and some very old vines for the rest. It comes in with 111 grams of residual... Read More

The 2016 Vintage Port, bottled in May for release in October 2018, is mostly a 48/31 blend of Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional, with various other grapes and some very old vines for the rest. It comes in with 111 grams of residual... Read More

This example was bottled in Porto and remained in the house's bin until this tasting. The 1963 Vintage Port has a dark russet color. The nose is beautifully defined, perhaps this particular bottle less exuberant than other... Read More

Tasted at the Vintners Company's 650th anniversary celebration at Vintners Hall, the Fonseca 1970 was the finest bottle I have encountered. The bouquet opens beautifully with heady scents of clove, ginger, small red cherries,... Read More

Fonseca is one of the great port lodges, producing the most exotic and most complex port. If Fonseca lacks the sheer weight and power of a Taylor, Dow or Warre, or the opulent sweetness and intensity of a Graham, it excels in... Read More

One of the most spectacular 1994s, this opaque purple-colored wine is an exotic, flamboyant, ostentatious port. Extremely fragrant and pungent, with a flashy display of jammy cassis, pepper, licorice, and truffles, this port is... Read More

Dense ruby/purple-colored, with an exotic, exuberant perfume of black fruits, flowers, incense, and licorice, this unctuously-textured, full-bodied port is one of the most concentrated of the vintage. Sweet, expansive, and succulent,... Read More

The Fonseca 2011 is typically more forthcoming on the nose compared to the bashful Croft: a strident bouquet with lifted scents of freshly picked blackberries, kirsch, crushed stone and a dash of Hoi Sin and oyster sauce. It is... Read More

The 2016 Vintage Port is a field blend sourced from the typical three Quintas (Panascal in the Tavora Valley and Quinta do Cruzeiro and Quinta de St Antonio in the Pinhão Valley). This was not quite bottled when first seen (set... Read More

The 2016 Vintage Port is a field blend sourced from the typical three Quintas (Panascal in the Tavora Valley and Quinta do Cruzeiro and Quinta de St Antonio in the Pinhão Valley). This was not quite bottled when first seen (set... Read More