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Vintage Port
Vintage Port is port from a single exceptional vintage, which ages on in bottle after two years in cask. A house declares a vintage only in years good enough for it; the wine is bottled unfiltered and therefore throws a deposit.
Our range includes Vintage Ports by producers including Taylor's, Graham's, Fonseca, Quinta do Noval, Niepoort and Dow's. If you would like to explore Portugal further, you will also find Colheita Port and Tawny Port in our range.
What is Vintage Port
Vintage Port is the most prestigious style of port, a fortified wine from the Douro in Portugal. It is made from the grapes of a single exceptional vintage, which a port producer declares as such itself. This does not happen every year, but only when the quality is exceptional. The wine is dark, intense, full and sweet, with aromas of blackcurrant, plums, violets, chocolate and spices. During fermentation grape spirit is added, so that part of the natural grape sugar is retained.
Ageing in the bottle
What is special about Vintage Port is that it spends only a short time in wooden casks and then continues to develop in the bottle. The wine is usually not filtered, so sediment forms in the bottle. It is therefore important to stand the bottle upright before opening and to decant the wine. Over the years the wine changes from young and powerful to softer, more complex and richer in notes of dried fruit, tobacco, leather and nuts. Good Vintage Port has a very long ageing potential.
Classification and rules
Port falls under the supervision of a Portuguese institute that oversees the rules for the Douro and port. Besides Vintage Port there are, among others, Ruby, Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) and tawny styles. Vintage Port differs from these categories in that it comes from a single vintage and is bottled early. A Colheita resembles Vintage in terms of vintage, but ages for a long time in wood; see Colheita Port.
Serving
Always decant Vintage Port: young bottles well before serving, old bottles briefly and carefully. Serve it at 16 to 18 °C in small glasses. Once opened, it is at its best within a few days. Traditionally it goes with blue cheese such as Stilton, nuts and dark chocolate, and with rich desserts. On its own after the meal it also makes a wonderful finale.
Producers in our range
These producers feature in our Vintage Port range: Taylor's (also Quinta de Vargellas), Graham's, Fonseca (also Guimaraens), Quinta do Noval, Niepoort (also Secundum), Dow's, Quinta do Vesuvio, Croft, Ferreira, Kopke, Krohn, Dalva, Gould Campbell, Quinta de la Rosa and Quinta do Castelinho.
Also in half bottles
Some of these Vintage Ports are also available in half bottles.
More from Portugal
You will find more wines from Portugal under Colheita Port and Tawny Port.