Cellar Favorite: 1966 Dow’s Vintage Port
Portugal, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites
, Jan 2020
Nineteen sixty-six has long been an undervalued year for Port, especially given the across-the-board quality of the wines, many of which can stand toe-to-toe with their 1963 siblings.
Madeira: Fortified for All Occasions
Portugal, featured
, Oct 2019
Following my look at ancient Madeira earlier this year, we shift the focus towards younger Madeira and more recent bottlings, many of which offer great value together with the joy that this fortified wine can bring.
Cellar Favorite: MCDXIX, The Winemaker’s Selection Madeira – Blandy’s
Portugal, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites
, Sep 2019
This year marks 600 years since the discovery and settlement of the island of Madeira in 1419. To celebrate, Blandy’s is releasing a special blend called “MCDXIX, The Winemaker’s Selection.”
An Ineluctable Pair: 2017 Vintage Ports
Portugal, featured
, Jun 2019
General Declarations of Vintage Port tend to be spread three or four per decade and never successively. But hot on the heels of the fêted 2016 arrive their 2017 counterparts. What kind of growing season prompted this unprecedented move and do these latest releases offer something different?
Cellar Favorite: 2005 and 2013 Quinta do Noval: The Latest Releases
Portugal, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites
, Apr 2019
Quinta do Noval recently released two new bottlings, their fifth Colheita Tawny Port since Christian Seely became managing director, following 1995, 1997, 2000 and 2003, plus a new Late Bottled Vintage.
Hurdling Over Time: 19th-Century Madeira
Portugal, featured
, Feb 2019
In 2019 Madeira celebrates 600 years as a populated island. This report examines the history of Madeira wine and why its apparent agelessness. Focused on a momentous tasting of 19th-century Terrantez and augmented by additional notes, with a combined bottle age of 6,000 years, it is a veritable journey through time.
Port Is For Life: Symington Vintage & Tawny Ports
Portugal, Verticals & Retrospectives, featured, Fortified Wines & Spirits, Fortified Wines & Spirits
, Dec 2018
“Port is for life, not just for Christmas.” True, though I am sure sales figures would confirm that more bottles of port, in all its multifarious forms - Vintage, Ruby, Tawny, Single Quinta, Colheita, White or Crusted - are ceremoniously passed to the left over the festive period than at any other time of the year. So it would be remiss of me not to offer Vinous readers an early Christmas present in the shape of a port-themed article.
Vintage Port – The 2016 Declaration
Portugal, featured, Fortified Wines & Spirits
, Jun 2018
One of the highlights of any year is the rare instance in which the major Port houses come together in unison around St. George’s Day to declare. Unlike Bordeaux, where you have barely recovered from the last primeur when the next one arrives, general Port declarations tend to arise approximately three times per decade, thereby avoiding fatigue. So, whilst the dazzling 2011 Vintage Ports remain fresh in my mind, the 2016s arrive at a time when I am ready for more.
Cellar Favorite: 1948 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port
Portugal, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, Fortified Wines & Spirits
, May 2018
There is Vintage Port and then there is the 1948 Taylor Fladgate. It remains a monumental Port that towers over the 20th century. Nineteen forty-eight is perhaps one of the lesser-known declarations compared to 1945 and 1963, although nine houses declared that year. Michael Broadbent described that as an “error of judgment” given the quality of the vintage in retrospect. I have been fortunate to taste the 1948 Taylors on several occasions, encountering one or two perfect bottles along the way. “Christopher & Co” bottled my most recent encounter in 1950, British merchants bottling a lion’s share of production in those days.
Cellar Favorite: Blandy’s Madeira – Recent Releases
Portugal, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, featured
, Mar 2018
My love affair with Madeira began whilst holidaying on the namesake Atlantic volcanic island in 2003, where in a pique of curiosity I ordered a 1927 Bual. Afterwards I understood why those with good taste revere this profound, time-buckling, ethereal and enigmatic wine. Madeira is so unfashionable it is the epitome of cool. These are the latest releases from Blandy's.