Vintage port is not merely the port produced in a particular year. A vintage is "declared" only in years when the vintage is outstanding and the wines have exceptional long term aging potential. For top port houses, declarations have typically occurred about three times a decade. In the last 12 vintages, however, Mother Nature has been in an especially chipper mood, giving us five great declared vintages: 2000, 2003, 2007, 2009 and now the outstanding 2011. Neal Martin, wine critic for The Wine Advocate, says "… overall, the 2011s justify the hype that has fomented around their release. Collectively they form a delightful, occasionally profound set of young Ports with glistening futures ahead." Jancis Robinson, a Master of Wine and a world-renowned wine critic, says, "The quality of the best examples, of which there are many, is truly outstanding."
Earlier this year, in June, we were honored to have Robert Bower from the Taylor Fladgate Partnership, 8th generation of the Yeatman family, in town to pour for a few of our lucky customers the soon-to-be released 2011 Ports from Taylor, Fonseca and Croft. The wines were still a few weeks from being bottled so we were among the first people in the U.S. to try these delicious young Port samples. They did not disappoint. Rich and powerful, these wines will last a long, long time. In fact, most vintage ports are at their best after 15 to 25 years of aging, and can continue to give pleasure long after that — which is why they are so appropriate for laying down for one's children or grandchildren. Yet, as Robert explained to us, today's vintage ports are much more approachable and enjoyable at a younger age than the vintage ports of a generation ago, thanks to the ability of port houses to now use higher quality distilled spirits in their vintage port, making for much less aggressive tannins. Their spirits happen to come from the Cognac region. Vintage port is also treasured for its rarity. Barely 3% of total port production becomes vintage port. In addition to high quality, the 2011 vintage will be remembered in Portugal's Douro Valley as a difficult growing season, marked by hailstorms in May and June followed by a dry, hot summer. Jancis Robinson said, "There is a real sense of wine producers' having risen to the occasion of a growing season that could have been pretty ordinary but was decidedly extraordinary in the end." As a result, while the quality is off the charts, quantities available will be much smaller than that of preceding declared vintages. |
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