The Toronto Vintners Club

Vintage Ports - October 20, 2009

Guest Speaker: Alan Gardner, Director of Winetasters

Notes on the Wines

How the Wine Were Ranked

Vintage port was a cult wine long before the fashionable wines of Italy, France, Spain or the New World attracted the attention of wine enthusiasts. Since the 18th century, British drinkers sourced their wines from Portugal, following the deterioration in relations between Britain and France. The firm red wines of the Douro region were bolstered up and protected with brandy before the sea journey north, and thus Port as a wine style was born. Brandy is added prior to the natural cessation of fermentation so the wine is always sweet, as the addition of strong alcohol kills the yeast converting the sugar into alcohol. The eventual alcohol content is still high, however, thanks to the brandy that has been added. Only grapes, grown on a particular terroir, can produce such a wealth of aromatic substance, such an incomparable concentration of fruity sweetness, balanced by a restrained acidity and unrelentingly full, firm tannins.

Port vintages are declared depending on the quality of the vintage, some houses declaring much more frequently than others. In general, though, a vintage is declared about three times a decade. A declared vintage means that the Port house feels the wine is of the necessary quality to age well in a bottle. The wines spend up to two years in oak and then do the rest of their aging in bottle. They may need upwards of fifteen years or more before being ready to drink and may last for decades more. This is the finest quality level of Port.

We will taste Vintage Ports spanning a period of 22 years, 1978 to 2000, and from five distinguished quintas (port houses) all established in the late 1600’s and early 1700’s. Gould Campbell, Quarles Harris, Smith Woodhouse and Warre’s are all owned by Symington Family Estates now whose port-making expertise dates back to the late 1800’s and is one of the few solely owned family-run estates in the world. The Symington family is a member of the exclusive Primum Familiae Vini, a grouping of eleven leading wine families in the world. Fellow members are Antinori, Joseph Drouhin, Egon Muller Scharzhof, Hugel, the Perrins of Beaucastel, Mouton Rothschild, Pol Roger, Sassicaia, Torres, and Vega Sicilia. The criteria for this highly prestigious association is simple; all members have to be entirely family-owned and they must have been for many years amongst the finest producers of their respective wine regions, with an outstanding international reputation. 

The Delaforces are an old family of Huguenot origin, tracing its history back over 700 years to1834. Between 1894 and 1906 the company was distinguished with a warrant as supplier of port wine to the Portuguese Royal Household. The house is celebrated for the elegant and finely-constituted vintage ports produced from grapes grown in the Roncão and Rio Torto areas of the Douro. Today, Delaforce is owned and run by Real Companhia Velha, which has over 250 years of existence and uninterrupted port producing expertise. Finally, our oldest port in the tasting is a ‘78 Hutcheson Colheita originating from Caves Calem, established in 1859.

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The Wines

1978 Hutcheson Colheita Port (Producer: Hutcheson, Feuerheerd & Assoc.) $89
Colheita Ports are aged for a minumum of seven years before bottling. The theory is that the wines do all their maturation in barrel so that when bottled they are ready to drink. This one spent an incredible 30 years in barrel! The layers of dried fruit, smoky oak and incredible smoothness is apparent from the first whiff and sip. A perfect gift for that 30th anniversary or birthday.

1980 Gould Campbell Vintage Port (Producer: Vintage And Fine Wine International) $89
Opaque ruby with hint of garnet on the rim. Aromas of black and blue fruit, blackberry, prune preserve and currant jam with a floral note and powdered stone element as well. This is still well structured with a good tannic grip. The palate replays what the nose promised with marvellous intensity and a long finish. Impressively youthful for a 28-year-old wine and there's potentially at least as much life left in it. (Igor Ryjenkov, MW, VINTAGES, Sept. 2008)

1983 Quarles Harris Vintage Port (Producer: Quarles Harris & Co.) $79
Closed and brooding nose, with underlying intensity. Big palate; tough and tight, well structured, with lovely mint fruit; powerful; a classic. Score - 5 Stars (out of 5). (Richard Mayson, Decanter, Feb. 2000)

1985 Warre's Vintage Port (Producer: Vintage And Fine Wine International) $79
Ruby-colored, with grape, dark chocolate and plum. Full and chewy. Tannins are still there and need to mellow. Medium-sweet and grapey. A little one-dimensional still, but impressive. '77/'85/'97 blind Port retrospective. Drink now. Score - 91. (James Suckling, www.winespectator.com, 2008)

1991 Warre's Vintage Port (Producer: Vintage And Fine Wine International) $75
Raisiny and very sweet, with plum and prune aromas and flavors. Medium- to full-bodied, with a slightly hot finish, but should come around nicely. '91/'92 Port retrospective. Drink now through 2014. Score - 90. (James Suckling, www.winespectator.com, May 31, 2005)

1994 Warre's Vintage Port (Producer: Vintage And Fine Wine International) $89
Gold Medal - International Wine Challenge 2003. This Port was ranked no.15 on Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines list of 1997.  A great surprise for the vintage. Displays fabulous concentration and complex character with it's layers of very sweet fruit, chocolate and cherry aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, with velvety tannins. Long finish with plenty of grip. Beautiful wine. Best after 2008. Score - 95. (James Suckling, www.winespectator.com, April 30, 1997)

1997 Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port (Producer: Smith Woodhouse & C.A, L.Da)  $84
'Blackberry, violet and dried flower. Light coffee. Full-bodied, rich yet seamless and balanced. Medium-sweet, with a long, long finish. Very beautiful. Even better than I remember. Will improve for decades, but ready.' Score - 92. (James Suckling, www.winespectator.com, Web Only 2008)

2000 Delaforce Vintage Port 2000 (Producer: Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman) $98
Made in a sweet, open-knit, precocious style, Delaforce's 2000 reveals a dense ruby/purple color as well as sweet, accessible black cherry/blackberry fruit with hints of smoke, earth, and truffles. This lush, medium to full-bodied, juicy, succulent effort will last for 15+ years. Score - 90. (Robert Parker Jr., www.erobertparker.com, Oct. 2002)

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How The Wines Ranked

Please check back after the tasting for the results.

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