1997 Fonseca Porto Vintage, Portugal, Douro, Wine Review

Decanted for about 6 hours prior to drinking. This is a good if not great declared vintage. Deep ruby in color. The nose has milk chocolate, cherries, and raspberries. Full bodied. On the palate, this is sweet with chocolate covered raisin notes. Very tasty. Some complexity. Solid finish. This is drinking very well now and should probably be consumed over the next decade though it will certainly have something ot offer after that. Drinks well on its own, it would work well with a chocolate cake.

Grade:

Score:

Vintage:

1997

Current Price:

$75.00USD

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1997 Fonseca Porto Vintage, Portugal, Wine Review

Vintage:

1997

Score:

Grade:

A-

Current Price:

$65.00USD

A bit lighter in style than say the '94 or '00 vintages, but drinking well nevertheless. Inky purple in color, ruby at the rim. The nose has black raspberries and chocolate covered raisins. Medium to full bodied. Good acidity. On the palate, slightly sweet chocolate covered cherries. There is a nice depth and complexity. Drink over the next ten years. A nice match with a chocolate dessert.

2003 Fonseca Porto Vintage, Portugal, Douro, Wine Review

Vintage:

2003

Score:

Grade:

Current Price:

$80.00USD

Nice to revisit this. At age 19, this is still youthful but starting to show some refinement. Purple in color, ruby at the rim. The nose is great with chocolate covered raisins and some red raspberries. Lots of energy. Slightly viscous. On the palate, chocolate and raisins. Sweet, not cloying. Some heat on the finish. This should easily go another fifteen or twenty years. Great on its own or with some type of blue cheese.

Port Wine: Portugal's Douro Valley, Making Port Wine & the History of Port

Port is a fortified wine from the remote vineyards in Portugal's Douro Valley. Here, in the Douro Valley, time has almost stood still. You will not find the latest wine making techniques and fancy equipment. Instead, you will find a wine industry much the way it was over a hundred years ago. Yet, in spite of it, or because of it, vintage Port is one of the world's greatest wines. Port takes its name from the city of Oporto that is situated at the mouth of the 560-mile long Rio Douro or River of Gold. Although many port-style wines are made around the world – most notably Australia, South Africa and the United States – the strict usage of the terms Port or Porto refer only to wines produced in Portugal. It is these wines that we will explore here.

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1994 Graham Porto Vintage, Portugal, Douro, Wine Review

Vintage:

1994

Score:

Grade:

Current Price:

$120.00USD

Stood the bottle up for a couple of weeks. Decanted for sediment and immediately served. Purple/black in color, opaque and bright. The nose is great with chocolate covered raisins, slight raspberries and a hint of gravel. Full bodied. Lightly sweet. Complex and deep. On the palate, this is delicious. Chocolate, raspberries and slight cherries. Some heat on the long finish. This is great on its own or would be nice with a chocolate dessert. Drink over the next decade or so.

Aging Wine Part III: Case Closed

Any regular readers of this column know that my wife, Emily, is pregnant with our first child. Upon hearing this news in June, I promptly began preparing to lay down a case of wine to enjoy with my unborn son 25 years down the road. Two months ago , I wrote about the process of aging wine – how to select it, where to store it, when to drink it, and so forth. Last month I delved into the all-important question of which wines are worth aging by cataloguing five of the wine categories that made their way into the mixed case I put together. This column finishes that project by reporting on the four remaining categories of wine I’ve chosen for my son’s case. In so doing, hopefully I’ll lend some help to others who are searching for wines to put away for a special occasion.

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1997 Fonseca Porto Vintage, Portugal, Douro, Wine Review

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1997 Fonseca Porto Vintage, Portugal, Wine Review

2003 Fonseca Porto Vintage, Portugal, Douro, Wine Review

Port Wine: Portugal's Douro Valley, Making Port Wine & the History of Port

1994 Graham Porto Vintage, Portugal, Douro, Wine Review

Aging Wine Part III: Case Closed