Last week at our Dutch importer Okhuysen’s annual warehouse pre-holiday tasting our 2011 Vintage Porto and 2011 Vintage Porto Savedra attracted serious attention. For obvious reason: Vintage Port (or Porto) 2011 is considered the best since 20 years by many Port authorities. Tasters held their glass for a small pour, eyes lit up in delight over the dark purple inky color and upon tasting their eyes gazed upward to the left, a sign of processing information and, in this case, of our Vintage 2011 or Vintage 2011 Savedra's sublime qualities.
Judging by the intense color in the glass, one knows that the mouth feel will have weight and rich flavor. Blackberry and black cherry jam flavors together with the Douro soil’s schist minerality and rich tannins in the mouth, and native wild rockrose cistus in the nose are the initial descriptors for this young fortified wine. Powerful, complex and gripping, yet with balance and length, these are beautiful Vintage Ports.
Bloomberg’s wine writer Ellin McCoy wrote in 2013 that “collectors whining about Bordeaux prices have an excellent alternative: the 2011 Vintage Ports”.
Highly respected Port expert Mark Squire from The Wine Advocate, wrote recently about our Vintage Port 2011 Savedra “10% Touriga Nacional together with its old vines field blend (65+ years) … built for the long haul, with concentration and structure (and) beautiful fruit, but also the potential to age well.” 93 points!
Question: when to drink this Vintage? According to Vincent “enjoy when young after 5 years (2016) to 105 years (2116), avoiding "Vintage Port's "awkward adolescence" from 10 - 17 years (2021-2028). Human aging studies point out that we will live longer, up to 120 years, so here is a wine that can accompany you for years to come”.
Oh, that French humor…~