Vintage Port is one of the world’s great wines. It’s also relatively affordable compared with other great wines. But there’s an even better bargain in single-quinta Ports from shoulder vintages – those that might have been declared had they not been adjacent to already-declared years.
2008 was a really good vintage in the Douro, but most if not all Port houses won’t declare it. So smart punters opt for the single-quinta Ports. I haven’t tried the Symington family single-quintas, but I have tried (and drunk) the Taylor Fladgate single quintas, and they are brilliant.
You can read my full notes here. I particularly liked Taylor’s Quinta de Terra Feita. But they were all good.
As an aside, I wonder if we will see a breakdown in the future between vintage years and single-quinta years. Many producers are now making Port every year.
Find these Ports with wine-searcher.com
1 Comment on Some superb single-quinta Ports
Jamie – recently I have also been enjoying some older single quinta ports from the 1980s. Until now I has gone under the impression that single-quintas were made in a less age-worth style than vintage ports, but the bottles I have enjoyed have been so fresh and primary that I have come to re-evaluate this.
Given the crazy appreciation of the prices for 2007 port, I’m wondering if the drinkers amongst us (as opposed to investors) are mugs for focusing on the declared vintages rather than the single-quintas. How different in style do you think these wines are compared to the declared vintages? Are they essentially the same wine?