Sandeman’s robotic lagare illustrates the technological advances made by Port producers, yet much of the winemaking process remains remarkably old-fashioned, as evidenced by this gathering of the grapes.
Vintage Port in the 21st centuryBy Todd M. Wernstrom & Lyn FarmerThese are tumultuous times in the wine world. Battles rage between the "terroiristas" in France, Italy and Spain, and the proponents of barriques; the words "super" and "cult" are attached to high-priced - and often indistinguishable - wines formulated by consultants who rack up more frequent-flier miles than steps in the vineyards; and native varieties struggle against foreign interlopers. And these are just a few examples of the theaters of action. But for all this Mondovino-esque hand- wringing, Vintage Port, the Douro's enduring sweet wine, has somehow managed to avoid the fray. Or at least it has remained far enough afield from the main conflicts, enabling it to quietly mature into what many believe is the best version of this majestic, purple-black powerhouse in its illustrious history. So quietly, in fact, that there is more ink accorded to Portugal's resurgent dry wines these days.
Among Port producers, the consensus is that "there is probably more Vintage Port being consumed now than ever if you include older vintages and all the younger Single Quintas that are now in the marketplace," says Rupert Symington, the joint managing director of Symington Family Estates, a collection of notable Port houses including Graham, Dow, Warre and others. And it's not just the Port makers themselves who believe that the market for vintage wines is strong. According to Joanna Delaforce (whose surname resonates in the Douro), Port and Madeira brand manager for Mentzendorrf, one of the U.K.'s top wine distributors, "The premium wines are selling just as well as ever, and the new brands, too."
What is perhaps most remarkable about the strength of the state of the market is that Vintage Port, like many (if not all) high-end wines, has had to rapidly adjust to the realities of a 21st-century marketplace that bears little (if any) resemblance to the staid, traditional market many still associate with this gentleman's drink. "The new economy is the new consumer," says Bartholomew Broadbent, who with his father, Michael, the renowned head of Christie's International Wine Department, created an eponymous Port label and owns the family's Broadbent Selections, the importer of Ferreira and Quinta do Crasto, among others.
In interviews with a number of Port leaders whose companies own or control some of the most storied houses in the Douro, they radiate a quiet confidence that the vintage wines were well positioned not only in the U.S. and the U.K., the most important markets for them, but also the world. At the same time, they never gave the sense that it was time for them to sit back and revel in their successes. After all, as summed up by George Sandeman, the eldest son of the seventh generation to work in the family business, "The trends in today's market create some challenges to 'traditional' Vintage Port. If the trade does not want to age the wines due to space and inventory costs; if there are fewer collectors - and most of us don't even have cellars - there will be a limited amount of mature Vintage Port around. Combine this with the trend of drinking young, big, fruity wines and the picture could be somewhat grim."
Rather than focus on the difficulties presented in selling a wine long connected to the clubs and boardrooms of London's elite, however, the producers have reached out to consumers who not only don't know the direction that Port lore requires the decanter be passed (to the left), but who most certainly wouldn't care to know. Broadbent says that, "American consumers became big buyers in the 1980s (in the '70s, the American consumer mirrored the traditional English Vintage Port consumer). The demographics were changed by promoting wine to non-traditional consumers. From 1985 to 1992, I saw the Vintage Port consumer go from being only old men to including women in their 20s. It changed that quickly. During that time, Americans became the biggest consumers of Vintage Port. The market had expanded, [though] the traditional consumer had not disappeared." Echoing Broadbent's sense of the new consumer, Rupert Symington adds, "We are quite sure that those buying Vintage Port today are more likely to be young professionals than crusty colonels!"
Vintage Port, because of its relatively high alcohol level and great extraction, seems propitiously positioned for the new consumer - and the producers know it. Adrian Bridge, the managing director of an enviable group of houses that includes Taylor Fladgate and Fonseca, as well as the resurgent Croft and Delaforce, could be channeling his brethren when he says, "What has changed is that as an industry we no longer tell people that they cannot drink Vintage Port young. Much of the world of wine is, after all, heading toward Port. Young reds from around the world seem to have bigger, riper fruit, and many winemakers are trying to push the alcohol levels - a 15 percent Australian Shiraz is not news. Consumers do like [this style of wine] and so are drinking Vintage Port young." A confluence of events, some causally related, others more tenuously so, allows Symington - though the quote could have come from any of them - to unabashedly state, "Our Vintage Ports today are, without doubt, better than ever, with the added advantage of being more attractive when young…We have every confidence that they will stand up just as well over time as the best of the famous wines of the early 20th century which are still great today."
The recently released 2003s, the first consensus vintage declaration since the 2000, have done nothing to dampen this industry-wide enthusiasm. "The 2003s have been selling very well around the world," Bridge says, adding information that would no doubt reassure the landed gentry segment of the market. "All the 2003s were very tough and closed at the outset with dense tannins; we found in the blending process that we often had to leave them open for a day for the nose to really show through. This was particularly true with the Taylor Fladgate where the levels of complexity are such that it needs the air to open up," Bridge continues. The "stuffing" of yesteryear coupled with the fruit of today result in a "style of Vintage Port that can attract the traditional consumer, as well as the new consumer who is fond of full, concentrated, soft wines," says João Rosas Nicolau de Almeida, winemaker and managing director of the family-owned Ramos Pinto house.
But what may be most intriguing about this new 21st-century Vintage Port is how closely it actually resembles its hallowed predecessors. According to Bridge, "It is fair to say that Vintage Port is more approachable when young now, [however], it has always been a drink that can be enjoyed at many stages of its life." The difference? "I think nothing has changed," Broadbent reasons, "except the availability of cask samples and young vintages. Think about it: Prior to 1985, how often did you taste cask samples of Vintage Port? I hazard to guess that the young Ports we were tasting were in bottle for about two or so years and therefore tasting closed, as they [still] do today. We never tasted Vintage Ports so young, so we don't remember them being unapproachable," he concludes.
There is a reason consumers were not getting the opportunity to taste these wines prior to them going into their "dumb" phase (an aging peculiarity shared with many high-end wines). "I think to get a good picture of what has happened, one has to look back a few years to when Vintage Port was essentially a U.K.-bottled fine wine," Symington offers. "Prior to 1970, most Vintage Port was not only bottled, but warehoused in the U.K. for several years until deemed mature."
George Sandeman adds, "Most newly released Vintage Port was purchased by large operators, such as the U.K. breweries, financial investors, university colleges, clubs and a few collectors…The breweries would often hold and mature these wines and then release them through their various channels - tied retailers, pubs, restaurants and wholesalers - as well as through auctions." It's not surprising, then, that consumers wouldn't get a first sniff of a bottle until a number of years after the "release," thus ensuring that the wine they bought - and dared to sample - was in the midst of a multiple-year hibernation.
That's not to say that modernity hasn't had an effect, too. Sandeman notes that, "Thirty years ago it was tough to find decent, drinkable wines at reasonable prices - it was safer to drink beer in many places. Better technology is making better wines." Improvements are not just limited to technology. "While the way we tread has not changed, the hygiene certainly has," Bridge says. "We also have heating and cooling systems for temperature control - something that only arrived in the 1980s. The whole process is better controlled and we pay a great deal of attention to each phase of the process. For us, the harvest starts with planting the vines," he continues. "Every stage is a challenge to do it better, and I believe that our company is at the top of the game because we pay attention to all of the processes."
All of which costs money. "We have invested a small fortune in Vintage Port-grade vineyards and wineries in the last 15 years," Symington confirms. But before anyone infers that the major producers are forsaking tradition and surrendering to New World trends, Symington adds, "Modern methods, and in particular the robotic lagares [troughs in which grapes are crushed by a machine that emulates foot-treading and in which the juice is automatically pumped over to aid extraction], are likely to produce softer tannins. We are definitely not deliberately 'Parkerizing' our wines for marketing purposes; they are just being made with more care and attention." Bridge concurs, asserting that the winemaking improvements are "not a deliberate attempt to alter the style. I think that you would find the great wines of Bordeaux are more approachable when younger as well." He seems to draw a clear distinction between giving lesser wines the New World treatment in order to make them appeal to the masses and the cleaning up of an already-great wine to accentuate its youthfulness, a quality previously unknown to its fans.
In something of an irony, the move toward clean and modern production techniques brought many houses back to following at least one very traditional aspect of the Vintage Port process. "Most of the best wines are made using treading in just the same way as they always have been," according to Joanna Delaforce. Explains Bridge, "Vintage Port still benefits from the better extraction caused by the human foot…Croft is an interesting story because it [the 2003] has been produced by us from grapes trodden by human feet. This is a return to the traditional method of production and the result is probably the best Croft since 1945. This is why we use 100 percent traditional methods for all our Vintage Port production - all our 2003s are foot trodden. That's not to say that the new technology we have developed is not producing good results; it's that we introduced the technology for a different purpose."
Surprisingly, there is much less agreement about the effect Portugal's entry into the EU has had on Vintage Port. It ranges from Sandeman's blunt statement that, "It hasn't had any impact on the making of Vintage Port," to Bridge's emphatic assessment that, "It made a profound difference to the Douro. Grant money became available to invest in new wineries and upgrade old ones. New roads, improved access and education made a difference. The Portuguese no longer left the Douro to work in France and Switzerland. It is the money for new technology, however, that has really helped," he continues, "and in the last 15 years the Douro has seen a boom in investments in new wineries - probably the biggest transformation in its history. This has boosted quality of all Ports." Somewhere in the middle may lie reality. Ramos Pinto's Almeida says, "I'm sure that the entry of Portugal into the EU didn't directly influence Vintage Port. Nevertheless, there has been a lot of development in our country - mainly in the interior regions - as well as a great change in attitudes and study in our universities that has contributed very much to our knowledge." Portugal also received subsidies from the EU and World Bank for the restructuring of its vineyards.
What is indisputable is that while wines were improving and money - regardless of its source - was being invested in vineyards and updated facilities, the workings of the Vintage Port market were undergoing a transformation that was nothing short of revolutionary. "During the 1980s and '90s, the U.K. wine trade went through a total change, with traditional merchants losing business to supermarkets," Symington explains. "Along with slimmer margins, they had no means to finance stocks of maturing Port. Hence, they cut back their new purchases and offered huge quantities of previous purchases of '77s, '83s, '85s and others at quite low prices to a series of brokers, who traded them on at a profit to the U.S. where consumers were just beginning to get a taste for Vintage Port as part of an overall fine wine consumption boom. Simultaneously," he continues, "U.K. demand for Vintage Port, as well as for most other high-end wines, started to fall off, with most wine purchases now made in supermarkets for consumption the same day, and at very low per-bottle average prices."
This shift at the merchant level filtered down to the consumer. As Sandeman notes, "It became less attractive to age Vintage Ports, and so customers started looking for alternatives - already mature Vintage Ports, Late Bottled Vintages and mature Single Quinta Ports. This combined with the trend towards young, full-bodied wines sparked by the New World, which reduced the appeal of laying down wines to age for all but a very select few, as well as the taste for the aged wines."
Symington completes the picture: "In terms of older wines, the supply out of London has now largely dried up, and prices have firmed accordingly, with some impact on demand. The same is true of classic Vintage Port shipped ex-Oporto, where wines older than ten years are on strict allocation with prices to match." The producers would all agree that the obvious benefit of this situation is the Vintage Port that consumers are seeing in restaurants tends toward the younger, more fruit-forward style that seems to be winning the day. Restaurateurs are no doubt pleased by the less labor-intensive serving requirements presented by newer releases as well.
By the early 1990s, everyone was left with little choice but to drink young Vintage Port. There were complications, however, as the new market matured to its place today. "Seeing the profitability and PR benefits of Vintage Port, shippers who never before offered one began to bottle wines from the '80s onward to try to get a slice of the action. Most traditional producers began simultaneously to offer wines in secondary years under Quinta labels. To share in the general euphoria, traditional grape growers in the Douro began to bottle wine under their own estate labels," Symington explains. This influx of vintage wines may not have saturated the market, but, at minimum, it has created more competition for the traditional players.
"The U.S. had become the largest Vintage Port market, with huge shipments both from Oporto and London of old and young wines alike. With the fame of the '94 Vintage, for the first time nearly every producer offered a '95 as well, creating a glut of young Port in the marketplace and also some confusion among consumers as to what exactly they should be buying," Symington continues. It seems that sometimes more is just more.
Sandeman says the reality of the market today is that, "There are still a limited number of institutions who buy newly released Vintage Port, such as colleges and clubs as well as some restaurants, hotels and a few collectors, but in much reduced numbers than before. The consumers who buy do so for a variety of reasons - anniversaries, birthdates or wedding dates. Others do so to collect a few bottles, but may well drink them after a few years. Then there are a greater number who buy to consume, either driven by the hype of the release or genuine interest, but they are likely to consume the wines quite young, figuring that they can't wait any longer."
So it does seem that willing buyers have gotten together with willing sellers, though there will always be bumps along the way. By way of example, Adrian Bridge discusses his experience with the 2000 vintage: "One has to remember that when we sold the 2000s in the summer of 2002 the trade was bullish, yet the consumer was concerned about the Iraq war, currency collapse in Argentina, SARS, terrorism in general; U.S. consumer confidence was at a major low and the dollar was dropping. In this environment, it's easy to see why the sales of 2000 were slow. The way that the U.S. distributors function meant that by the time things improved in 2003, they were on to the next story and the unsold part of 2000 sat in warehouses - to be revisited when the 2003s came along. Hence, a more cautious stand by them on orders, but selling to a customer base where consumer confidence is now at a high, the U.S. economy is doing well despite rising interest rates and the dollar has just had a very good rally."
Bridge's account is, in some ways, archetypal of Vintage Port's ability to morph in a manner that is favorable to the makers, sellers and consumers:
A difficulty was turned into, if not completely, a considerable success; consumers are now able to snap up the 2003s and buy 2000s for comparison at prices that can be considered cheap given the quality of the wines. Though there is little likelihood that the houses will get caught up in the excitement. Broadbent offers this oft-repeated caution: "I think the market is healthy, but Vintage Port is only in demand with the generally declared vintages. Off vintages are tough to sell."
None of this is academic either. Although Vintage Port is only a meager three percent of the Douro's fortified wine output, Sandeman says, "The financial contribution of Vintage Port has always been very significant to the bottom line, but the prestige value cannot be underestimated - it gives us an opportunity to talk about Port and its attributes with every launch, something that Champagne [another wine that has generally declared vintages only a few times a decade] does not have."
Bridge agrees, saying, "The economics of Vintage Port are good. We sell a young Vintage Port for about the same price as a 20-year-old Tawny, yet have not stocked it for anything like that amount of time. However, farming in the Douro is expensive and my calculations show that one of our grade A quintas needs to produce about 25 percent Vintage Port on average over the period of a decade to justify the costs of running it."
Some producers, Sandeman perhaps most openly, are consciously trying to hedge all bets by making a "classic" Vintage Port as well as a more "contemporary" style. Vau Vintage, the brainchild of George Sandeman, was created because, he says, "The trend tended towards drinking Vintage Port somewhat younger than in the '80s. It was with the development of this trend that we launched Vau Vintage as an offering of a young-drinking Vintage.
There are a couple of houses that produce young-drinking alternatives without overtly referring to them as contemporary." The main distinction between the two wines, he explains, is the significant use of touriga franca in Vau, as well as the selection of wines with softer, rounder tannins, which support the fruit-forward style. "I believe Vau Vintage is accomplishing its objectives…we are seeing an acceptance of the concept of 'classic' and 'contemporary' Vintage Ports, and they are actually being referred to as such in the press," Sandeman continues.
But, unlike in some other high-profile areas of the wine world, such as Barolo and Barbaresco in Italy, and the Rhône Valley in France, there is no interest in picking sides, or even in acknowledging the existence of differing points of view. "I don't think there are really old and new styles in Vintage Port, Symington says. "We are talking here of each producer selecting the best of what he can make, and although winemaking techniques differ, the difference in wines between top producers in terms of concentration, flavor and aromatics have as much to do with terroir as with winemaking style. What we see today among the top producers is an amazing amount of investment in making things better."
Sandeman, though, is a bit more willing to make a delineation: "When I started working in London in the '70s, we always had two types of Vintage Port: 'drinking' vintages and 'laying down' vintages. The former were vintages from good years which matured ahead of the latter ones which were from great years," he says. Vau can really be seen as just a variation on that theme.
Vintage Port drinkers can be thankful that the Douro's great producers had the good sense to adjust to the realities of their new market situation without being enmeshed in many of the complications that have befallen other high-profile wine regions. Ramos Pinto's Almeida aptly notes: "There has been a natural evolution, but Vintage Port's character, density, color, personality, terroir and soul are still there."
Tasting BAR
In an era of consolidation in all phases of the wine industry, Port follows the trend, but with an unusual twist. The two most influential groups of Port producers are both family-held firms with their roots very much in the British tradition that established Port as we know it today. Still, as Paul Symington points out, less than 30 percent of Port is now managed by British families; the Portuguese estates take the lead, at least in quantity. There are a few small firms that enjoy great success, a number of which are included here.
One further note: Up to now, many Port houses released vintage-dated wines from single quintas in years that were good but not great enough to be widely declared and thus produce a flagship wine. For that reason, the Single Quinta bottlings were often viewed in the marketplace as being something akin to a second label. After all, if the quinta is a component in a masterful blend, how could it be good enough on its own to rival a "true" Vintage Port? The 2003 vintage gives a clearer answer than any vintage in the past. And while a classic Vintage Port reflects a certain intentionally chosen house style, the Single Quinta wines are often more individual, and like single-vineyard wines from elsewhere in the wine world, they can be said to more closely capture the essence of a single year in that part of the world. Whether to release a number of Single Quintas, as the Symingtons have, or none at all as in the case of the Fladgate Partnership, there are significant pleasures in both types of wine in 2003. The following is a sampling of some of the best wines from an excellent vintage.
the fladgate partnership
This venerable company was founded in 1692, making it one of the oldest Port firms. Taylor was the first British firm to purchase vineyards in the Douro Valley. Long known as Taylor, Fladgate and Yeatman (Joseph Taylor joined the company in 1816, followed by John Fladgate in 1837 and Morgan Yeatman in 1844), it is now The Fladgate Partnership and owns not only Taylor, but also Fonseca, Delaforce (founded in 1868) and Croft (founded in 1678 and thus both the oldest house and the newest acquisition in the group).
Croft is a once-venerable name that in the 1980s became emblematic of the difficulties Port producers faced. Trading on its reputation, the wine became inconsistent and dilute. For those familiar with great Croft wines of the early and mid-20th century, including the legendary 1945 and 1947, there was a collective sigh of relief when the company was recently purchased by the Fladgate group. Here is a case of hopes realized: Fladgate returned Croft to treading grapes by foot, and Adrian Bridge notes that the 2003 is the first Croft since 1963 to be produced this way. The results are stunning and, given the firm's track record of quality control, there is every reason to believe Croft will return to its past glory.
Croft Vintage Port - $72: Deep purple color. A sweet, fragrant nose of plum, black currant and blackberry. Pure is an appropriate descriptor because the aromas and flavors are so sharply defined. In the mouth, the impression of crisp, fresh black fruit bolsters the entrancing aromas to make this the most impressive Croft in quite a long time. Score: 94
Delaforce Vintage Port - $58: Lovely blackberry, blueberry and raspberry fruit aromas augment an overwhelming impression of fruitiness that carries over to the palate, where only nuances of smoke and pepper intrude on the fruit that continues in the long, ripe finish. Score: 91
Fonseca Vintage Port - $92: Deep purple, nearly black in color. Opulent aromas of black fruit are given added depth and complexity with notes of cocoa, dark spices and herbs. In the mouth, the velvet texture makes a powerful first impression, quickly followed by the realization of just how stunning the balance of this wine is: massive but not at all heavy - the epitome of elegance and power. Just medium sweet, but utterly beguiling with white pepper, spices, coffee and black fruit lingering for an exceptional length of time in the finish. Score: 97
Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port - $92: The deep black-purple color is hardly unusual for this consistently high-performing wine, nor is the concentrated, almost reticent nose of leather, herbs, anise, white pepper and dark spices. Neither the color nor the nose, however, prepare the palate for the weight of this full-bodied wine. Among the biggest wines of the vintage, it is also among the most closed and unyielding at this point of its sure-to-be-long life. The fruit isn't nearly as evident as in the Fonseca, but the combination of firm acidity, tight structure and the deeply rooted flavors indicate a wine that needs time, but will eventually become one of the biggest stars of the vintage. Score: 95
symington family estates
It is unfair to make generalizations, but one can't help but compare and contrast Fladgate with the Symington group. Both are family controlled and have slowly acquired venerable properties over the years, each time dramatically raising the quality of those properties. Of the two groups, it is Symington that has tended to push hardest for technological change. Peter Symington, who recently retired as winemaker after 47 years (his son Charles now handles this task and made the 2003 vintage at each of the family's houses), pioneered the development of robotic lagares. The company is doing a significant amount of technological research in the vineyard, too - something of a novelty in tradition-bound Portugal. Within the Symington portfolio (which, in addition to the wines tasted here, also includes Quarles Harris and Gould Campbell), Graham is usually given the position of flagship wine, with the traditionally less-sweet Dow taking its place one notch down, not so much in quality as prestige. The Symingtons have been aggressive in developing and marketing several Single Quintas with stunning success, though the real story this decade may turn out to be the slow but inexorable emergence from the shadows of Warre.
Dow Vintage Port - $83: Dense yet very bright and vivid ruby-purple color. A bit spirity on the nose at first, but then beautiful, spicy black fruit emerges along with a lovely, almost floral impression backed by smoky herbs. Crisp acidity gives the wine great structure on the palate - Dow usually carries an impression of less sweetness than Graham, and in this vintage that medium sweetness is perfectly
balanced with both acidity and a stony minerality. All in all, this Dow has exceptional balance, the sort of urgent restraint that can win over wine lovers who think Port, and young Vintage Port especially, is sweet. This is an exceptionally appealing wine. Score: 96
Graham Vintage Port - $100: Bright garnet color with a saturated purple edge (purple is common in these young Ports, but few have the saturation of this Graham). The nose is similarly shaded with aromas of violets, black cherry, black currant and blackberry behind a bit of youthful alcoholic heat. In the mouth, the black fruit flavors are concentrated and carry forward with impressive intensity and sweetness to a very long finish. Score: 96
Quinta de Roriz Vintage Port - $57: Roriz is the newest quinta in the Symington portfolio. A shy nose of heather and black fruit are in lovely balance with dark spices. Nimble and elegant on the palate, almost delicate with its medium weight and medium sweetness, but as the finish stretches out, the lasting impression is of how juicy the wine is - the sign of a great young Port- and Roriz accomplishes this elegantly. Score: 94
Quinta do Vesuvio Vintage Port - $78: Vivid is a good word for Vesuvio - from its deep purple color that borders on blackness to a nose that is, for a young Port, explosive and intense. Unlike many of the just-released Ports from this vintage, there is nothing closed about Vesuvio. It is opulent in aroma and structure, yet elegant and lithe on the palate, showing not only the expected black fruit notes of plum and black cherry, but a lively hint of blueberry and vibrant red fruit qualities reminiscent of raspberry as well. At the end of the glass (which comes all too soon), the impression that lingers as long as the exceptional finish is how balanced this wine is. Vesuvio is long lived to be sure, but its lush pleasures are better tuned for earlier consumption (say, 10 to 20 years) than the more brooding quality of the Dow that will clearly last for many decades. Score: 96
Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port - $60: A lovely floral note is the first impression on the bouquet of this understated wine that then develops subtle notes of anise and violets. More forward on the palate than the nose, with lovely, concentrated, persistent blackberry fruit with black pepper and a garrigue-like quality - that almost floral herbaceous note that develops in the background of great Rhône wines. Smith Woodhouse is a bit lighter than the other Symington wines, but that shouldn't imply that it lacks structure; rather, the herbal dryness is currently more prominent than any overt sweetness. Score: 93
Warre Vintage Port - $82: Even among all the purple glasses, this wine stands out with a brilliant and exceptionally deep color. The aroma has a shimmering intensity with loads of blackberry, spice and cocoa notes. In the mouth, it's the viscosity that first grabs the attention before the massive fruit cascades across the palate. Even with its rich density and texture, the wine maintains an admirable balance of sweet fruit, crisp acidity and ripe tannins. The finish is very long with a lovely accent of black pepper perking up the fruit. An absolutely delicious wine. Score: 94
broadbent selections
Bartholomew Broadbent began his wine import firm after long experience in the wine trade - well, relatively long because he is still a young man, and appears even younger, testimony to the English belief that Port is an excellent preservative. He gained significant experience with Port and Madeira by working for many years as the U.S. representative of the Symington group. Broadbent is of the same generation as many of the most dynamic producers in Port (most of the Symington cousins now running the family firm, Adrian Bridge at Fladgate, João Almeida at Ramos Pinto and Dirk van der Niepoort at his family's eponymous Port house). He is, however, something of an outsider with an insider's view because he doesn't own a Port house in the traditional sense, but acts more as a négociant. His family's Port is made by Niepoort to the Broadbents' specifications.
It's impossible to discuss the Broadbent name without mention of Bartholomew's father, Michael, the longtime head of Christie's wine department in London and one of the most influential and precise wine tasters of our time, but the elder Broadbent's involvement in the company is more as mentor than active participant.
Broadbent Vintage Port 2003 - $86: Beautiful deep purple color. A sweet nose of crushed black fruit laced with a captivating smoky hint of candle wax. A bit hot on the palate, but it mellows with black pepper emerging alongside the lively black fruit. The flavors are very long, and are rich and elegant without being fruity to the point of jamminess thanks to an emerging sour cherry note. Score: 93
churchill
Churchill is an unusual house in many ways, not the least of which is the fact it was founded in 1981 by Johnny Graham, whose family once controlled the eponymous house that was sold in 1970 and today is the flagship of the Symington group. The firm has had a stunning rise given that it has only existed for 25 years. Graham entered the business in 1973 as an apprentice at Cockburn and by 1980 was a director of the firm. The determination that led him to create his own firm against all the odds of this tradition-bound business (Churchill is the first independent Port house created in more than 70 years) have made his Ports better with every vintage.
Churchill Vintage Port - $94: A bit closed now and noticeably spirity on the nose with very subdued fruit. With time, the nose develops bright black fruit aromas. On the palate it is a bit diffuse - not as concentrated as some in this vintage, but still quite lovely with the very firm tannins that show it is built for age rather than speed. This is very much an old-school style with the tannins unashamedly in evidence. Score: 92
cockburn
Quinta dos Canais is both the most recent acquisition of Cockburn and its top estate. It is usually released on its own in lesser years, having the sort of focus that makes it a good blending component by adding depth and minerality to a wine and moderating the Cockburn style that tends toward softness. In 2003, it is so well developed it stands admirably on its own, though it must have been hard for Cockburn to pull even one barrel from the main blend. The company has changed hands several times in recent years, most recently last year when Beam Wine Estates acquired it from Allied Domecq.
Quinta dos Canais Vintage Port - $55: A bit smoky and charred on the nose at first, with the aromas shifting to forest floor and dried herbs. It doesn't display the floral prettiness that many of the wines from the vintage show, but it's very appealing in its earthiness. Some citrus peel emerges in the mouth along with blackberry and cocoa as the wine blossoms, but it is still quite closed today and pulls up a little short on the finish. There is great complexity at the core, however, and it will just take time for the wine to show its true breadth. Score: 92
Cockburn's Vintage Port - $65: Herbal and very angular on the nose without the generosity of fruit apparent in the Quinta do Canais. In the mouth, the herbal element clearly rules in this medium-weight, medium-sweet wine. Not quite weedy, but not overly generous, the wine is marked by hard edges and flavors of black currant and raisin. Slightly hot now, it needs time to mellow, though it will never be a blockbuster. Score: 89
ferreira
This house has a long tradition based, in part, on the original owner's preference for wines that "are not too strong." As such, the Ferreira style has always tended to be softer and lighter than many in the region. That's not to say they don't last - an 1895 tasted a few years ago may have been faded, but was still very much alive.
Ferreira Vintage Port - $85: It would not do this wine justice to say it is more open than many in 2003 - that would seem to imply a simplicity, while it is, in fact, quite complex. It is, however, more accessible than many tasted for this article, possessing medium weight and excellent balance, though lacking that extra measure of depth that distinguishes the very best wines of the vintage. The wine is quite fruity, even floral, on both the nose and palate, even lush on entry and relegating the appearance of tannin to the finish. Comparatively delicate and very enjoyable. Score: 90
quinta do crasto
Quinta do Crasto might be even better known for its excellent table wines than its Ports, as it is a very new company in its current incarnation and will need time to develop the following it deserves. The estate is old enough to show up on some beautiful tiles at the railway station in Pinhão, one of the main towns of the valley, but the first wines were only produced in 1994, and those were made at Ramos Pinto.
Quinta do Crasto Vintage Port - $94: An intense nose of spices and herbs set the stage for this luscious wine. Even from the aroma, the balance and elegant vinosity are quite evident. Cocoa nestles against the floral aromas, spice and black fruit on the nose, aromas reinforced on the palate and amplified with a tantalizing hint of dried tangerine peel and fine red fruit notes on a very long finish. Medium bodied and very well balanced. This is a beautiful wine, the sort of balance between old and new styles that can please every wine lover. Score: 93
Ramos Pinto
Now owned by the Champagne-based (and family-held) firm of Louis Roederer, Ramos Pinto is still operated very much like a family enterprise, managed by descendants of the two brothers who founded the house in 1880. Ramos Pinto has always been a good Port, but with support from Roederer, the wines have become more concentrated over the past 15 years. The company owns the highest percentage of vineyards needed to fulfill its production requirements of any house in the Douro, giving it great control over its fruit. Like the Symington group (and notably unlike Fladgate), Ramos Pinto has also embraced making red table wines in the Douro, and its Duas Quintas is among the best Douro reds on the market.
Ramos Pinto Vintage Port - $70: Once past the beautifully herbal, spicy nose, it is the tannins that most grip the taster. They are rich and ripe, but firm, imbuing the wine with terrific structure - not huge, but beautifully defined. Both the nose and the palate possess beguiling black fruit and perfectly integrated sweetness. Score: 93
sandeman
The Scotsman George Sandeman founded his Port house in 1790 with the intention of creating a stable supply of wine for the English market. As early as 1805 the company was pioneering what today would be considered a trademark - the famous drawing of the Sandeman "Don" created in 1928 was one of the first times an image was used repeatedly to achieve brand recognition.
Though the company was sold in 1980 to Seagram, George Sandeman, the seventh generation of his family to ply the Port trade, remained involved. In 2002, the house was taken over by Sogrape, a huge Portuguese company best known for producing a glut of table wine. The changes in ownership have, at times, caused inconsistencies, but George Sandeman has stayed on as a director, and brings his depth of experience to the enterprise, as well as a willingness, like his predecessors, to try new things - Vau being a prominent example.
Sandeman Vintage Port 2003 - $65: Bright aromas of red and black fruit with hints of pine resin, minerals and a lovely ginger spice that also accents the elegant and pronounced blackberry flavors. Medium weight with very good fruit concentration on the palate, this wine aptly recalls the reliably subtle Sandeman style of the past. Score: 93
Todd M. Wernstrom is the executive editor. Lyn Farmer is the senior editor. European editor Susan Keevil contributed reporting for this article from London.
