Port is one of the most hedonistic drinks in the world. But not every port is a vintage port (a port from a special vintage year) which is considered one of the best wines in the world. To make sure that only the finest wines will be named “Vintage Port”, the wineries release this wine to the market only during excellent vintage years, on average between two and three times a decade. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, there have been a total of 25 declarations of an excellent vintage year. Why “declarations”? Because in order for a vintage year to be declared “vintage”, most of the wineries that produce Port agree that it was a big year. So if vintage port is so rare, how both the 2016 and 2017 vintage were declared “vintage”? At the 2017 vintage announcement event in New York, Adrian Bridge, CEO of the Fladgate Group, which shares control of the market with the Symington Group, said: “Some of you who were in this room a year ago may be a little confused and think, ‘If a general declaration is such a rare event then Why the hell are we coming here two years in a row? ‘ Indeed, port enthusiasts around the world have expressed skepticism about the motives of the major wineries. In their defense, the wineries claimed that the two vintages were excellent, each in its own way. The 2016 vintage appeals to the modern palate with restrained fruit and precision, while the 2017 vintage is reflected in rich, large, deep and bold wines.
“The Heavy Guns”
I traveled to Porto, the world port capital, to check (taste) things up close. On pre-arranged visits, I tasted the best that Porto has to offer from these two vintages. Here are the impressions:
Fonseca Vintage Port 2016
The smell is slightly closed, revealing hints of cherries. Delicate and precise. A lasting and elegant ending. I gave a score of 94 while Robert Parker (RP) and Wine Spectator (WS) both gave a score of 97.
Croft Vintage Port 2016
Very expressive. Flavors of black pepper, plum and raspberry. So focused! A long and wonderful ending. I gave a score of 96. RP 94, WS 97
Taylor Vintage Port 2016
A pleasure even just to smell, with hints of herbs, eucalyptus and blueberries. Compressed and closed at this stage of his life. A covert bomb. So powerful! I gave a score of 97. RP 96, WS 98.
So if the 2016 vintage was so wonderful, how was the 2017 vintage? See for yourself ..
Warre Vintage Port 2017
Fresh fruit, round, spicy and peppery. Elegant and delicate. I gave a score of 95-96 while WS gave 97 and RP gave 94-96.
Croft Vintage Port 2017
So focused! Full body, peppery, espresso and black fruit flavors. Long ending. Wonderful. I gave a score of 96. RP gave 94, WS gave 97.
Dow Vintage Port 2017
Slightly lingering smell of chai, spices and chocolate. Concentrated but not jammy, powerful but elegant. I gave a score of 96. RP gave 94-96, WS gave 96.
Graham Vintage Port 2017
Such a young and already complex wine! Full body, velvety and feminine. Creme de Cassis flavors. A long and peppery ending. This is a serious wine. I gave a score of 96-97. RP gave 95-97, WS gave 97.
Vesuvio Vintage Port 2017
Fresh dark fruits wine, exploding from fruit, full body, concentrated. This combination of lots of fruit, lots of power, lots of flavor and a long finish, will take this wine very far. Wow. I gave 97, RP 97-99, WS gave 96.
Taylor Vintage Port 2017
Compressed black fruits. Still tannic. So powerful. Wonderful to drink right now, but still closed. The tightness is expected to be released in the coming years and reveal a wonderful wine. I gave a score of 97. RP gave a score of 96, WS gave a score of 98.
Fonseca Vintage Port 2017
Wow! Dark and dense. Soft, round, full body what a wonderful ending! I loved it. I gave a score of 98, RP gave a score of 96-98, WS gave 97.
Niepoort Vintage Port 2017
How can such a young wine present an already complexity? It turns out that it is possible. Color of ink, concentrated, tannic, powerful but harmonious. A long and resonant ending. I gave 98, RP gave 99-100
Head to Head – The heads of the big houses are talking
I took the solemn opportunity of the vintage sequence, to interview the two heads of the Portuguese port industry. The Symington family owns the leading brands Graham, Dow, Warre, Cockburn, Quinta do Vesuvio and is headed by Rupert Symington. Fladgate Partnership owns the leading brands Taylor Fladgate Fonseca, Croft, Krohn and is headed by Adrian Bridge. Both of these entities now control most of the Portuguese port industry. I asked each of the interviewees the same question and here are their answers:
Question: The young audience, the millennials, are often looking for lower-alcohol drinks, preferably long and sweeter drinks. The port industry offers them white port for mixing with tonic, pink port, white port and lighter tawny ports, which can be served chilled during the summer. Is there where the lower tier port market aiming?
Answer:
Adrian Bridge, CEO Fladgate Partnership | Rupert Symington, CEO Symington Family Estates |
| Our experience is also that younger consumers drink less but spend about the same, which implies that they are buying better quality. We see this in our sales as premium Port sales continue to grow. Mixing Port as cocktails is clearly an easy way to have a low alcohol drink and is also grape based which is better that spirit based if people do not wish to mix their drinks. | A Port cocktail can be a delicious experience, but the mixing market is quite crowded and not very brand conscious, and we see this sector of the market as useful but not nearly big or profitable enough to support our industry in future. Where we would like to focus attention, for mixing or otherwise, is on the ruby styles of Port which reflect the reality of the vineyard area of the Douro which is 90% red. Port, like any fine wine, is best enjoyed on its own and for me a chilled Ruby in the summer is better than any cocktail. |
Question: Vintage Port, for centuries a star of the drinks industry for its depth and rarity, poses practical challenges. A bottle of vintage Port needs years or even decades of cellaring and the wine requires decanting. Also, vintage Port must be consumed within hours of opening. In contrast, the types of Port that are popular today are ready to drink upon purchase, easy to open, require no decanting, and can last for a month in the refrigerator after uncorking. Do you forecast decrease in the sales of vintage port in the long run?
Answer:
Adrian Bridge, CEO Fladgate Partnership | Rupert Symington, CEO Symington Family Estates |
We find that many of our customers like to drink vintage port when it is young because of its complexity and depth. There is actually no “right age” to drink it; you simply enjoy it for different reasons at different stages of its life. Obviously, when it is older it needs to be decanted and requires more handling. This tendency to drink younger was something that happened in Bordeaux wines in the 1990s and now only the richest people can afford to drink old claret. This may well be what happens with Vintage Port. We expect to continue to make Vintage Port when the conditions allow it and in the quantities that we can make at the quality level we are used to. | The extraordinary quality of LBV’s and other Premium Ruby styles has definitely affected the consumption of Vintage Port over the last two decades, but another important factor has been the deliberate reduction in the quantities that we produce. As in other fine wine regions such as Bordeaux, limiting production of top wines has been the only way to guarantee the extraordinary quality that is required for top ratings and high opening prices. The inevitable result is that Vintage Port has become affordable (and available) to a much smaller segment of consumers. |
Question: The best ports are dessert wines of the highest standard, which for some reason are less valued by wine lovers. If comparing Port prices to those of similarly scored wines from Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Napa Valley, the Port prevails. A Napa wine with the same rating would cost much more. What is the strategy you deploy in order to emphasize Port’s value proposition?
Answer:
Adrian Bridge, CEO Fladgate Partnership | Rupert Symington, CEO Symington Family Estates |
This is really a question about education. Experienced tasters can recognize the quality and the value but for many, Port is still new to them. Therefore, the scores may be good but if they do not know about the wines, how and why they should be drinking them, then scores are not enough. We believe in educating people and particularly encouraging them to visit us, to see for themselves the work and love that goes into each bottle. | Clearly the overall market for non-fortified wines is very much larger, and the drinking occasions much more diverse. However only a tiny number of wineries manage to get the top prices even with ratings that similar to ours as you point out. Port is by nature a niche category and the fine wine market prices it accordingly at a discount to the top offerings from the regions you mention. We do not believe that promoting Vintage Port based on its value compared to other regions helps our image, we prefer to focus on Vintage Port’s tiny production and rarity. |
Question: Perhaps an underlying issue is that premium port remains an impulse purchase during most of the year. Do you think enough has been done to promote the wine & food pairing characteristics of port, such as that a vintage port is perhaps the perfect pairing with dark chocolate? How does the industry deal with the challenge to extend port’s usage?
Answer:
Adrian Bridge, CEO Fladgate Partnership | Rupert Symington, CEO Symington Family Estates |
It is true that it is an impulse purchase for many people and at particular times of the year. Food pairing is an important part of educating people on the range and delights of Port. We do work with chocolate pairing and we will continue to do so alongside other food items. | We have done a lot of work over the years with food and wine pairings with Port, and in the US in particular, Port has been for many years a popular by-the-glass proposition in most upscale restaurants. We believe that there is still extraordinary potential to expand on-premise distribution of Port across the world by capitalizing on the ability of our category (almost uniquely) to pair with desserts. The fresh acidity of Port combined with the very different fruit components of the Ruby and Tawny styles make Port a natural accompaniment for the creations of chocolatiers and pastry chefs alike. Clearly we can still do more, but I believe we are on the right track. |
Question: The industry deliberately scaled back quantities of vintage port to ensure the rarity factor, which is enhanced by the fact that the top wines are released only every three or four years on average. It has been over 150 years since the Port houses, among the top producers, have collectively agreed on back to back vintage declarations, with the 2017 and 2016 being both declared. Do You think the 2016 declaration damaged the 2017 vintage port sales?
Answer:
Adrian Bridge, CEO Fladgate Partnership | Rupert Symington, CEO Symington Family Estates |
We have not scaled back at all but simply made what we can from what nature has given us. We made the 2011, 2016 and now 2017. That is only 3 times this decade – last decade we made four classics – 2000, 2003, 2007 and 2009. The idea that it has been 150 years also seems odd to me. Taylor, Fonseca and Croft have often made the same years when they were all under different ownership. The fact that the top houses have now broadly consolidated into two ownership groups is conditioning the question. The real issue is that we often talk of the Douro in micro-climates but when it is good weather across the region everyone benefits and we have a general declaration. We made about double the amount of 2017 than 2016 meaning we have more to sell. As we declare when nature gives us the quality we are perfectly at ease with the demand across the cycle. After all, we launched the 2007s in 2009 just after the S&P 500 had reached its lowest point and economic survival was what most people were thinking about rather than Vintage Port. | There is no evidence that our decision to declare two Vintages in a row in historically low quantities has damaged sales of the 2017. On the contrary, in both declarations we were forced to turn down orders, suggesting that we could have offered substantially more. If one adds together the offerings of 2016 and 2017 one arrives at a volume figure that is still well below what we successfully sold on declaration in the 2007 or 2011 vintages. |
Question: The world’s climate is changing. Is the hot and arid region of Port suitable for great wine production even in future extreme weather? Port producers agree that the old vines always seemed to manage the heat and drought better with longer roots balanced by their small demand for energy with tiny yields. Will you have to adapt new vines plantation to weather changes?
Answer:
Adrian Bridge, CEO Fladgate Partnership | Rupert Symington, CEO Symington Family Estates |
We have a great deal of old vines on our estates and certainly they do better in dry years due to a better root structure. As we believe in dry farming, the new plants we put in today will also develop the root structure needed to sustain them. It is a reality that we reap the rewards of the work done by previous generations (in their planting) and that we plant for future generations. That is wine. The issue of climate change is much more about the irregular weather events such as downpours of rain. Here we have used lazers to help us precisely lay out the terraces for young vines to control erosion and combat such inundations. The Douro is well adjusted for the production of Port that suits a hot dry region. Those producing table wine are finding it much tough to gain the balance in acidity needed for non-fortified wines. That is a new industry and one that is feeling the challenge more than those of us who have been farming in the region for 300 years. | We have been pioneers in research into the most drought-resistant Douro varietals, and have planted two vineyards with collections of the traditional ‘castas’ so as to be able to study their development under different weather conditions. We are fortunate to have lived with extreme drought conditions in the Douro for centuries and to have varietals already well-suited to very low rainfall. That said, we recognize that weather patterns are changing, and we are preparing our new vineyards not only with the most drought resistant varietals but also with suitable drainage to combat torrential downpours, and in some isolated cases, irrigation, to be used either when drought threatens the survival of the plants or as a guarantee of minimum yields. |
Adrian Bridge, CEO
What is Port?
Port is a fortified wine to which neutral brandy has been added during fermentation. Adding the alcohol stops the fermentation, preserves the sweetness of the grape and raises the alcohol to about 20%. It is produced in the Douro Valley in northern Portugal. The Port first gained publicity when the British waged a trade war with the French during the 17th century which included a ban on the export of French wines to England. Strengthening Portuguese wine with alcohol was the best way to ensure the preservation of the wine for the long journey of the wines at sea; This allowed the British to drink delicious wine while the trade war continued. After the end of the war, the British could not part with their love for the port, and even exported this love all over the world. Many wineries outside of Portugal are trying to copy the style, but I have yet to taste an excellent port that is created outside the Douro Valley.
Rupert Symington, CEO
Vintage Port
There are many types of port that range in quality, style and price range like Ruby, Tawney and LBV. But Vintage Port is considered the flagship wine among ports. This is a wine that is released to the market only when the vintage is really excellent. In the mouth, a variety of flavors of cherries, chocolate and coffee are usually revealed. As it ages (and Poet ages for at least a decade) its complexity is revealed and the fresh fruit flavors slowly change to the flavors of raisins, and dried prunes. Port wines receive particularly high scores among wine critics. Their prices are not cheap, but also not expensive compared to Bordeaux, Burgundy or Napa wines, which receive a similar score. Port is love at first sight, the opposite on behalf of an acquired.
