vintage Port 1771999, marking up their prices by around 30 per cent on the 1994s, which had risen
sharply on the open market. From early tastings I found some wines tending to be rather
lean and one-dimensional but Dow, Fonseca, Graham and Noval belong in the premier
league. Niepoort, which looked impressive at the start, has suffered alarming volatility
in bottle. Noval Nacional is the best for three decades – perhaps since their remarkable
duo of wines from 1966 and 1963. Rather like 1963s and 1966s, the 1994 vintage will
inevitably cast a shadow over the 1997s for years to come. Drink from 2015.
Pick of the Vintage: Dow; Fonseca; Graham; Quinta do Noval; Quinta do Noval,
Nacional; Quinta do Vesúvio.
1996 *** huge crop, some beautiful balanced wines but others
somewhat stretched
After a very wet winter and mild spring, there was an abundance of fruit which took time
to ripen. No rain fell from June to August. As a result the harvest began quite late (end of
September/early October in the Cima Corgo). This was just as well as it rained during the
week of 16 September but thankfully good weather returned and sugar levels increased rapidly
towards the end of the month. Yields were huge but the benefício (130,000 pipes of must)
remained low, leaving plenty for producers of the increasingly popular unfortified Douro
wines. There was also a 30 per cent increase in the price of aguardente which put pressure
on prices. In general sugar levels were on the low side with the result that many wines taste
stretched and dilute. Some growers picked too early and better wines were made towards the
middle or end of the vintage. Warre did not begin picking at Cavadinha until 8 October.
This was a good year for replenishing premium rubies and LBVs but, perhaps playing up to
a receptive American audience, a handful of single quintas released some attractive, forward
fruity wines for drinking over the medium term. The wines tend to be quite open, sometimes
beautifully aromatic, soft and are fully ready to drink. Quinta do Noval Nacional is the notable
exception, although it is quite forward and already sings from the glass.
Pick of the Vintage: Quinta do Noval Nacional; Smith Woodhouse; Madelena,
Taylor’s Quinta de Vargellas; Warre’s Quinta da Cavadinha; Quinta do Vesúvio.
1995 *** concentrated but occasionally somewhat jammy and burnt
After a fairly wet winter the weather turned dry at the end of February. Early March was an
exceptionally warm, dry spring and the vines were well advanced by mid-April. However at
the end of April, late spring frosts inflicted severe damage on some of the higher vineyards.
The early part of the summer was cool and overcast which affected the flowering, but
August provided four weeks of intense and unrelenting heat. In the Douro Superior some
growers began picking in mid-August and on 4 September many properties in the Cima
Corgo began to pick. However, it rained on 5 September, with sunshine and clear skies
returning after the 10th. The Symingtons had finished picking in all their top quintas by
26 September. The extreme heat raisinised grapes and produced some rather coarse, burnt