vintage Port 183ready to drink and continue to develop well until 2030 at least. Fonseca would benefit
from more time in bottle. Gould Campbell and Martinez have been drinking well for
sometime and are still good for the medium term.
Pick of the Vintage: Fonseca; Graham; Taylor.
1984 ** well-rounded, straightforward single-quinta wines
Despite an unstable spring and early summer, the flowering was successful. The weather in
July and August was generally hot with occasional heavy rain. The first grapes were picked
in fine, dry weather but at the end of September the weather broke, temperatures dropped
sharply and there was heavy rain. A cyclone knocked over two vats at a new winery near
Ervadosa. The grapes nonetheless withstood a certain amount of dilution and there was
no rot to taint the wines. Average Baumés were a degree or more lower than in 1983.
Sandwiched between 1983 and 1985, no one declared but the single-quinta movement was
gathering momentum. Well-rounded wines like Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim and Delaforce’s
Quinta da Corte have developed well in bottle. Drink soon.
Pick of the Vintage: Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim.
1983 **** firm, muscular, lasting wines
The year began inauspiciously with a long, cold winter and spring, and snow fell on the
Serra do Marão as late as 20 May. The cool weather caused a certain amount of desavinho
(coulure) which reduced yields. During the early part of the summer the weather was hot
but unsettled and the vines were three or more weeks behind. A fine September saved
the day. Michael Symington reported that the sugar graduations in the Douro Superior
were on average at least 1.5 degrees Baumé above 1982 and that despite hot fermentation
temperatures ‘above average wines have been made throughout the Douro Superior and we
are sure that some will prove to be outstanding’. Dow, Gould Campbell, Graham, Smith
Woodhouse, Quarles Harris and Warre proved him right and stand alongside Taylor and
Niepoort as the finest examples of the vintage. Cockburn (which started out well) can
be very good indeed but also very variable, and Fonseca is on the light side and rather
disappointing. Initially 1983 was overshadowed in the marketplace by 1985. The austere
and more muscular ’83s were certainly much less easy to taste than the plump ’85s, but
the earlier year has gained stature with age. Although some wines are on the lean side,
the hallmark of the vintage is the tannic backbone that stands the wines in good stead for
the long term. The 1983s can be drunk with pleasure now and prices at auction are keen,
making this a good, easily accessible choice for lovers of fine mature vintage Port.
Pick of the Vintage: Dow; Graham; Warre.
1982 ** soft and early maturing
I have fond memories of the summer of ’82, having spent much of July traversing the
terraces of quintas in the Torto valley researching my undergraduate dissertation on