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Last week we attended the 2017 Port Tasting at Tate Modern.  The 2017 vintage comes directly after the 2016, which is the first time since 1846/1847 that back to back years have been declared!

‘The wines are characterised by an exuberant ripeness, with remarkable aromatic intensity, profound fruit and strong velvety tannins. These are great, very seductive Vintage Ports, hugely enjoyable to taste now, but clearly with immense ageing potential. Perhaps among the best we will ever see’

Christian Seeley, Managing Director of Quinta do Noval




Deciding to declare a vintage is a decision that has never been taken lightly by the Port Houses.  When we tasted the 2016’s in May of last year we were hugely impressed by the quality and firmly believed the vintage had set a new benchmark in terms of quality for the region.  Then comes along 2017!  It’s never easy to make comparisons for Port vintages as the conditions can often result in very different styles of wine, however  in 2017 the growing season was a carbon copy of 1945.  1945 was a legendary vintage and sadly bottles are now virtually impossible to find.  If you are lucky enough the find the best 1945’s, they will set you back over £1,000 per bottle! This is thanks in the main to a very early start to the season, with plenty of rain to kick things off, followed by a desperately dry summer – the result was very low yields of small berries, and wines with incredible purity and intensity.

We feel extremely fortunate to live in a time when two vintages like this come along together – it’s truly a unique event that may well never happen again in our lifetime.  It goes without saying that arguments will rage on for decades as to which is the best.


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