If you are attracted to rarities, you will be pleased to know that only about two per cent of all Ports produced are worthy of the vintage tag.
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Cold, wet weather with snow at higher elevations is a rinse-and-repeat in the January and February weather forecast in B.C. It’s weather that begs for a glass of Port. Despite the many styles, there’s little doubt that the greatest of all is the one declared: vintage Port. The declaration happens around 14–16 months following a harvest when, after a series of tastings, Port houses will declare a vintage if they think the wines meet the quality standard.
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In the same way that simple ideas are often the best, it is with vintage Port, whose uncluttered production process yields a vibrant and complex wine that challenges all your senses. Vintage Port is the product of a single harvest, grown in one climatically splendid growing season. After fermentation and fortification, it is aged in wood for about two years before bottling. Unlike tawny and other wood-aged ports, vintage Port is meant to age in the bottle for decades.
If you are attracted to rarities, you will be pleased to know that only about two per cent of all Ports produced are worthy of the vintage tag. To give you a sense of how rare Oporto has been since the First World War, there have been, on average, only three declarations per decade, although global warming is having an effect of late as the Douro Valley grapes seem to ripe with ease every year.
Once in the bottle, the shipper submits samples to the Instituto do Vinho do Porto with details of the quantity of wine to be released, the yield of wine from the grapes, and the proposed release date. Should the Port’s governing body approve of the wine’s quality, the shipper can declare the vintage. Even then, the declaration is only taken if the shipper remains convinced that the quality of the wine merits the coveted vintage moniker.
What may seem like a glorious harvest can still have shippers hesitating to declare a vintage. That’s because vintage Port is expected to go the distance, and each declared year will be under intense scrutiny for decades. Today’s wine aficionados comment on the relative qualities of declared vintages such as the 1955s, the ‘63s, the ’77s, or the 2000s and should a particular shipper declare what turns out to be a weak vintage, the impact on its reputation can reach long into the future.
A quick tour of local B.C. liquor store shelves reveals offerings from the highly regarded 2016 harvest and 2017. The 2016 was an easy vintage to taste when declared, with its excellent up-front fruit evident on the nose and palate. Many wines will be good to drink relatively early, but the best — those with underlying structure and solidity — will keep for decades.
The year 2017 was the driest since 1945, leading to outstanding wines. It was an abnormally early harvest, and with low yields, it was all over by the end of September — when picking started back in the 1970s. Many shippers directly compared 2017 to other highly regarded years ending in 7: 2007, 1997, 1977, 1947, and 1927. It seems there is a lucky ring to the number seven.
Remember that vintage Port is a blend of vineyards with a preponderance of fruit from the winery’s best single quinta or farm. In some years, they can release a vintage Port under the single quinta name, which offers better value and acts more or less like a vintage Port.
Once opened, you must drink vintage Port within two or three days because, unlike a tawny or ruby Port, it has not been oxidized before bottling; here are some labels to look for: Croft Quinta da Roeda 2018, $69.99; Taylor Fladgate Quinta de Vargellas 2016, $89.99; Cockburn’s Vintage Port 2016, $105.99; Croft 2016, $109.99 or a half bottle of Taylor Fladgate 2000 for $115.99. You could share the wines with fellow wine lovers to cut costs and experience one of wine’s greatest gifts.
Weekend wine picks
Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port 2000, Douro Valley, Portugal
$115.99 375ml I 93/100
UPC: 00808755031900
This is a half-bottle offering, so it’s an excellent opportunity to taste a classic old vintage — now 25 years old — at a fair price. The nose mixes spice, licorice, black fruit, and molasses. Now mature, the palate is long and unrelenting, delivering a whack of plums and chocolates, all in a linear, balanced mode. Harmonious and persistent, this is the real thing. Drink now.
Dow’s Vintage Port 2016, Douro Valley, Portugal
$95 I 97/100
UPC: 5010867205246
The principal part of the 2016 Dow Vintage Port is sourced from the Vinha dos Ecos vineyard. Now 30 years old, it yielded a tiny 0.68 kg/vine from mostly touriga franca. This is a sensational Dow and one of the best I have tasted since 1963. It’s all here: intense fruit, perfect acidity, spirited smoked black fruit, exotic orange, and a savoury undercurrent. It’s so impressive and so young — one for collectors to savour for decades.
Fonseca Vintage Port 2016, Douro Valley, Portugal
$149 I 97/100
UPC: 5013521100543
Fonseca seldom, if ever, disappoints. From its deep, almost opaque colour to its inviting, intense, pure-fruited nose, it lures you into the glass with great expectations. Black cherries, blackberries, menthol, violets and more swirl out of the glass above the rich, jammy, hedonistic fruit that takes over and persists in the mouth for minutes. It is a brilliant wine whose life will extend well into the second half of this century — collectors take note.
Taylor Fladgate Late Bottled Vintage Port 2017, Douro Valley, Portugal
$16.99 375ml I 90/100
UPC: 5013626111277
Taylor Fladgate pioneered the LBV category, a high-quality, ready-to-drink alternative to vintage Port for everyday consumption. LBV is bottled after spending four to six years in vats and is ready to drink when bottled. Look for black pie fruit aromas and flavours intermixed with sweet spices and a long, rich finish full of dark chocolate, black raspberry jam, and abundant flavours. It’s the perfect half-bottle to sip while you wait for your vintage Port to mature.
Little Engine Fortified Multi Vintage Pinot Gris N/V, Okanagan Valley, B.C.
$75 I 91/100
UPC: 626990325376
This is easily the best ruby Port-style wine I’ve tasted, made in Canada. The colour is a faint orange-red with pronounced toffee aromas. The palate is rich with more toffee, apricot marmalade, and a touch of maple syrup. It’s silky smooth and easy to sip. It blends five vintages from 2016-2020. It is all hand harvested and destemmed into 1-tonne fermenters, and when the correct amount of residual sugar has been reached, the must is fortified with locally produced neutral brandy spirit, halting the fermentation. From there, the wine is stored in neutral barrels, and a solera system was created years ago to store aged versions for blending into each new release. It is impressive.
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Stephanie Bolton, grower research, education director and sustainable wine-growing director at Lodi Winegrape Commission, led a pilot project involving four detector dogs trained to discover grapevine disease. Malbec, a black Labrador, and Sauvi B, an Engish Springer Spaniel, were responsible for hunting for mealy-bugs. At the same time, Cab, a German Shorthaired Pointer and Zinny, another English Springer Spaniel, set to work detecting leafroll virus. The trial aimed to look for non-destructing, real-time, affordable and accurate early detection of the viruses. It turns out Cab and Zinny were able to detect leafroll three viruses in 93.4 per cent of cases, according to its results. The dogs ruled out the presence of the virus nearly 100 per cent of the time. Fellow canine workers Malbec and Sauvi B detected the presence of vine mealy bugs with 97.3 per cent accuracy and ruled out an infection almost 100 per cent of the time. Given the current climate in wine, going to the dogs might be a much-needed improvement.
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On a day when president-elect Donald Trump threatened Canadians with economic force, Alberta managed to squeeze some $3 a bottle of tax out of B.C. wine producers to sell directly to Alberta consumers with no ability for the B.C. government to collect its gigantic tax on the millions of dollars of alcohol Alberta retailers sell directly to B.C. consumers. Given Premier David Eby’s happiness with this solution, will he consider granting B.C. residents the same uncomplicated, straightforward flat tax of three dollars a bottle on all wines sold in B.C.?
B.C. wine of the week
Fort Berens Pinot Gris 2023, B.C.
$23.50 I 89/100
UPC: 626990125679
The ’23 mix contains 26 per cent Lillooet fruit, with additions from two of B.C.’s warmest regions, Osoyoos and Lytton. The wine is surprisingly fresh, pitching cool green melon and pears, with a wash of ripe grapefruit giving it a touch of tropical in the finish. It is well made with some attractive precision and attention to freshness. Ready to drink; think of local seafood dishes.
Value wine of the week
Orofino Hendsbee Vineyard Riesling Clone 239 2022, Cawston, Similkameen Valley, B.C.
$26.95 I 89/100
UPC: 626990286400
Orofino’s Clone 239 Riesling, grown at Hendsbee Vineyard adjacent to Orofino’s Home Vineyard on the Cawston Bench, is a label you can confidently choose year after year. The German clone, first developed in the 1950s, delivers a dry wine with a bright lime leaf and citrus nose that spills onto the palate. Its firm, dry, citrus, stony, and mineral notes lead to a complex, electric style that perfectly matches pork dishes. This is a quality offering from a quality producer in the Similkameen Valley.