It was good to receive three more 2018 Vintage Ports, a year that I am finding offers ripeness, concentration and freshness in almost equal measure. Luís Sottomayor who is responsible for Ferreira and Offley below is even more effusive: “2018 is one of the best, not the best Vintage I have witnessed. The special conditions experienced during the 2018 harvest came together to produce wines that combine extraordinary elegance with an unusual structure...”
It is the time of year when the Port shippers make their pre-Christmas releases. Often these are Single Quinta Vintage Ports, released with the benefit of some bottle age in their cellars. Coming from good years in between so-called ‘classic’ declarations these wines are often great value, particularly when the UK supermarkets are involved. Look out for the best of these wines from now onwards and you will be well rewarded when the weather turns towards winter.
I wrote up my first impressions of the 2018 Port Vintage in June when the first samples were sent out during lockdown. Due partly to the Covid pandemic and to the fact that this is not a universal declaration there has not been much momentum behind the 2018s. Of course we have not been able to gather together to taste the wines and exchange opinions in the usual way. Whether this will affect the price of these wines over the longer term is a moot point, particularly with an unparalleled run of four good years from 2015 onwards.