2023 Vintage Ports – a nearly but not quite classic vintage
It was one of those promising years that so nearly became a fabulous vintage, but as things stand 2023 is merely rather good! The year began with welcome rain after 12 months of extreme drought. Bud burst came late. Then abnormally warm, dry weather in April combined with plentiful groundwater made up for lost time and led to plenty of early-season growth. An early flowering was followed by heavy rain in late May and the first half of June which caused mildew problems along with localised hail damage. The pintor (veraison) arrived early, around 7 July in Pinhão and the rest of the month was mild rather than hot. White grapes were being picked from the start of August, making this one of the earliest harvests on record. August was hot and there was a short period of very aggressive heat, with the thermometer rising to 45.8ºC in Pinhão on 22nd, a national record. On 1 September, with Port grapes already being harvested, it looked as though the Douro was set for one of the highest quality vintages in recent years. But then rain started to fell and it halted picking. The rain continued on and off throughout the rest of the month with as much as 65 millimetres registered at Pinhão on 15th September. Harvesting then became something of a race against time and by 21st September, the date in the 1990s when picking usually commenced, most Port producers were at least two thirds of the way through harvest. When the rain ceased at the end of the month, there was an Indian summer but it was too late. Some very good wines were produced early on in the harvest but by October things were looking rather different, with rot setting in. The early ripening made this a good year for Touriga Nacional (mostly picked before the rain) whereas Touriga Franca (which ripens later) was a bit washed out. Tinto Cão which also ripens late did rather well as it resisted the effects of the torrential rain. 2023 has produced some rather wonderful wines, in my opinion approaching classic vintage status, if rather dominated by the Touriga Nacional grape with its glorious fragrance. There are two magnificent single quinta vintage Ports from Dow, a house which seems to perform particularly well in warmer, riper years and a brilliant wine from Quinta do Vesúvio as well as Noval.
The wines below were tasted together early in August 2025 in the order they are presented, travelling upstream from the Pinhão Valley to the Douro Superior. Noval’s 2023s were tasted separately, earlier in the year and for the same of completeness I have added my notes here.
Taylor’s Sentinel 2023 (cask sample) ****
This is a blend from four estates in the Pinhão Valley: Terra Feita, Junco, Casa Nova and Eira Velha. Not as deep in colour as the rest of the wines in this line up; open, bright and focused on the nose with a beautifully perfumed berry fruit aromas and just a hint of underlying spirit; fresh and luscious on the palate with similarly well-defined cherry fruit, mid-weight with firm, spicy tannins, elegant and very attractive overall (and dare I say like the Passadouro bellow is very Pinhão Valley in style). This is rather lovely to drink now but has the elegance and poise to develop over the next twenty years and more. 17
Dow’s, Quinta do Bomfim 2023 ****/*****
Deep and inky in with a crimson-blue hue; dense and ripe on the nose with dark chocolate and liquorice concentration, plenty more to give; full yet suave (for Dow) with rich, ripe plum, black cherry and dark chocolate fruit (a glorious combination), backed by solid, ripe and surprisingly broad tannins with a lovely, long, firm and well-defined finish. This will keep and keep: an outstanding single quinta vintage Port (SQVP). 18.5
Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos 2023 ****
Not quite as deep or dense as Dow’s Bomfim (above); quite restrained initially on the nose but opening out in the glass to reveal a lovely floral perfume, so characteristic of Touriga Nacional; voluptuous in style with minty ripeness, showing lovely purity and definition, backed by firm, gravelly-chalky tannins and a long, sweet berry fruit finish. A wine for the medium-to-long term. The 2019 Malvedos won a ‘Best in Show’ at this year’s Decanter World Wine Awards and this is surely up to the same high standard. 18
Quinta do Vesúvio 2023 *****
Deep and heady with an exotic quality on the nose and palate as the same time as showing a subtle, floral perfume with liquorice depth too and just a hint of the heat; rich and fleshy in style with lovely broad, ripe tannins and a touch of tropicality to the fruit, complete, broad and ripe with a well-defined, minty-spicy finish. 18.5
Dow’s Quinta Senhora da Ribeira 2023 *****
Deep and opaque in colour with a wonderful wild nose that encapsulates the upper Douro with that heady hint of dusty heat, ripe berry fruit and touch of esteva (gum cistus) and wild herbs; full yet firm and well defined on the palate, lovely purity of fruit (just hinting at the heat) as well as being well-structured with tight-knit tannins, leading to a long, dusty-grippy finish. Something makes me wonder if the 2023 Bomfim and Sra da Ribeira blended together might just have made a great, ‘classic’ vintage Port? 19
Tasted separately in May: see post here https://www.richardmayson.com/vintage-port-notes/noval-2023s-and-a-few-older-wines
Quinta do Passadouro 2023 Vintage Port ****
A blend of Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Sousão, Tinta Francisca and a field blend from a number of plots within this property near Vale de Mendiz, deep in the Pinhão valley, slightly drier in style than Noval with 87g/l residual sugar: deep in colour as you would expect for a youthful wine with a lovely open, aromatic character showing menthol and well-defined slightly exotic fruit; classic on the palate with lovely soft berry fruit, again pure and well -defined, backed by firm peppery tannins and a charming finish. Not big but overall a very ‘pretty’ wine, to drink quite early but with the capacity to last. ‘Very typically Vale de Mendiz’ in the words of Carlos Agrellos and I know just what he means. Just 555 cases in total. 17.5
Quinta do Noval 2023 Vintage Port ****/*****
A blend of Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca (Noval still call it ‘Francesa’), Tinto Cão, Sousão and field blend: deep in colour, ripe and dense on the nose with underlying firm, defined fruit; similarly ripe and multi-layered on the palate, fleshy mid-palate with supple yet firm spicy, tannins, lovely length showing both ripeness and purity of fruit. This is a well- structured wine, destined for a long life. Broach in 15 years or so. 2,230 cases declared. 18.5
Quinta do Noval Nacional 2023 *****
From the legendary plot of ungrafted vines at the heart of the Noval estate: deep, hugely ripe and intense on the nose, still sullen and withdrawn but some hot country fruit underlying; very dense and rich in style (99g/l residual sugar), the hot country fruit does not show up on the palate which is pure and well defined, rich fruit supported by substantial tannic structure, big and bold with solid tannins rising to a peacock’s tail of a finish. Just 140 cases in total. 19.5
