Port

2016 Warre’s Vintage Port, Douro Valley “Nearly 50% is made from old field blend vines, Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca from the Douro Superior. Very pure violet aromas – already utterly... charming with lovely, supple and seamless fruit. Fresh and lithe with fine-grained tannins building in the mouth leading to a peacock’s tail of a finish. A beautiful wine with real poise, definition and great finesse. Don’t be deceived by the early charm, this is a wine that will last. Total production of 4,250 cases.” Drink 2030-2055. 98 pts., Richard Mayson, decanter.com 2016 Quinta do Noval, Douro Valley “The 2016 Vintage Port is a field blend, mostly Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinto Cão and Sousão, aged for 18 months in old wood. It comes in with 82 grams of residual sugar. This was in bottle for only about seven weeks when seen, but I made sure at least some of it had a lot of air. It looks super, with plenty of room to grow in the cellar. Christian Seely likes to say that this regular Noval and the Nacional are not better than one another, just different. In fact, I usually prefer Nacional, but in this vintage I make a case for equality and endorse that view. This was stunning from the first smell, promising concentration, intensity of fruit and great things to come. It had a 100-point nose that made me go "wow!" No wine I tasted had a better nose than this. Violets and blue fruits lead off, with a trace of eucalyptus. I tend to think Noval is a producer that always shows mid-palate finesse, but this seems pretty deep too. It is also intense. The tannins won't sear your mouth because the balance is impeccable. To be sure, it might close down, but it is surprisingly approachable now, notwithstanding that intensity. Rest assured that this lively young Porto still has all the materials to make old bones. Needless to say, "approachable" does not mean "ready." You need to toss this in the cellar for a decade, at least. Purists will say to double that or more. When the palate becomes as expressive as the nose—if it does—this will be entitled to an uptick”Drink 2026-2075. 97 pts., Mark Squires, robertparker.com 2016 Taylor’s Vintage Port, Douro Valley “The 2016 Vintage Port was aged for 20 months in wood and comes in with 102 grams of residual sugar. When last seen, this was a fine Taylor's, not my favorite, perhaps, but very fine. It is a little precocious in this elegant year, which is not to say there isn't a tannic backbone. Also, this did have a few hours in the glass. Still, the first and last impression is the big, beautiful fruit. It is a delicious Taylor's that is hard to resist. It also is firm on the finish and likely to evolve well. Complexity will come in time. I don't see any reason to change anything about my original evaluation just now. This is still too young to show much development.” Drink 2026-2075. 96 pts., Mark Squires, robertparker.com