“Pure and racy in feel, with a stream of violet, cassis and plum puree notes leading the way, flanked by subtle anise and alder details. A graphite spine through the finish keeps all the elements grounded on the finish. Rock-solid. Best from 2032 through 2045.”

“A generously textured wine, this has great tannins as well as powerful black fruits. Its ripeness has a shot of acidity to keep it fresh while it ages. It is certainly on the dry side, very firm at the end and needing time. Drink from 2032.”

“This floral wine has generous black fruits combined with tannins and acidity. It maybe misses the power of some wines in this vintage, giving instead a fruity, blackberry-flavored take on the year. Drink from 2026.”

“The 2018 Duas Quintas Reserva Branco is 73% Rabigato, with 11% Viosinho, 10% Códega and small portions of other grapes filling out the blend. It is mostly unoaked (but for 10% aged in new wood and 15% in used wood, almost all French). It comes in at 13% alcohol. This was a tank sample when last seen. It is now in the USA. It has come together beautifully. It seems elegant and refined yet very persistent on the lovely and lingering finish. It is fresh and pure. This understated and carefully crafted white has the chance to improve even more as it ages, and it should hold for another decade or so.”

“The 2017 Vintage Port is a blend of 70% Touriga Nacional (a big increase this year), 15% Touriga Franca, 10% Sousão and the rest a field blend from old vines. It comes in with 94 grams per liter of residual sugar. It was aged for only six months in very old (50+ years) Portuguese vats (balseiros) and then in cement tanks. When first seen, this was a tank sample in Porto. It's now bottled and in the USA. This seems rounder and less invigorating than the winery's Ervamoira this issue, but some may prefer the lesser personality here—relatively speaking. What you get in return is intense fruit flavors, leaning to blue fruits, the just-crushed essence of the fruit. It coats the palate and is simply delicious. The structure is not as stunning, but there certainly is some, even though this is rather approachable.

That said, with a couple of days open, this developed beautifully—and better than the Ervamoira. With time, this acquired more intense aromatics and more intensely flavorful fruit. It blossomed. The hallmark of this wine became its suddenly (and surprisingly) rich fruit. Yet it is graceful too. With this performance, I do not prefer the Ervamoira anymore. It remains to be seen how well they both age over a long term. They both drank well after being open for a few days, but every young Vintage Port of quality should. It will certainly hold well for a few decades or more. In the shorter to mid-term, I expect this to become sterner, drier and more intense, as it sheds the baby fat and shows some underlying steel. It's entitled to an uptick in score.”