Vintage ports are the peak of the port production and only account for only around 2% of the total port wine production in a given year and so they are rightly cherished. Vintage Port in most years is outstanding and for the wine connoisseur there is something especially attractive in the appreciation of a truly great vintage. Vintage port wines are made from grapes that are all harvested in the same growing year and only in years that are exceptional. Typically this is only three times every decade.
Vintage port wine has a uniquely idiosyncratic nature. Whilst the overall characteristics of a growing season in the Upper Douro valley will clearly be the same for all producers, there are a multitude of specific local conditions that can greatly affect the overall quality of each individual harvest. The Upper Douro comprises a tortuous system of valleys and ridges that allow for a great deal of local variety, whatever the prevailing conditions of the season may be.
The declaration of a vintage is a matter for each port shipper alone, and only in some exceptional years will there be a consensus among shippers that leads to a general declaration of vintage. In order to reach its full potential as a truly great vintage port wine, the wine must be stored and allowed to mature in bottle for many years, even decades. This is a requirement that was only discovered by chance.
In the early days of port wines, vintage ports were not available. The demand for port wines in the mid 18th century was such that no shipper would seriously consider the long term storage of the beverage given the presence of a thirsty market, and the advantages of ageing had not as yet been discovered. Whilst some shippers had discovered the benefits of in-cask ageing and of leaving the wine in-bottle for up to 2 years before release, it is thought that the true potential of vintage port was only discovered by chance due to the cellars of wealthy buyers becoming overstocked and the subsequent years worth of in-bottle ageing that often resulted as the port wine languished in the cellar.
Until this time, port wine had been regarded as a moderate quality beverage. The effects of ageing elevated port wines to the ranks of true excellence, and led to the conscious development of high quality, vintage port wines for the appreciation of the discerning classes. This was aided in no small measure by the legendary vintage of 1820, which produced wines of such quality and ferocity that they set the benchmark for subsequent expectations, and indeed produced wines of such increased alcoholic strength that they resulted in a subsequent increase in the quantities of fortifying brandy used in the preparation process. By the mid 19th century, a requirement for 10 to 15 years of in bottle ageing for high quality vintage ports had become established practice.
At the turn of the century, a run of excellent vintage years in the Upper Douro (1896, 1900, 1904, 1908 and 1912) helped to position port wine, correctly stored and aged, as one of the great wines of the world. At the same time, several producers had attained reputations for excellence and quality, so that the identification of a port wine from a highly regarded vintage and producer was much sought after.
The production of port wines was formalised to some extent by the regulations issued after the Second World war by the Port Wine Institute (IVP), requiring that all port wine be bottled in the second year following the grape harvest. This subsequently (in 1974) became a requirement for all ports to be bottled in Portugal, in an attempt to regulate the standard of ports by removing the variability that may be introduced by different port merchants’ bottling procedures where bottling abroad took place. Click Here for more information.
Vintage port wine has a uniquely idiosyncratic nature. Whilst the overall characteristics of a growing season in the Upper Douro valley will clearly be the same for all producers, there are a multitude of specific local conditions that can greatly affect the overall quality of each individual harvest. The Upper Douro comprises a tortuous system of valleys and ridges that allow for a great deal of local variety, whatever the prevailing conditions of the season may be.
The declaration of a vintage is a matter for each port shipper alone, and only in some exceptional years will there be a consensus among shippers that leads to a general declaration of vintage. In order to reach its full potential as a truly great vintage port wine, the wine must be stored and allowed to mature in bottle for many years, even decades. This is a requirement that was only discovered by chance.
In the early days of port wines, vintage ports were not available. The demand for port wines in the mid 18th century was such that no shipper would seriously consider the long term storage of the beverage given the presence of a thirsty market, and the advantages of ageing had not as yet been discovered. Whilst some shippers had discovered the benefits of in-cask ageing and of leaving the wine in-bottle for up to 2 years before release, it is thought that the true potential of vintage port was only discovered by chance due to the cellars of wealthy buyers becoming overstocked and the subsequent years worth of in-bottle ageing that often resulted as the port wine languished in the cellar.
Until this time, port wine had been regarded as a moderate quality beverage. The effects of ageing elevated port wines to the ranks of true excellence, and led to the conscious development of high quality, vintage port wines for the appreciation of the discerning classes. This was aided in no small measure by the legendary vintage of 1820, which produced wines of such quality and ferocity that they set the benchmark for subsequent expectations, and indeed produced wines of such increased alcoholic strength that they resulted in a subsequent increase in the quantities of fortifying brandy used in the preparation process. By the mid 19th century, a requirement for 10 to 15 years of in bottle ageing for high quality vintage ports had become established practice.
At the turn of the century, a run of excellent vintage years in the Upper Douro (1896, 1900, 1904, 1908 and 1912) helped to position port wine, correctly stored and aged, as one of the great wines of the world. At the same time, several producers had attained reputations for excellence and quality, so that the identification of a port wine from a highly regarded vintage and producer was much sought after.
The production of port wines was formalised to some extent by the regulations issued after the Second World war by the Port Wine Institute (IVP), requiring that all port wine be bottled in the second year following the grape harvest. This subsequently (in 1974) became a requirement for all ports to be bottled in Portugal, in an attempt to regulate the standard of ports by removing the variability that may be introduced by different port merchants’ bottling procedures where bottling abroad took place. Click Here for more information.