50 year old Tawny Port with indicated age.

[Eric Ifune]

During the virtual Kopke tasting, Carla Tiago mentioned a new category of 50 year old tawny Port.
Has anyone further info on this?
I know that they started this category for Madeira a few years ago and now there's a plethora of 50 year old Madeiras.

[J Kristiansen]

Yes it's correct..

IVDP has made the decision to allow 3 new types / categories of Port wine..

The decision was taken at the seat of the Interprofessional Council of Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto (IVDP).

The new types is:

Tawny Port 50 years, 50 years White and very very old Tawny - reserved for +80 years old wines..

For those who know Portuguese…

https://www.dn.pt/dinheiro/vinho-do-por ... 95969.html

Big fan of Graham's - and especially the Single harvest collection

[Glenn E.]

Google Translate of the article:

Port wine will have two new mentions in the special categories, the 50 Years Old Tawny Port or the 50 Years White Port, and the Very Very Old Tawny Port, reserved for wines over 80 years old. The decision was already taken at the headquarters of the Interprofessional Council of the Institute of Douro and Porto Wines (IVDP) and should soon be published in the Diário da República.

The two mentions are the result of six months of work between representatives of production, trade and technical services of the IVDP itself, who sought to adapt and update regulation 242/2010 that establishes the regime applicable to the protection and presentation of appellations of origin Porto and Douro and the geographical indication Duriense.

Special categories are those that have grown the most in recent years, even in a context of crisis, being especially valued in some markets, such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom or Belgium, among others, for which wine companies in Porto have been, in recent years, seeking to invest increasingly in these wines with greater added value. And the sector has long been showing interest in having a 50 Years Tawny addition to the existing ones. Some companies have launched single-harvest wines to mark half a century, but the aim is to have this mention as part of the companies' portfolio and not as special and limited editions. These will be blended wines aged in cask for 50 years.

In addition, another category is created for very old wines, which will always be at least 80 years old. These will be wines with an absolutely distinctive aging, and will be renamed Very Very Old Tawny Port. They correspond to some rare releases that have been made in recent years, in exclusive editions, such as Taylor's Scion, the first of all, in 2008, a 150-year-old Porto, or more recently, the 1866 Vallado Adelaide Tributa Porto, Carvalhas Memories of the 19th century Porto, Quinta do Crasto Honore Porto or Graham's Ne Oublie. All wines sold at more than 2500 euros a bottle, with some even reaching over 6,000 euros.

"Companies have made an enormous effort to reactivate sales. The collective promotion actions of the IVDP have not started yet, due to the great demands that the institute has in its statute, in terms of public contracting, but they are going to start now. And the companies are. seeking to reinvent themselves to get out of the 2020 decline", explains the executive director of the Association of Port Wine Companies (AEVP), Isabel Marrana. It should be remembered that Port wine was heavily penalized by the pandemic, whether in the national market, with the lack of tourists and where losses reached 40%, or in exports, with a fall of 4%.

sales recover
But the first six months of 2021 have already brought good news: almost 3.5 million cases (nine liters) of Port wine were sold, worth 152.7 million euros, a year-on-year increase of 19.1% in volume and 24.8% in value. Even more important is the comparison with the average from 2018 to 2020, and this year, it has already grown 8.7% in quantity and 13% in value, although the national market is still at 7.8% and 15, 9% below, respectively.
The amendment and update to regulation 242/2010 also provides for a qualitative increase in the Douro brandy, in the sense that it follows the aging of prestigious international brandies, such as cognac, raising the bar compared to what is traditional in the period of aging of national spirits.

Ilídia Pinto is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo

[Glenn E.]

My question is what does this mean for the already existing categories of "Very Old Tawny Port" and "Very Old White Port"? My understanding is that those categories were for Ports with at least 50 years of age, but with the new 50 Year Old and 80+ categories it seems to be of fairly limited usefulness. I guess it still covers those blended Ports between 50 and 80 years old, though probably more realistically those between 60 and 80 years old?

[Eric Ifune]

My question is what does this mean for the already existing categories of "Very Old Tawny Port" and "Very Old White Port"? My understanding is that those categories were for Ports with at least 50 years of age, but with the new 50 Year Old and 80+ categories it seems to be of fairly limited usefulness. I guess it still covers those blended Ports between 50 and 80 years old, though probably more realistically those between 60 and 80 years old?

I don't believe the terms of "Very Old Tawny Port" and "Very Old White Port" were official IVDP categories. More of a producer's terminology. This legislation would make them official. The wines would have to be approved by the IVDP under those labels now.

[Glenn E.]

My question is what does this mean for the already existing categories of "Very Old Tawny Port" and "Very Old White Port"? My understanding is that those categories were for Ports with at least 50 years of age, but with the new 50 Year Old and 80+ categories it seems to be of fairly limited usefulness. I guess it still covers those blended Ports between 50 and 80 years old, though probably more realistically those between 60 and 80 years old?

I don't believe the terms of "Very Old Tawny Port" and "Very Old White Port" were official IVDP categories. More of a producer's terminology. This legislation would make them official. The wines would have to be approved by the IVDP under those labels now.

The terms had to be approved to be used on labels, so they were more than just producer's terminology. But you are probably right that they weren't full-on categories of Port and were perhaps just approved for use. Officially they may have simply been part of the basic "Tawny Port" category.

[Eric Ifune]

I believe they were officially "Tawny Reserves" which is anything over 7 years of wood age. No upper limit.

[Al B.]

I know that Sandeman and Kopke have released 50YO tawny blends. Taylor have released one under the name “Golden Age”.

Does anyone have a list of the companies who currently have 50YO White and 50YO Tawnies on the market?

[Eric Ifune]

I know Prelada has an official 50 year old. Quevedo has a 50 year old white. Viera de Sousa just released a 50 year old tawny.

[Thomas V]

Maynard's released a 50YO Tawny last year. I tasted it in July when I was in Porto. Very lean and acidic for a 50YO and very nice.