Recent Vintages of Port

[Roy Hersh]

From 2020 onward, have any of you bought Vintage Ports from 2020, 2021, or 2022?

Just curious if people are beginning to experiment with younger vintages, to drink now, or still solely to lay down for future Port consumption.

Having paid some attention to all 3 of these vintages, they differ quite a lot and I am very curious to hear your opinions, and especially your experiences.

[Frederick Blais]

I have lost a little the interest for young vintages. Maybe because I know if I buy them now they won't have time to age enough for me to enjoy them. The last vintage I bought was 3 half bottles of 2019 NIepoort. I'll taste some at the Essencia in 2 weeks and let's see, maybe I'll buy a few more half bottles.

[Mike J. W.]

I stopped buying after the 2017 vintage simply because I feel I'm at the age where I wouldn't be able to enjoy the Port in it's maturity. Sure I could drink them young, but I prefer drinking my VP with some age on it.

[Eric Menchen]

The last vintage I bought was 3 half bottles of 2019 NIepoort.

That's also the latest vintage I bought, but I picked up six 750s of 2019 Niepoort, because I couldn't pass up the price of US$35 each.

[Glenn E.]

I haven't bought in any real quantity since 2011, but I have bought bottles here and there. I have some 2020 Graham, some 2021 Graham's The Stone Terraces, and a bottle of 2021 Kopke S. Luis.

The thing about buying VP to drink young is that you don't need much of it, and it's easy to get whatever's currently available when you need it. If you buy it and store it... you're aging it, not buying it to drink young.

[Eric Ifune]

I'm with Glenn. Last major vintage is 2011 with a few odds and ends since.

[Lucas S]

Am letting the new vintages take some depreciation first.

I''ve been picking up the occasional 2015-17 on bids if the price is right.

[Eric Menchen]

I'm with Glenn. Last major vintage is 2011 with a few odds and ends since.

I'm also in that boat. The number of bottles I've bought in total since the 2011 vintage is about half the number of 2011s. That's maybe more than "a few" but includes the Niepoort mentioned earlier, and I also ended up buying a bit of 2015 Crasto since I helped stomp those grapes. The Crasto was at an expected price. The other odds and ends were bargains, e.g. two 2015 Dow Porto Vintage Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira at US$25 each.

[Andreas Platt]

Trying do drink the mid-aged VPs, and at the same time avoiding infanticide. Thus, have not purchased anything young except Colheitas and Crusteds (we love the Niepoort Crusted Bioma VV, bottled 2014 for its price of ~25)

List of post 2000VPs

2017 Quinta do Noval Porto Vintage Port Blend 12
2011 Quinta do Noval Porto Vintage Nacional Port 1
2009 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage Port Blend 11
2007 Graham Porto Vintage Port Blend 6
2000 Fonseca Porto Vintage Port 6
2000 Graham Porto Vintage Port 4
2000 Quinta do Noval Porto Vintage Port Blend 4
2000 Quinta do Noval Porto Vintage Nacional Port Blend (2)
2000 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage Port Blend (17)

[John M.]

Generally no - I can usually find older bottles for similar dollar value....and anything new I will likely never get to have at its peak of maturity.

[Al B.]

I buy new release Port nearly every year to keep verticals going. (Quinta do Vesuvio 1989 onwards and Quinta do Noval from 1994 onwards).

I also buy small individual bottle quantities of other new release VP for immediate consumption. We had a bottle of the Calem 2022 a couple of weeks ago, and that was fabulous.

Like some others, the last vintage I bought sizeable amounts of was 2011, and a bit in 2017, but these are probably going to be enjoyed by my children more than by me. I prefer drinking VP from the 1970s or older.

We recently held a 2000 horizontal in London. There are some great VPs produced in that vintage, even the weaker labels were pretty good, but my overwhelming impression was that I’d prefer drinking the wines with another couple of decades of bottle age. And if you can find 30-40 year old VP at the same price as new release VP, which one would you buy?

[Glenn E.]

And if you can find 30-40 year old VP at the same price as new release VP, which one would you buy?

I figured this out pretty quickly... I did buy some 2007 on release, which was pretty early in my Port-buying experience, but then realized that (at the time) I could get 1985 for less than 2007! So when 2011 rolled around I was pretty picky... I only bought Ports that I knew I was going to want and was pretty confident were going to be great.

It was kind of surprising how long that held true for 1985. It's not true anymore... but that just means switching to buying the 1990s vintages instead. Which doesn't actually work well for 1994 though, probably because that vintage received so much hype. New releases are usually slightly less expensive than 1994 on Winesearcher... but only slightly.

[Eric Menchen]

And if you can find 30-40 year old VP at the same price as new release VP, which one would you buy?

... Which doesn't actually work well for 1994 though, probably because that vintage received so much hype.

I'm wondering which of 1997, 2000, or 2003 I should be picking up. I have some of those in the cellar and I don't need more VP, but I think some of those are probably great buys now.

[Glenn E.]

And if you can find 30-40 year old VP at the same price as new release VP, which one would you buy?

... Which doesn't actually work well for 1994 though, probably because that vintage received so much hype.

I'm wondering which of 1997, 2000, or 2003 I should be picking up. I have some of those in the cellar and I don't need more VP, but I think some of those are probably great buys now.

1997 seems to me to be holding really well. I'd always assumed that 1994 was better (because that was the conventional wisdom), but at the moment it seems like 1997 is in a better place. Prices are pretty good, too, again probably because 1994 received all of the hype.

The guys in London just held a 2000 horizontal, and the general consensus coming out of that was that 2000 is a good year, but not a great one. Nothing really stood out to them, but generally everything was very nice. It might be more of a near(ish) term vintage than one for the ages? Niepoort was notable only in that it was in their top 3.

I haven't heard anything about 2003 recently.

[Al B.]

My view of the 2000 vintage at that tasting was that there were some wines which are going to be excellent - the usual names - but they need another 20 years to get there and are a little bit unbalanced at the moment.

There were also some Ports which were very nice but which are not going to be better in 20 years, but make for great current drinking - Portal and Osborne among them.

If I was to be buying one of the three vintages Eric mentioned, it would be the 1997s. They are pretty tasty right now and I think will generally improve for a couple of decades.

[Roy Hersh]

Glenn wrote:

The guys in London just held a 2000 horizontal, and the general consensus coming out of that was that 2000 is a good year, but not a great one. Nothing really stood out to them, but generally everything was very nice. It might be more of a near(ish) term vintage than one for the ages? Niepoort was notable only in that it was in their top 3.

This won't be news to anyone that knows me. But like 1966 is to 1963, I believe that 2003 is to 2000. The 1966 and 2003, both the superior vintages in my opinion. Not only better in overall depth and breadth, but also potential longevity than the preceding vintages, three years in both cases.

[Frederick Blais]

Glenn wrote:

The guys in London just held a 2000 horizontal, and the general consensus coming out of that was that 2000 is a good year, but not a great one. Nothing really stood out to them, but generally everything was very nice. It might be more of a near(ish) term vintage than one for the ages? Niepoort was notable only in that it was in their top 3.

This won't be news to anyone that knows me. But like 1966 is to 1963, I believe that 2003 is to 2000. The 1966 and 2003, both the superior vintages in my opinion. Not only better in overall depth and breadth, but also potential longevity than the preceding vintages, three years in both cases.

Interesting Roy, from the few 2000 and 2003(Niepoort, Noval, Taylor, Fonseca) I had in the last 2-3 years, I felt 2000 Ports were still younger and in need of time while the 2003 were quite accessible and their structure already polished. Remembering how 2003 Niepoort was such a beast in its youth, I felt it is evolving quickly. As others are mentionning above, the best of 1997 are surprisingly taking a long time to get out of their "dumb" phase and do feel like they also need a lot more time than expected.

[Roy Hersh]

Frederick,
I have a different take on 1997s. They were absolutely beasts when young, boldly fruited and brutally tannic monsters, similar to 2007 VPs at birth, a decade later. The 1997s I've had post-Covid have been generous and easy to approach, very drinkable and excellent. Not one seemed to be suffering from being closed or difficult to drink, or needing longer decants.

I can say that not one of the more than half dozen ... were my bottles ... so I can't speak to their provenance, but here in Porto, it seems like a common vintage for 35-40+ individuals to be opening nowadays. It is not common to find older Vintage Ports to be opened here, except by older individuals with deeper cellars or collections from people in the Port trade that I drink with on occasion.

And as this thread was originally about YOUNG vintages, 2020 and younger ... today
Dirk Niepoort turned 61 and it is on his birthday that he is launching to the public, the 2020 Bioma Vintage Port.

[Mike J. W.]

I stopped buying after the 2017 vintage simply because I feel I'm at the age where I wouldn't be able to enjoy the Port in it's maturity. Sure I could drink them young, but I prefer drinking my VP with some age on it.

I think the sole exception to my post above might be the 2021 Kopke Sao Luiz that we tried last May at Kopke. I liked that one a lot and it seemed to drink well for such a young Port. The trick will be finding it for sale in the U.S.

[Eric Menchen]

I think the sole exception to my post above might be the 2021 Kopke Sao Luiz that we tried last May at Kopke. I liked that one a lot and it seemed to drink well for such a young Port. The trick will be finding it for sale in the U.S.

Total Wine & More has it, $60, supposedly in Norwalk CT and a few locations in TX. It might be elsewhere, but not in my state.