Drinking Port in Portugaul October 2025

[Tym Lewis]

Hello,
Here is my not so brief write up about drinking port in early October 2025.
I had plans of being concise, but I just can’t find a way todo that, and be thorough. My “tasting notes” went into three different notebooks, and some email drafts based on the day, and amount of time or space I had to take notes.   So they were not easily compiled.  In fact this is still incomplete, but I intend to post what I have anyway. I will start with what port did I drink in Portugal.   And why. I have to put some of my “learnings” in this post as well.  Hopefully they generate some discussion here.    

My first port of the trip was Saturday about noon, after arriving from the USA at 5am local time. 
Lado: Due to recommendations from FTLOP, I went to Lado for lunch.   I would not recommend them for lunch.   However I had the inside to myself and it was cool shady, and felt very much like Porto.  Three things I very much appreciated. I got a glass of the
Quinta Da Prelada 20 year tawny. Dark Ruby color, Very sweet front, followed by Zing.   With a long complex finish.   It ended both hot and sweet.   I have no score for this one, but would definitely buy a bottle if priced the same as a 20 year Quevedo.  
Pocas: Walking here should have taken 40 to 45 minutes according to google maps which I downloaded ahead of time.    I think it took me closer to 70 minutes, and a fair bit of head scratching.  I got took the tour, and bought the "Golden Tasting"
Our guide was fun and enthusiastic.  She was very excited for Pocas, and knew quite a bit.  This was my first introduction to exactly how little I resemble your average tourist looking into the port caves.   It's really quite shocking how people go on these tours having never had a sip of port before. The golden tasting was wonderful.

10 Year white.  Starts with a burn, and very dry taste.   Sharp & bold.   Fruity with plenty of spice.  Tastes of Caramel and apricot.   I am not the target audience for aged white ports.   I would absolutely drink again, but am not likely to ever buy it or recommend it to others. 

2013 Vintage port.  Fruit!   Great power, minty fresh, sweet and strong with some layered bite.   I am always afraid to buy a vintage port, sometimes it's sticker price, sometimes it's the "drink the whole bottle in 2 days" problem.  Anyway, as I am thinking back on it, I wish I had bought a bottle of this.

1996 Colheita  .   cooler and elegant.   Pop!  roof of my mouth.   OMG.   a lingering clean taste.   Great amounts of grape, caramel and apricot.   I bought a bottle of this.   I'm looking forward to drinking it slowly over the winter.

2005 Colheita.  Very bold back of the mouth with raisins and chocolate, a comfortable burn throughout the long finish.   I liked the taste of this about as much as the vintage, but it did not excite me like the other two. 

 20 Year Tawny.   hot and sweet, starts sweet and methanol, very long, with a sweet finish, and plenty of heat.   I did not rank this port, but I would certainly love to include it in a horizontal tasting.

Later, I went to Garrafeira Nacional .I tried the
1904 Dona Antonia Ferreirra Port.   My best bet is that it was a colheita bottled... not recently, as the label was aged. It was long and layered.   A full mouth experience.   Pepper and cinnamon.  Very light body.  I got brandy, coffee, and orange.   It ended with notes of grapefruit. All I could think was that it did not live up to my excitement for the date on the bottle.  It was very good, but not something I would ever buy for the price.
I also tried a
Porto Barros 1937 Colheita. Oranges and Cranberries, sweet.   Back of the mouth, with the smell of Raisins. I liked this one a lot.

Burmester tour and tastings.
Raphielle was the best tour guide I have had for a caves tour in VNDG.  His tour was filled with interesting details, history, understandings of the process, legalities, production facilities, the business explanations, and he was filled with local passion.   He could explain why for any question we posed to him.   Once again I was the exceptional tourist, but at least there was a couple of German engineers with genuine curiosity to ask questions along side me. For my tasting, I got the Tawney vertical, however the couple across from me didn't actually like alcohol, so I also got their reserve horizontal tasting.   As my questions and enthusiasm hit the whole tour group, the tour guide got inspired and also gave me glasses of his favorite colheitas currently for sale.   The 1978 and 2003.

Burmester Reserve Ruby:
Very sweet, fruit and berries, and a hint of vanilla. went well is the dried fruit.  Has a great finish.    Ruby reserves can be great cheap port.   I would buy again.

Burmester reserve tawny:
the 2nd layer has pleasant bite.   Fruity with a great acidic finish.    This is so much more of what I like in port then the ruby.  It's still under my quality preferences, but I would get it as a first taste in a port tasting to show people what delicious cheap port can be like.

Burmester 10 yr tawny.
Cinnamon and Caramel, very good with nuts.  This is where I start to enjoy my port wine.  I will buy this again, and love the idea of a horizontal tasting with it.  This is one of the bottles I got at the duty free store.

Burmester 20 yr tawny.
Sweet and Bite.  Elegant, not a long after taste.   Fruity and balanced.  Very good 20 yr.  very much improved from the 10yr tawny due to the complexity.  Tastes of Raisin.   I would love to collect and consume this port, although I normally only get 2 or 3 bottles of port a year at this price point.

Burmester 30 yr tawny.
My notes simply say to buy this whenever it's on sale.   Ok, not really, but that is the first note I have about this one. Sweet.   Pops with orange and caramel.   Long finish of vanilla and hints of nectarine.  very very nice port.     I bought a bottle of this, and want to buy more.  I really hope to compare it to a Pacheca 30 yr, which currently holds the title of best 30 yr tawny for all of my tastings.

Burmester 2003 Colheita.
upfront with milky sweet sugar. Wow orange.  Great layers. holy S**T, best orange ever.  great after taste.   Absolutely better then the 30 yr, with a less sweet finish.  I bought a bunch of this.

Burmester 1978 Colheita.
best ever.   perhaps in the top 4 or 5 ports I have tasted.  Smooth and balanced, great flavors, hot and smooth tangerine, that ends in cinnamon and chocolate.   I can't really afford this one, but I bought 3 of them anyway.
Well after that, I needed a break.   I spent 2 or 3 hours walking around porto .Then I went where Raphielle told me to go, and visited Porto Cruz
My notes from there are terrible, as I arrived about 15 minutes before a very large tour group, and didn't have the time to savor each one. I asked to see my recommended contact, and name dropped Raphielle. 
1985 Dalva Colheita-  so good!  _ have this open at home, will need to sample tonight, as I don't have real notes.   I did buy a bottle.
2015 Dalva Colheita - Amazing port for price.   I bought one.
1971 Golden White.  Flavorful, and spicy.  Very complex with layers.   I liked the 1985 Colheita just as much as I liked this, and this costs 5x the 1985.
 

Later at the Prova wine bar.  Andresen 10 yr white.  -  I drank this with Fredrick from these forums.   Sharp and acid, very good, but I would guess it is not sweet enough for my wife.   Delicious.     It was nice to have an hour with Fredrick.

My next tasting was with 2 people who just wanted a drink, and my mom.   I told them I would teach them why port was something they would like to drink a lot more of. I took them to Bacchus Vini.
They were apparently very interested in drinking, since we got two of the horizontal tastings. We ordered the gold, and the silver tastings.  Each of these included 6 different ports.  We also ordered a glass of the 50 yr tawny, as I have never tried one.  We also got some simple chocolates for pairing. I do not have any good tasting notes, but I do have pictures, and memories.    All three of my guests became port lovers at this tasting.  We all had different favorites, and it was great as each of them had an "Oh My God!" moment or two.   This was an amazing experience, and everyone should do it.  The people who served us were amazing, and happy to answer all my questions.  I guess I spent too much time teaching, and asking the staff questions to take any meaningful notes. What did we drink?
Dalva Dry white reserve (raisons, nice),
Dalva 10 yr white (Fresh),  Quinta Santa Eufemia fine white(sweet!), Quinta Santa Eufemia 10 yr white.
I'm not a white port fanatic, but one of my guests said one of those 10 yr whites was the best port of this tasting.
Dos Santos Ruby, and Dos Santos LBV 2019(great layers).   We don't appreciate ruby.  But my mom now loves LBVs.
We had Quinta Da PreLado Vintage 2013.   Here was certainly an "oh wow" moment.   A person's first Vintage port is worth observing.
Vieira de Sousa fine tawny, Blacket 10 yr Tawny, Blacket 20 yr tawny, Dalva 1985 Colheita?
Honestly these all came after the vintage, and I'm not sure putting a vintage in the middle of a tasting is the right order.   I know that people did not agree on which of those was best, or if they were better than the whites, or LBV.   In any case I wish I had notes on those ports. Finally I got a glass of the Vieira de Sousa 50 yr tawny, which we shared.   This was my first 50 yr tawny.   I had higher hopes.   This was very nice, had lots of wonderful complexity, and length, but it probably was not the best time to try one. We were very pleased with the prices here.

The next Morning.  October 7th.The entire group was bussed into VNDG and we took a caves tour at Don A. Feirreira.   I did this tour a few years ago, and I must say this is a better tour when 5 of the 12 people on the tour are my friends who are interested in port and learning about it.   On this day, the tour was very difficult for my group, many of whom walk with canes, and can't see with good lighting.  There were 30 of us, and I was busy trying to help people in the dark, so I only managed to work my way to the front for one or two questions.   At the end we tried their white port, and their ruby port.  They would not let us get any additional tastings.

That afternoon, I took five of our group to Kopke for a tasting, so there were six of us.   I did not get anything special for myself, as I had another tasting scheduled for later in the day.
We got two of their tastings, and 2 glasses of additional port. 
 Dry White port.   I believe I liked this one, as my tasting notes say "Nice"
LBV 2020 -> nice acidity, great grape flavor, deep and warm.  Would buy on sale.  Mom likes LBVs.
2006 white Colheita -  This would be a nice desert wine.
20 yr tawny.   I like Kopke tawny's.   The 20 is very nice.  Would buy
1978 Colheita-     I guess I was in a hurry, so did not write anything about this one.   
20 yr white blend - Caramelized orange and sugar flavors.   This was Beth's favorite.
Mom and I ran in a hurry, and let the other 4 people sort out what to buy from Kopke.   I know they bought 2 or 3 bottles.

Next up was our tasting for 2 at Quinta Noval.   This was arranged by Fredrick.  Thank you!!!
This tasting was my favorite part of my 2025 trip to Portugal.   Just mom and I . Noval has been a favorite of mine.   It's possible to get some of their ports in the Boston area, but not without hunting for it.   Their 40 yr tawny has been the best port at my tastings for multiple events.   The 20 year tawny has been declared the best 20 yr Tawney we can find. I learned at this tasting that their ports are better, cleaner, and often have a crystal clear profile.   If any of you know of a house that is preferred over Noval, please teach me.
The ports:
extra dry white:    It is the cleanest white I have had.  Dry grape flavors.  I would buy when on sale, or I wanted something to mix with tonic.

Noval Black:  Clear and sweet up front, extremely smooth.   I liked this far more then I expected too, and will probably buy some to open up some of my tastings, or to have low budget port that I like.

LBV 2019:  This LBV was smoother then other LBVs, caramel across the roof of my mouth, with less burn, and less spice.  Apparently I labeled this as a "F... Yeah"   I will be looking to buy it.  My mom bought a bottle.

Vintage 2003:  Clarity!  Spice, clean, more matured energy with anis.   Good heat and long pleasant aftertaste.  It is much better then the LBV, but priced too high for me to be buying any.... maybe I will find some at auction some day.

20 yr Tawny:  The Best!  raisin and Carmel  aroma.  Energy and heat.  Then a sweet delicious ending.  lingering power and overtones of caramel.  Clean Clear Quality.   My notes ended with some profanities in praise. 

10 yr tawny:   I got one of these after the tasting to see if I wanted to buy one, it does not follow the 20 yr tawny well.   Clean, fruity and balanced.  I
bought 2 of the 20 yr tawnies.

For the rest of my trip, I bought a few other bottles of port, and glasses of port along the way, but don't have notes on most of them.

In Sintra I went to the tourist trap port tasting shop, located downtown very close to the palace.  I returned here because I saw the place in 2022, and recalling that it had some great ports, but I was not sure about the prices. For this visit, I ended up challenging and inspiring the person running the shop.  He gave us a few free samples, and my mom bought the LBV.  He taught me a lot, in the 10 minutes we had for our visit.
First we tried the
Quita Das Lamelas LBV 2017 --- This was extremely good.  I don't have tasting notes on it, but my mom bought a bottle for my Christmas gift.  

The other thing we tried, took my breath away.   
DR port 20 year tawny.   Where have you been all my life, and how do I get you in the USA?  Again I do not have tasting notes, but it was too much money after I had already bought other ports, and I assumed I could get it cheaper somewhere else.
The prices at this shop were very pricey.   And yet they sell ports, and offer tastings of ports that appeal to me, and are not available to me in Boston.   I am perplexed.

Learnings.
Noval:   The LBV uses higher quality grapes then many houses. Noval Black -  Designed to get younger customers.  the most sweet drink at this tasting.  Goes with Vanilla Ice cream, or coffee cocktails.  extra dry white:  served chilled, or with tonic water. 

I talked to Lado about Vintage ports, and how to choose them.   I asked what they had decanting for the day, and they said they didn’t decant vintages ahead of time.  They would open a bottle if I ordered a glass of vintage port. 
Pocas was a great tour, and I loved the golden tasting.   They know a lot more than me.

I'll write more, and clarify anything that seems confusing over time.....

[Mike J. W.]

Nice write up, Tym. Glad to hear that you made it to Pocas. They have great Tawnies and I like their LBV's as well. DR's Tawnies are special.

[Glenn E.]

Great writeup, Tym!

I'm really glad that you got to go to Bacchus Vini and had a great time there. Maria Fonseca (the co-owner) is a wonderful host and always has something special set aside for people to try. That's one of my favorite places to go in Porto every time I visit!

[Bradley Bogdan]

Sounds like a great trip, thanks for sharing the recap!

[Andy Velebil]

A bit late to the game…excellent write up and trip you had. Thanks for sharing.

[Glenn E.]

If any of you know of a house that is preferred over Noval, please teach me.

Since you have already experienced Kopke and Burmester, but prefer Noval, that indicates to me that you should try the full lineup of DR Port some time. I would say this is particularly true of you would also rank Burmester over Kopke in general, because that ordering (Noval over Burmester, and Burmester over Kopke) leads me to believe that you like sweeter, richer tawnies over brighter, more acidic tawnies.

Sadly, I do not believe that you can get DR Ports in Boston. Moses might know of a way?

The other thing we tried, took my breath away.   
DR port 20 year tawny.   Where have you been all my life, and how do I get you in the USA?  Again I do not have tasting notes, but it was too much money after I had already bought other ports, and I assumed I could get it cheaper somewhere else.

Ah yes. Glad you got to try one and experience the magic that comes from the blending of the Rembrandt of the Douro, Luis Rodriguez.

Learnings.
Noval:   The LBV uses higher quality grapes then many houses.

There are a couple of little producer quirks like that. Noval does prioritize their LBV, as does Quinta do Crasto. In Crasto's case, some of us often enjoy their LBVs over their Vintage Ports!

IIRC, I think that Graham prioritizes their Six Grapes Ruby Reserve over even their LBV, so it is usually pretty stellar for a Ruby Reserve. If you thought Noval Black was sweet, you should try a bottle of Graham's Six Grapes!

[Eric Menchen]

IIRC, I think that Graham prioritizes their Six Grapes Ruby Reserve over even their LBV, so it is usually pretty stellar for a Ruby Reserve. If you thought Noval Black was sweet, you should try a bottle of Graham's Six Grapes!

Before they made Noval Black, I thought Noval had the best non-reserve ruby.