For The Love Of Port

This bottle was brought over for dinner by Lisa and Vic. They purchased it on their most recent Port Harvest tour and carried it back. Lisa said that they were told that the blend is closer to 65 years old on average. Hand made (likely ink jet printer) label.

Quinta de Brunheda 40-yr old Tawny Port
Bottling date unknown, but likely 2012 or 2013 and certainly no earlier than 2010.

Color: Medium tawny-brown. Fades through a greenish-yellow at the rim. Murky and rather lifeless looking - it's pretty flat. Burnt orange highlights.

Nose: Caramel, butterscotch, soft sweet apricot, brown sugar, faint vanilla, and an aromatic wood - possibly sandalwood - and maybe very faint pine. There's a hint of light spirit, but you have to look for it.

Palate: Full bodied but not heavy or syrupy. Very creamy and smooth; mellow. Only average acidity - it could use a touch more. Dried sweet apricots with dark overtones, almost like a stone fruit. Mouth-filling flavor, but it isn't powerful and in-your-face. Round rather than bold. Some sweet spice around the sides of the tongue.

Finish: Some burnt sugar like the crust of a crème brulee. Good length, but not what I'd call long. Pleasant warmth and an even fade out.

Score: 95 points. An outstanding 40-yr old Tawny. One to search for, though I don't believe it is sold through retail channels. Brunheda's 40-yr old seems to be of the "easy drinker" style similar to the Quevedo or Noval. It lacks the punch of a Kopke and the crazy depth of a Romaneira, but those are extremely minor quibbles.

I love this 40 year old tawny, and I think the best 40 yr tawny I have tasted, both bottlings 2011 and 2012.
Had even higher scores than Glenn!

Would any of you have contact details - an email and/or telephone number - for Quinta de Brunheda? Said details can be sent to me offline, if a helpful soul would prefer.

I have been impressed (to put it mildly) by your various reviews, but can find no evidence of its colheita being carried by anyone in, say, Lisbon. (I am left with the sense that you have been buying the wine directly from the farm, or otherwise quaffing it on site.) Presumably I can have the vineyard send me a case to Lisbon or, conversely, head north to fetch some.

Profuse thanks.

Will W. wrote:Would any of you have contact details - an email and/or telephone number - for Quinta de Brunheda? Said details can be sent to me offline, if a helpful soul would prefer.

I have been impressed (to put it mildly) by your various reviews, but can find no evidence of its colheita being carried by anyone in, say, Lisbon. (I am left with the sense that you have been buying the wine directly from the farm, or otherwise quaffing it on site.) Presumably I can have the vineyard send me a case to Lisbon or, conversely, head north to fetch some.

Profuse thanks.

They do not sell any port, why you can't find it. On occasion they will give out samples, shall we say.

However, Blackett is their new port arm. Their tawny's are excellent as you can imagine. Getting them in Portugal should be fairly easy I'd imagine.


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To clarify a few fun facts:

a. The bottle that Lisa & Vic obtained while on our visit to Portugal, was actually bottled within 24 hours of that couple receiving it. These Ports sit in old wooden vats at the quinta but are not commercially released and are mythical, yet can't be found for sale.

b. You could not possibly get them to sell a case, or a few bottles to you ... no less ship them to you, if you have not met them. They bottle their old stocks for friends and family only, during visits. They sell their wood-aged stocks to other producers ... the way things have always worked in Douro, to other producers who use them to bolster the quality of what they have in their own aging cellars.

c. Blackett Port is a company in which there are quite a few partners. One of these partners, also happens to own Brunheda, as the juice comes from there in a different blend from the 10-40 year old Brunheda Ports. I've been fortunate to be tasting Blackett since before the brand was commercially viable and my tasting notes have appeared in newsletters this year. They will become more and more popular as importers are found in the USA, UK and elsewhere. This year, I took our Port Harvest Tour 2 group back to Brunheda for another visit. The guests all had a chance to taste these Ports, (my 4th time through the entire lineup in the past 15 months). Keep an eye open for these fine Tawny Ports!

Absolutely fascinating stuff; I am just now marvelling at my own naivite. Thanks, lads, for your public and private messages (as ever); I am now on the right track.