1994 Ferreira Vintage Port

[Otto Nieminen]

Ferreira 1994 was just wonderful. The nose was refreshing and plummy, lifted and refreshing and with a lovable floral/oolong tea perfume. The palate was well structured with a savoury, herbal/medicinal note giving a counterpoint to the sweetness. Ferreira's VPs rarely get much praise, but half-blind I really loved this one!

[Roy Hersh]

Otto,

Nice note. I love it too, but if you like the Ferreira style, I believe the 1995 is even a half-notch better than the 1994!

Ferreira is always a sentimental favorite with me. Their Port Lodge (if you can get a private showing with an appoinment) is one of the great secrets in Gaia. I was privileged when exploring again during the 250th anniversary of the Douro's declaration and was brought into the "vault." It is a room about 2500 square feet in size with the archives that now belong to Sogrape. Fantastic and I am sure I'll never get in that room ever again, so it really was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. Dona Antonia's handwritten letters and much more. Wow!

I loaded a photo of one corner of their cellar on Portraits today with a rack of 1815, 1820 and 1847 VPs, showing exactly how many are left in their cellar.

[Otto Nieminen]

Otto,

Nice note. I love it too, but if you like the Ferreira style, I believe the 1995 is even a half-notch better than the 1994!

Good to hear, I'll keep my eyes open for it! I have recently tried the '82 and '97 from them and I am starting to wonder why they aren't held in high regard. All these three that I have tried were much more than just correct VPs but had a true personality. Are their other vintages good also? (FWIW, I adore their 20YO tawny.)

-O

[Lamont Huxley]

I would be interested as well to hear more opinions on Ferreiras VP's. The 94 is the only one that I've had myself, and at the time that I drank it it only had a few years of age on it. It was good for sure, but so young and tannic then that it was rather difficult to assess (and this was also early on in my port drinking career). Since then I've come across other Ferreiras in shops here and there, and they always seem to be relatively affordable, but because I have seen very little written about their VP's on the net, I've always been hesitant to give them a try. I suppose I may need to consider picking one up the next time after reading these notes.