It is traditional for Port Houses to declare a vintage on or around 23rd April, which is St George’s Day in England, this link coming from the UK’s longstanding and continued connections to the port trade. To be a Vintage Port, the port must all come from one year, a vintage. The governing body must then declare the quality good enough to be a Vintage Port year, then declarations can be made, or not.

The whole thing is quite curious, as even if a year is good enough to be a Vintage Port year (and legally can, see above), it might not be declared. If the port houses do not feel the market conditions are right, they may not declare a Vintage Port. Furthermore, in some years, a large majority do declare and in others, only some do. Confused yet?

The actual declaration of a vintage year is not an official process (the quality status of a year identifying it as good enough to be vintage is). However, the port producers do seem a little more organised and cohesive than other regions (mind you there is also a fair amount of common family ownership at the top end), resulting in a more analogous approach.

While there are often vintages that meet the quality level to be a vintage, and houses that seem to release a Vintage Port every year, what is exciting about both the 2016 and the 2017 vintage is the breadth of port houses that have declared their ports and the quality. When the 2016 was declared the hype on the quality front was like the 2011 (which the 2016, by all accounts, has surpassed). And then when the 2017 vintage came along, not only did the quality of it once again stand tall, a duo of great vintages is quite unheard of. In fact, it is the first time that Taylor’s (and possibly others) have declared two vintages in succession.

A little Port education...

Port is a fortified wine. The fortifying spirit is added after two-three days of very rapid extraction of colour and tannins in granite lageres where it is foot trodden. The journey for port from here takes several paths depending on the style.

White Port is made in the same way as red but without any contact with the skins during fermentation. It is then bottled young to retain its fresh, fruity style. White port is best served chilled and is an exceptional match with almonds and cured ham.

Ruby Port is the first step on the red port ladder. A multi vintage wine, young port is blended together and bottled young retaining its deep ruby colour and strong fiery taste.

Tawny Port is then ruby port that is aged in wood to turn tawny. A standard tawny is then a blend of different barrels of aged port that has turned tawny in colour and taken on some oxidative characters.

Aged Tawny is then labelled 10, 20, 30 or 40, which indicates the approximate age of the tawny when tested and approved by the IVDP (Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto).

Colheita means harvest or crop and is a tawny port from a single year. These are aged for a minimum of 7 years (usually longer) and are labelled with the date of harvest and bottling on the label.

Vintage Port is the Rolls Royce of port, though represents less than 1% of all port sold globally. Vintage ports are ports from a single year, blended and aged for two-three years before bottling. Vintage ports then require bottle ageing to enjoy these wines at maturity, which can be many (30+) years. Vintage ports are made from the best grapes off the top vineyards’ sites. Vintage ports are not made every year; rather the IVDP decides based on samples reviewed to declare a year a vintage year, or not.

Late Bottled Vintage is a port from a single year that is bottled four-six years after harvest and released ready to enjoy now. These are wines for enjoying when purchased, not for ageing further.

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