Is 2016 Vintage Port a Legend in the Making?
James tasted just over a dozen vintage Ports from the 2016 vintage.
*This tasting report was updated on June 13, 2018 to include four more vintage Ports from Barros, Kopke, Burmester and Calem.
The 2016 vintage may prove to be a modern legend for vintage Port. I just did a tasting in Hong Kong of 15 young Ports from some of the biggest names in the business including Cockburn’s, Dow’s, Fonseca, Graham’s, Quinta do Noval, Taylor’s and Warre’s.
The 2016 vintage Ports exhibit fantastic depth and concentration yet at the same time they show a sheer tannin backbone that gives them great form and class. They have a cooler, less ripe nature to them compared to the extremely rich 2011s, 2003s and 2000s. The 2016s seem more in line with the racier 2007s but perhaps with slightly more intensity.
“You can’t compare 2016 to 2011,” says Christian Seely, the head of Quinta do Noval. “It was a very different year, closer to the 2007, but with more to it. It’s seven plus!”
Port shippers say the lower grape yields and longer grape growing season in 2016 enabled them to produce exceptional wines. “It was not a traumatic growing season for the grapes,” notes Dominic Symington of Symington Family Estates, which counts a large number of properties under its control in the Douro. “We had a really even growing season. So we have much more refinement in the wines.”
Three Port shippers presented their wines at our tasting: (left to right) Nick Heath, The Taylor Fladgate Partnership, Dominic Symington, Symington Family Estates and Christian Seely, Quinta do Noval
Indeed, the quality of the tannins is exceptional. The Port producers attribute this to better methodology in the vineyards and cellars, not to mention vineyards planted during the 1990s and 2000s producing excellent fruit. “We know our fruit much better,” says Dominic. “We know when the acidity is there, and we are more precise. In the old days, we picked the grapes because the pickers showed up. Not anymore.”
Adds Nick Heath of The Taylor Fladgate Partnership: “There is more control everywhere. A lot of the success is coming from the modern vineyards.”
Whatever the reason, the superb quality comes through in these young Ports, and they are surprisingly impressive to taste now. They are not like the young vintage Ports I tasted at the beginning of my career in the early 1980s, which were big, raw and powerful.
The 2016s are much more finished and refined; they exemplify strength and form. It suggests that they can be consumed slightly younger, perhaps in five to eight years, but they will continue to age beautifully for decades ahead. Maybe the 2016 is the new 1963 — a legendary year that was always admired for its balance and strength.
“Lucky people are going to be drinking these vintage Ports in 40 or 50 years,” says Seely. The 2016 vintage Ports are being sold at the moment and are more expensive than the 2011s on release (up about 20 to 30 percent). Port shippers I spoke to said sales were brisk. “I am almost sold out,” confirms Seely. — CEO/Editor James Suckling