Fonseca Vintage Port Double Magnum 2011.

RETINTO BLACK CORE WITH FINE PURPLE RIM. THE NOSE OPENS INTO A DENSE MASS OF BLACKBERRIES AND CURRANTS.

Fonseca has been part of the first category of Vintage Port wine producers since the mid-19th century. Fonseca Vintage Port wines are known for their lush fruitiness that develops great opulence and complexity with age. Their wines appeal to the enthusiast and connoisseur, perhaps more than the Vintage Ports of any other house, because they are the result of inspired production and a deep knowledge of viticulture and terroir.

Vintage Port wines represent the best of the products of an exceptional year. Unlike Port wines that age in wood, Vintage Port wines will continue to age and improve in bottle for decades, inscribing in their character both the characteristics of the vineyard and the influence of the winemaker.

The company's Vintage Port wines come from its own estates: Cruzeiro and Santo António in the Pinhão valley, which have contributed to the company's Vintage Port blend for 100 years, as well as the Panascal estate in the Távora valley.

TASTING NOTES: Retinct black core with thin purple rim. The nose opens up into a dense mass of blackberries and currants. Compact and concentrated, it exhibits great purity - a characteristic of the 2011 vintage. The nose gradually opens up revealing a matrix of intoxicating herbal aromas, discrete notes of exotic wood, marzipan and plum, as well as an attractive graphite minerality. Solid, with well-integrated tannins that give volume and firmness in the mouth, with reserves of dense dark fruit and full of dark chocolate and licorice. It is a vigorous vintage full of fruit, as is the tradition of Fonseca Vintages.

NOTES ON VITICULTURAL YEAR: The beginning of the year was marked by cold and rain. During five months, from November to April, almost 500 millimeters of rain fell in Pinhão in the heart of the Cima Corgo. The rain in winter and spring was fundamental in replenishing the depleted underground water reserves that made it possible to face a very dry ripening season.

Budburst occurred, as expected, near the third weekend in March, and warm, humid conditions in April encouraged vigorous growth. From May 1 to August 21 hot and very dry weather set in, with a short heatwave at the end of June.

However the abundant water in the soil allowed for perfect bunch formation and balanced ripening of the grapes. An absolutely timely rainfall on August 21st and September 1st caused the harvest to be refined. The first Fonseca property to start harvesting was Quinta do Panascal in the Távora valley, with the first grapes being picked on September 13th.

At Quinta do Cruzeiro in the Pinhão valley the start was on September 15th. At Quinta do Santo António, the organic quinta in the Pinhão valley, the harvest started ten days later, on September 25th. The wines from each of these properties were strongly aromatic and with an impressive depth of color.