NV Heritage 20 Year Old Tawny Port
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2020 2:40 pm
The context for this tasting note can be found here:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=42645
This was the fourth Heritage port consumed at the sitting.
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Heritage 20 Year Old Tawny Port, bottled in 2018, was the first of three Heritage tawnies to be tasted; it would be followed by the thirty and forty year olds. After the let-down of the Heritage 20, 30 and 40 Year Old Dry White Ports, one was hoping for better things. This wine delivered.
The appearance in the glass met the Heritage standard: pleasing to the eye – rather like amber, in this case – with a clear rim. The nose proved to be quite agreeable for a twenty year old, with notes of pine and caramelised sugar, along with touches of tepid mulled wine and something redolent of furniture lacquer. The caramelised sugar, in a state not fully formed, was the first sensation to hit the fore-palate, giving way to raisins and figs at the mid-palate. The long finish was spicy, though by no means hot. Whilst relatively sweet, the high acidity level cut nicely through the residual sugar.
The Heritage 20 Year Old Tawny Port is quite good and to be recommended. Although it is generally my practice to refrain from addressing questions of cost, at least where I regard a port as being overpriced, a show of restraint in this instance would constitute a disservice to readers. This twenty year old is priced at EUR 60 per bottle at Portologia which, as far as can be determined, is the only place to buy Heritage bottlings. By way of comparison, top drawer twenty-year-old tawnies – which the Heritage variant is not – such as Andresen and Ferreira can be found readily in Portuguese shops for EUR 45 per bottle. Heritage 20 Year Old Tawny Port is a very agreeable, second-tier twenty year old, along the lines of that produced by Quinta da Levandeira do Roncao under the DR label, which is found easily in Portugal at EUR 36-40 bottle. The point is not to accuse Heritage of some sort of price gauging; Portologia is free to charge whatever its market can bear. However, should Heritage Porto e Douro wish to bring its fine product to an audience which is likely to purchase no more than one bottle to haul back to Bayonne, Basingstoke or Boise, it may wish to reconsider its approach to pricing this wine.
-92 points
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=42645
This was the fourth Heritage port consumed at the sitting.
__________
Heritage 20 Year Old Tawny Port, bottled in 2018, was the first of three Heritage tawnies to be tasted; it would be followed by the thirty and forty year olds. After the let-down of the Heritage 20, 30 and 40 Year Old Dry White Ports, one was hoping for better things. This wine delivered.
The appearance in the glass met the Heritage standard: pleasing to the eye – rather like amber, in this case – with a clear rim. The nose proved to be quite agreeable for a twenty year old, with notes of pine and caramelised sugar, along with touches of tepid mulled wine and something redolent of furniture lacquer. The caramelised sugar, in a state not fully formed, was the first sensation to hit the fore-palate, giving way to raisins and figs at the mid-palate. The long finish was spicy, though by no means hot. Whilst relatively sweet, the high acidity level cut nicely through the residual sugar.
The Heritage 20 Year Old Tawny Port is quite good and to be recommended. Although it is generally my practice to refrain from addressing questions of cost, at least where I regard a port as being overpriced, a show of restraint in this instance would constitute a disservice to readers. This twenty year old is priced at EUR 60 per bottle at Portologia which, as far as can be determined, is the only place to buy Heritage bottlings. By way of comparison, top drawer twenty-year-old tawnies – which the Heritage variant is not – such as Andresen and Ferreira can be found readily in Portuguese shops for EUR 45 per bottle. Heritage 20 Year Old Tawny Port is a very agreeable, second-tier twenty year old, along the lines of that produced by Quinta da Levandeira do Roncao under the DR label, which is found easily in Portugal at EUR 36-40 bottle. The point is not to accuse Heritage of some sort of price gauging; Portologia is free to charge whatever its market can bear. However, should Heritage Porto e Douro wish to bring its fine product to an audience which is likely to purchase no more than one bottle to haul back to Bayonne, Basingstoke or Boise, it may wish to reconsider its approach to pricing this wine.
-92 points