2018 A.A. Ferreira Vintage Port
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Tasting notes
The 2018 Vintage Port is a roughly equal blend of Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional with 10% a field blend from old vines and a smaller dollop of Sousáo, coming in with 103 grams of residual sugar. My favorite of the three Sogrape offerings just now—if the Sandeman comes into good balance a decade on, it might be the winner—this is an elegant Port with stunning fruit and excellent structure too. Perfectly put together and seeming drier than its statistics would suggest, this is a potential beauty. It is more expressive than its siblings (including the Offley and Sandeman). If it is not as rich as the Sandeman, it is fresher, more precise and more lifted. It should hold well. When tasted the next day, it tightened up with additional aeration, but it was still approachable. I loved its purity, in particular, at that point. It now has to prove it can evolve and age. It should. There were 19,333 bottles produced. This was tasted from a tank sample in a half bottle.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
TA 4.6 g/l, RS 103 g/l, pH 3.7. Cask sample. Deeper, bluer crimson than its stablemate Offley. Though like the Offley it lacks a bit of freshness and drive on the nose. Sweet with elderberry fruit and some tannin in evidence (more so than Offley). Firm and long with some structure to it. A bit more like a true vintage port. (JR)
The 2018 Vintage Port from Ferreira has a potent nose with dense black cherries, crushed violet, allspice and black pepper scents, touches of curry powder emerging with time. The palate is well balance with succulent, saturated tannins, a fine bead of acidity and a little more precision towards the finish compared directly against the Sandeman. Very spicy on the finish that lingers for 45+ seconds on the aftertaste. Give this 5-6 years in bottle.