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£18.95
– A judicious use of American oak adds a hint of sweet vanilla to this intensely perfumed blackcurrant, blueberry, sandalwood flavoured wine. With finely balanced tannin and acidity, it has the elegance for which Casa Ferreirinha is known.
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Price Range | |
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The grapes for this wine are hand-picked. They are vinified in small, temperature-controlled vats and, after being pressed, the wines age in American and French oak for 12 months. This is a wine for special occasions that combines the universal culture of wine and art, via the reproduction of original works of art on its labels.
COLOUR: Intense ruby red.
AROMA: Exhibits hints of wild berries and blueberry fruit jam, enveloped in coffee, black pepper and a faint toasted aroma from the keg.
PALATE: In the mouth, it is intense and dense, but with robust tannins, affording it structure and complexity and suggesting good potential for aging in the bottle.
Clear and bright, intense garnet colour, with crimson reflections. Lively refreshing aroma, notes of spices, cinnamon, white pepper. The deeper bouquet has notes of wild berries, black plums and citrus. Very smooth and fresh on the palate, with silky tannins, balanced and easy to drink.
90 Points Wine Enthusiast
“This densely structured, finely crafted wine is the latest vintage from one of the Douro’s iconic brands. It has great weight and, at the same time, elegant fruits and structure that offer good aging potential. It could be drunk now, but best to wait until 2016.”
The heady scents and opulent ripe fruit which define the Croft Vintage Port style are supported by a mesh of taut, muscular tannins. These, together with impressive depth of flavour, make the 2011 one of the most structured and powerful of recent Croft vintages.
Deep purple black colour. The complex seductive nose has the archetypal Croft opulence but displays impressive depth, background and reserves of aroma. A rich, powerful fruitiness provides the backdrop for heady scents of blossom and rock rose. Luscious ripe berry fruit flavour surges though the palate. The wine’s velvety texture is underpinned by taut, muscular, perfectly integrated tannins which provide stamina with an attractive firmness and vigour to the finish. More virile and structured than some recent Vintages from this classic house, the 2011 nevertheless displays all the rich ripe fruitiness and exotic scented character associated with the Croft house style.
97 Points Wine Spectator
“Effusively juicy, rich and concentrated, showing plenty of snap to the crisp and well-spiced flavors of wild berry, dark currant and plum tart. Orange-infused chocolate notes linger on the exotic, mocha-filled finish. Best from 2020 through 2045.” Kim Marcus, September 2013
95 Points James Suckling
“Beautiful aromas of violets and blueberries with hints of blue slate. Full body, medium sweet with chewy tannins and a long, long finish. A leafy, stemmy, nutty undertone to this with hints of shaved milk chocolate. Very refined and beautiful.” May 2013.
95 Points Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“The 2011 Croft is initially taciturn on the nose, even after allowing it 20 minutes in my glass. A light swirling immediately awakens the aromatics to offer blackberry, Seville orange marmalade, blueberries and dried fig – complex and quite compelling. There is real mineralité within this bouquet that, returning after 30 minutes, offers alluring ocean spray scents rolling in off the ocean. The palate is medium-bodied with a velvety-smooth opening that belies the fine, structured tannins underneath. It clams up a little towards the finish, shuts the lid tight and consequently there is the sensation of less persistency here compared to the Taylor’s or Fonseca. But Croft has a knack of filling out with bottle age and becomes both gentle and generous with the passing years.” Neal Martin, Eroberparker.com,
Notes on Viticultural Year and Harvest
The winter preceding the 2011 harvest was cold and wet. The weather station at Croft’s Quinta da Roêda registered 496 mm of rainfall between 1st November and 31st March compared to a 30-year average of 358mm. The rain proved very beneficial, replenishing depleted ground water reserves and allowing a balanced ripening of the grapes during the hot dry summer which followed. Budburst occurred at the normal time towards the end of the third week of March and wet and relatively warm conditions in April encouraged vigorous growth. From early May conditions turned generally dry and remained so for most of the summer.
Only 12 mm of rain fell at Roêda in the months of May, June and July compared to a 30-year average of 105 mm. In spite of the arid conditions the vines were able to draw water from the ground reserves providing ideal conditions for balanced ripening of the grapes. The hot dry weather in August was broken at the ideal moment by two spells of rainfall, on 21st August and 1st September, which rounded off the ripening season and produced a balanced and evenly mature crop.
Picking began at Quinta da Roêda on 10th September in excellent harvesting conditions. Fermentation times were long, allowing for complete and even extraction, and the musts in the quinta’s lagares showed exceptionally intense colour and aroma.
A delicious Portuguese classic – serve it cold
Refreshing and fruity rosé, bursting with aromas of strawberries and raspberries. On the palate the wine is soft and fruity with a light spritz. Nice fresh acidity and a touch of sweetness on the finish.
Crystal clear, pale straw colour. Fresh white stone fruits with citric notes. Firm, intense and well balanced palate, persistent aromatic fruit with a long finish.
86 Points Wine Enthusiast (2013 vintage)
“Soft and round, this is a wine that has the warmth of the Alentejo coupled with a tangy, fresh slice of lemon. Blending Antão Vaz, Roupeiro and Perrum, it’s a wine to drink now, or just age for a few months.”
Product Information (2013 vintage)
Classic white produced from indigenous Portuguese varities in the northern Vinho Verde region.
Delicate citrus aromas lead onto a soft, rounded and slightly off dry palate with a light spritz. It combines apple and floral characters with soft tropical notes and fresh acidity on the finish.
A classic Taylor Vintage Port, stylish and poised. The 2011 displays the purity of fruit, fine scented quality and firm linear tannins that are hallmarks of the house style, as well as the characteristic Taylor’s combination of power and refinement.
20/20 Jancis Robinson
“This is restrained. Well mannered, discreet, keeps its powder very dry. But on the palate it opens out in the most superb, burgundian peacock’s tail sort of way….Upright and straight backed. But irreproachable. My gums are virtually impervious to sugar and acid but this wine set them vibrating a bit. Dried prunes ground up with rocks.” 2013-05-01
96 Points Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“The 2011 Taylor’s Vintage has a multifaceted, Pandora’s Box of a nose that is mercurial in the glass: cassis at first before blackberry and raspberry politely ask it to move aside, followed by wilted rose petals and Dorset plum. Returning after one 45 minutes that nose has shut up shop. The palate is sweet and sensual on the entry, plush and opulent, with copious black cherries, boysenberry and cassis fruit, curiously more reminiscent of Fonseca! It just glides across the palate with a mouth coating, glycerine tinged finish that has a wonderful lightness of touch, demonstrating how Vintage Port is so much more accessible in its youth nowadays. But don’t let that fool you into dismissing the seriousness or magnitude of this outstanding Taylor’s.” Neal Martin, Erobertparker.com 2013-05-01
97 Points Derek Smedley MW
“The nose is deep and brooding yet it has the fragrance of violets rockroses, cedar wood and a hint of nutmeg. There is an intensity of flavour about the palate black cherry mingles with blackcurrant rich deep sumptuous. The fleshy richness is supported by seamless sinewy tannins with the freshness of bilberry and bramble giving a slightly lighter feel at the back bringing out a mix of exotic perfumes.” 2013-05-01
Ramos Pinto’s Collector Port has a wonderful deep colour and aroma of spiced autumn fruits. The palate has a soft, supple texture and is packed full of layer upon layer of sweet winter berries and a touch of spicy fruitcake to the finish.
88 Points Wine Spectator
“Lots of fresh crushed dark plum, chocolate and dark cherry flavors are firm and supported by fresh acidity. The finish is lively, with good grip.” – Kim Marcus – June 30, 2012
Ramos Pinto. History.
Founded in 1880 by brothers Adriano and Antonio, this Port house has always had a pioneering spirit. In the early 20th century it became noted for its innovative and enterprising commercial strategies including the distinctive art nouveau advertising campaign.
Among Port producers, Ramos Pinto enjoys the distinction of holding the largest proportion of vineyards in relation to its production, giving them a high degree of control over viticultural methods at harvest time. The House tends 187 hectares (460 acres) of prime vineyards in the Alto Corgo and Douro Superior areas of the famed Douro region, the mountainous valleys formed by the Douro River and its tributaries.
All situated in the areas of the Cima-Corgo and the Douro Superior, the four quintas or estates that make up Ramos Pinto’s holdings are:
Quinta do Bom Retiro: in Pinhão, planted exclusively with red varieties.
Quinta da Urtiga: adjacent to Bom Retiro.
Quinta da Ervamoira: in the far upper Douro, by the Côa river near the Spanish border. Here the grapes grow in dry semi-desert conditions.
Quinta dos Bons Ares: a cooler site with some of the highest vineyards in the Douro. Both red and white varieties ripen here with great natural acidity and fresh flavours.
The award-winning 10, 20 and 30 year old Tawnies are produced at Quinta da Ervamoira and Bom Retiro respectively.
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