Port Wine

Fonseca Guimarães

Vintage 2018, 75cl

Douro

Fonseca Guimarães

The character of the 2018 wines was influenced by an unusual and occasionally challenging viticultural year. After a very hot and dry 2017, by mid-January, 56% of Portugal, particularly the north-east, was declared to be in severe drought. Fortunately, March was very wet and heavy rainfall, totalling 223mm in Pinhão, filled groundwater reserves that came to prove vital during the ripening period. By the end of June the weather remained cold and wet causing mildew in some vineyards and hail storms on 28 May caused extensive damage to some properties in the Pinhão region. The vineyard cycle was about three weeks behind the previous year, with the veraison only arriving at the end of July. The weather in July was dry and relatively mild, but August saw the arrival of intensely hot weather with temperatures well over 40°C in the Upper Douro in the early days of August. The heat allowed the cycle to recover and although the hot weather continued, the large amount of moisture in the soil resulted in even and balanced ripening of the grapes. Harvest started at Quinta do Panascal da Fonseca, in the Távora valley and its properties in the Pinhão, Cruzeiro and Santo António valley, during the week of 22nd September and was carried out under hot and dry conditions. The young wines had a deep colour and stood out for the freshness of their fruit and excellent acidity.

Allergens information

Contains sulphites.

Fonseca - Vinhos do Porto

From the legendary 1840, Fonseca’s first Vintage Port release, to the superb declared vintages of the last decade, the house has produced a succession of highly acclaimed wines even in the most adverse moments of history.
James Suckling, in his authoritative book on Vintage Port, put it as follows: ‘The vintage Ports of Fonseca are perhaps the most consistently great of them all. Not only do they have a striking fleshiness and powerful richness when young, but they retain that youthfulness for decades.’
This consistency derives not only from continuity of family involvement, and the knowledge and skill passed down from one generation to the next, but also a close link with the vineyard. The firm’s three estates of Cruzeiro, Panascal and Santo António are the heart of the distinctive character of Fonseca’s Vintage Ports.
Fonseca’s respect for the vineyard and the unique environment of the Douro Valley expresses itself in the firm’s leadership in the field of sustainable and organic viticulture. It was the first house to offer a Port made entirely from organically produced grapes.
However for many wine enthusiasts around the world Fonseca is best known as the producer of Bin No.27. This fine reserve Port, launched four decades ago, is one of the most popular and successful Port blends. Sharing the heritage of the great Fonseca Vintage ports, it displays the opulent fruity character which defines the Fonseca house style.
Perhaps more than any other Port house, Fonseca has built a loyal community of Port enthusiasts who value its individuality and the inimitable character of its wines. These include connoisseurs, collectors, sommeliers and restaurateurs as well as those who simply enjoy drinking its wonderfully rich and complex Ports.

Address

Quinta and Vineyard Bottlers – Vinhos, S.A.

Quinta do Panascal
5120-496 Valença do Douro
Portugal