Decanter World Wine Awards 2025 - Best in Show - 97pts
"The 2018 vintage for Port was a challenging but finally rewarding one: it came on the back of a long drought sequence throughout 2017, and the summer of 2018 saw heat spikes of up to 45⁰C in the Douro. It could have been a disaster – had it not been for a very wet spring. That wet spring meant that many of the region’s greatest vineyards could call on water reserves to sustain them in summer. The result was grandiose … in places; hence ideal for Single Quinta Vintage declarations. That was what our judges sensed when they came to this magnificent wine. It’s midnight black in colour, with a powerful weave of blackcurrant, mulberry, menthol, resin and cistus aromas. On the palate it’s generous, broad and thick-textured, with more black fruit lent complexity by the dried herbs, by malt, by dark chocolate; the tannins are softly chunky, intimately meshed with the fruit; the spirit integration is seamless. No hurry to drink, needless to say – but this fine Quinta port is inspiring just now."
