Quinta do Crasto Vintage Port 2017 Douro, Portugal 75cl

Quinta do Crasto is one of the most admired estates in the Douro, run by the Roquette family, and a Vintage Port carries its name only in the best years. This is the top of the fortified range, made from the estate’s oldest and finest schist vineyards on the steep slopes above the river.

Vintage Port is bottled young after a short time in wood, then left to mature in glass for years or decades. It is the fullest, most ageworthy expression of the Douro, and the estate declares it only in the best years, when a season truly merits the name.

2017 was a hot, dry and early season across the valley, giving very ripe, deeply concentrated fruit and small yields. It was widely declared across the region, and its power and depth suit the demands of the Vintage Port style.

Expect an intense, saturated young Port with dense black fruit, floral top notes and firm, grippy tannins wrapped around sweet, seamless concentration. It is tightly wound now and built to reward long cellaring, softening and gaining savoury complexity over many years in a good cellar.

This is a wine for patience and for occasion, a bottle to lay down for a milestone birth year or to share far in the future with strong, salty cheese and good company. Decant it carefully off its sediment before serving. If you appreciate serious Vintage Port, 2017 from a name like Crasto is one to secure and forget for a decade or more.