2024 Taylor’s, Fonseca, Croft: phenomenal Ports from a great year

'We could not have asked for better growth conditions'

Vintage is Port's most premium style, made from the best grapes grown on the steep terraces of the Douro Valley's Cima Corgo. With the very large majority of Port vinified in tawny or ruby styles, vintage production is small. Port houses don't release vintages every year; on average, most manage about three a decade. The decision to release a vintage revolves around the quality of the grapes (and market conditions). In practice, in any given year, one or other Port house will always declare a vintage. A general declaration takes place when conditions conjoin so well that all major houses declare a vintage. With fabulous conditions up and down the Douro, 2024 sees a general declaration, the first since 2017.

The Fladgate Partnership spans three historical houses. Croft and Taylor's go back to English merchant shippers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; Fonseca was Portuguese-founded in the early nineteenth century. Facing political persecution in Portugal, early Fonseca owner Manuel Guimaraens escaped from Portugal inside an empty Port barrel, and for the next hundred years Fonseca was also headquartered in England.

Manuel's modern descendant David Guimaraens is head winemaker across all three houses. While they enjoy access to the best of modern winemaking technology, the three houses nevertheless maintain traditional practices whenever optimum. And when it comes to making vintage Ports, that includes foot treading, which still beats mechanical (though the practice had to be suspended during Covid). But what really distinguishes all three houses is their top-quality portfolio of vineyards. Taylor's Quinta do Junco, Fonseca’s Quinta do Panascal and Croft's Quinta da Roêda are each regarded as among the very best for Port grapes, and each brings something different and distinctive to their respective Ports.

2024 saw a brilliant vintage in the Douro. In David's words, 'we could not have asked for better growth conditions than those of 2024'. While spring rains disrupted flowering and guaranteed eventual low yields, they also (essentially) replenished water reserves in advance of the dry summer. After the hot August, conditions cooled in the run-up to harvest, bringing freshness to balance the year's ripeness. The quality of Port grapes was phenomenal, and the general declaration was widely anticipated. /NT

Offered subject to remaining unsold. Wines available imminently. To place an order, click on the wines below or call 020 7638 5998