2015 FONSECA GUIMARAENS, Lea & Sandeman

FONSECA GUIMARAENS

2015

Origin Portugal, Port
District Vintage Port
ABV 20%

The house of Fonseca began trading in 1815 - and to celebrate the 200th anniversary, the firm has made a limited release of this Guimaraens 2015 Port. We feared before tasting that perhaps this had been done for the wrong reasons - purely to mark the date - but thankfully this is a super Single Quinta offering that is a very worthwhile release in its own right! A good deep chewiness to the beautifully stewed dark fruit is punctuated with lovely dollops of sweet, soft brown licorice. There's some cocoa powder too and then more of the lovely dry plummy fruit in the middle, a crushed sultana, paste-like feel. Intense and sweetly satisfying fruit that us deep, rich and joyous - with ripe form structure which should give this some potential to age well. L&S (May 2017)


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A blend of wines from three Fonseca estates: Quinta do Cruzeiro and Quinta do Santo António in the Pinhão Valley and Quinta do Panascal in the Távora valley. Guimaraens is the label that Fonseca use ‘in certain years when classic Fonseca vintage is not declared and are generally more supple and approachable when young’. This wine marks Fonseca’s bicentenary and seems to have been made for the middle to long haul. No information supplied on the varietal make-up. Closed and dense on the nose with underlying ripe fruit, still rather demure after a couple of days; immediately big and impressive in the mouth, ripe and fleshy with solid tannins to back up the fruit, leading to a peacock’s tail of a finish. The biggest and most structured of the 2015s that I have tasted so far: this will be a long-term keeper. I would broach this around 2030! Rating: 17.5 Richard Mayson, www.richardmayson.com  (Sept 2017)

It says Bicentenary on the label... Very dark crimson. Headily scented on top and very solid underneath. Very grown up and luscious with lots of sweet liquorice at the beginning but extremely dry on the end. Grainy and very chewy. Needs lots of time. Extremely vigorous. But no concessions to sweetness and softness. Drinking range: 2033 - 2055 Rating: 17.5 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Aug 2017)

A firm and gutsy Fonseca with medium to full body, chewy and powerful tannins and a long and flavorful finish. Lots of blueberry, blackberry and mineral undertones. Even some slate. Long and powerful. Medium sweetness. Better in 2019. Rating: 93 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Jun 2017)

Fonseca

Manuel Pedro Guimaraens bought out the Fonseca family's share of Fonseca & Monteiro in 1822, sold with the proviso that the Company would always bear the Fonseca name, and the Guimaraens family have controlled Fonseca ever since, even after absorbtion by Taylors, Fladgate & Yeatman in 1948. Not long after taking control of the Company, due to his support of the deposed King Pedro IV, Manuel was forced to flee Portugal (allegedly in an empty wine barrel) and settled in London, from where Fonseca was run until 1927 when the Guimaraens family returned to Portugal. David Guimaraens is the winemaker today, not only at Fonseca but Taylors too. In recent years especially, Fonseca and Taylors have elevated themselves clearly above their rivals for the sheer quality and prestige of their Vintage Ports.

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