2018 Fonseca Late Bottled Vintage Port

Aromas of dark cherry, blackcurrant, and plum integrate with potent notes of cedar and eucalyptus. The palate is full-bodied and velvety, featuring a dense core of luscious black fruit and hints of dark chocolate. It maintains a firm tannic structure and a long, fresh finish that is less syrupy than many other wines in this category.

The Guimaraens family utilizes traditional Douro methods, sourcing fruit from their own estates. In the cellar, the wine is fermented in stainless steel and fortified with grape spirit to stop fermentation, preserving its natural sweetness. Unlike Vintage Port, which ages for only two years in wood, this Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) matured in large oak vats for five years before bottling. It is filtered prior to release, meaning it is ready to drink immediately and does not require decanting to remove sediment.

The fruit is grown in the Cima Corgo sub-region of the Douro Valley in northern Portugal. The vineyards are characterized by steep, man-made terraces carved into hillsides of pre-Cambrian schist. This flaky, slate-like rock is essential to the region's quality, as its vertical fractures allow vine roots to penetrate deep into the earth to find water during the arid summer months, resulting in highly concentrated and structured grapes.