Shippers in the Douro announced that 2018 was another fabulous year for port wines. A few port shippers declared a classic vintage whilst others opted to declare their best single vineyard ports instead.

Given travel restrictions during crush in 2020, Sophia Bergquist settled in for the duration at her quinta on the edge of Pinhão, where she works with Jorge Moreira on the wines. It’s a beautiful place be on lockdown, and it produced a beautiful wine in 2018, a time that now seems like ancient history.

Vibrant with spicy green scents and deep tobacco tones, it has a fragrance that reminds you of a Cohiba cigar mingling with enormous aromatic black-fruit driven complexity. With air, the savoury tannins grow increasingly brisk and powerful, while fruit sweetness comes up to meet them. Pretty delicious as a young wine, this is structured to age for 20 years or more.

"Racy and vibrant Port in the making here, with mouthwatering bramble and anise notes running along the edges of a lively mix of cassis, raspberry ganache and blackberry and fig paste notes. Lots of energy drives the finish, which is marked with a bold licorice snap note. Best from 2030 through 2050."
96 Points
(James Molesworth, Wine Spectator Magazine, January 2021)