Krohn Quinta do Retiro Novo Single Quinta Vintage Port 2011

Krohn Quinta do Retiro Novo, Single Quinta Vintage Port, Portugal, 2011

Grapes: A blend of Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, & Tinta Barroca

Producer Tasting Note:

A rich, dark Port, packed full of pure bramble fruit, very concentrated with well-integrated tannins and surprisingly good balancing acidity. A forward and approachable style for drinking soon.

Vintage 2011 was so widely declared because of the exceptional weather conditions which differed quite dramatically from the rest of Europe. A wet Autumn in 2010 left subsoils nicely damp and able to cope with the near drought conditions that ensued in the first half of 2011, then a cool summer helped to maintain freshness and avoid any overly dry, raisiny characteristics. Some welcome splashes of rain at the end of August and early September helped to ripen tannins (and bring them back in line with sugar levels) then the dry days and cool nights that followed provided perfect picking conditions. The result is a superb single Quinta Port from the excellent and early drinking 2011 vintage.

Founded in 1865 by two Norwegians, Theodor Wiese and Dankert Krohn, the company, over the following century and a half built up an outstanding reputation for its old, cask-aged Ports, in particular its ‘colheitas’ or single harvest tawnies. Krohn is also noted for its finely-constituted Vintage Ports sourced from its flagship property Quinta do Retiro Novo in the Rio Torto Valley. Due to its superb location, age of vines etc, the Quinta is classified as a "Class A" property.

A Quinta do Retiro Novo vintage is produced exclusively from grapes from this vineyard in excellent years when the style of the year creates an individuality and an expression of the single location in the final wine. It will typically mature earlier than a Krohn vintage.

Food Match: Drink with mature farmhouse and blue cheeses.