2014 Pintas Vintage Port
Wine & Soul
Douro Valley, Portugal

90 pts Wine Advocate

The Vintage Ports from the smaller producers are my favorite category of Ports as they tend to be drier in character, more wine-like than sweet and luscious like the Port House wines from the big boys.  The Pintas Vintage Port is a great example of this, one of the best in fact.  The only other Port that is this consistent is the 'single Quinta Port' of all Ports, Quinta do Vesuvio.  But, unlike Vesuvio, the Pintas Port is not made in every vintage, but it is made more often the declared vintage ports from the big houses.  This is one of the few Ports where the sense of terroir is very much apparent.

- Made from a field blend of over 30 different indigenous grape varieties.
- All grapes were carefully selected and foot trodden in lagares for 5 days until brandy was added to stop the fermentation. THE best and most traditional way to make Port.
- The fortified wine is then aged in an old Port Tonel for 19 months, after which the wine is bottled
- One of the top wines in all of Portugal, a complexity beast!
- One of my all-time favorite wines and vineyards in all of the world.
- A classic representation of Douro Valley terroir
- Vines 87+ years-old
- Steep schist hard rock terraces
- Will age for 15+ years easy (2029), or drink now with a decant, at least 1 hour
- One of my favorite PORTS, I buy this every vintage it is released

My Tasting Note: 
A deep red to opaque colored core.  Judiciously fruited with black, red and blue tree and berry fruits, but also very much showing the full stem notes of spice, sweet and savory herbs and rocky schiste terroir this wine is grown in.  The palate is starting to open up, it is not as tight as a bottle I had last year.  Incredibly fresh and layered, a Port that drinks very much wine-like, with a great integrated tannic structure.  Super long on the finish, this sails on well past a minute.  Decant at least 1 hour.