An Ineluctable
Pair: 2017 Vintage Ports

BY NEAL MARTIN | JUNE 04, 2019“My
name is Neal Martin...and 12 months later, I still love Vintage Port.”

Who doesn’t love a
General Declaration? There is always a frisson
of excitement when the major Port houses put aside their friendly rivalry and
gather together to announce that a season produced fortified wines worthy of
historic names such as Fonseca, Dow’s and Noval Nacional, among others. It
reminds me of the climactic scene of Ghostbusters,
when our intrepid heroes risk something “very bad” by crossing their proton
streams to defeat the evil Gozer. Admittedly, a Port declaration is not quite
as dramatic as that. But it has a similar effect: a joining of forces to form a
consensus about a vintage that is more powerful than a single Port house
declaration.

However, General
Declarations do not come in pairs. They are supposed to be drip-fed, three or
maybe four each decade, keeping Port aficionados on their toes. The chances of consecutive General Declarations must be
incredibly low, considering not just the meteorological odds of a textbook
growing season but also the willingness of all Port houses to declare. (Although,
come to think of it, how many “vintage of the century” declarations are the Bordelais
on now?) The closest the Douro has come is in 1991 and 1992, with what you
might call “semi-declarations,” though Charles Symington told me that in fact
there were consecutive General Declarations in 1872/73. For the record, I
cannot actually remember those.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1559678277956-port+2017+line+up+.jpg"> 

Last year, as Taylor
Fladgate, Symingtons and Quinta do Noval et
al, declared the 2016s to palpable relief, since the last was back in 2011,
there were already murmurings echoing down the Douro valley that 2017 had
knocked the ball out of the park and that it would be sacrilegious to forgo
another Declaration. And so it has come to pass. “I consider these wines to be
among the best that I have known during my time at Quinta do Noval,” enthused
Christian Seely, who oversees Quinta do Noval, part of AXA Millésime’s
portfolio. “The decision to declare them was a very easy one.” Charles
Symington joined the chorus of approval, writing: “In my 25 years as a
winemaker in our family vineyards, I have never seen a year like this.” Adrian
Bridge at Taylor Fladgate told me that both vintages reached the “absolute
quality” to make a declaration, especially because they produced different
styles of Port.

So what happened in
2017 that gave the Port houses no choice but to declare?<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1559679296730-port_2016_douro_terraces.jpg"> The terraces in the Douro Valley that step down to the riverbanks.

The Growing Season

The key to the 2017
vintage is the incredibly hot, dry spring. Apart from a deluge of between 25mm
and 30mm (1–1.2 inches) on July 6, there was only around 300mm (12 inches) of rain
from November 2016, winter having also been relatively dry. In fact, it was so
dry, Bridge told me, that the Spanish source of the Douro River dried up for
the first time ever. A heat wave from June 7 to 24 saw temperatures plateau at
42–44°Celsius (107–111°F), the hottest since 1980; subsequently it was very hot
but without heat spikes. Vines reacted with vigorous growth, so that from bud
burst onward they remained two to three weeks ahead of the normal cycle
compared to 2016. So the aforementioned rain in July occurred after and not
before véraison, and this injection
of vigor was transferred into the berries. It also took the sting out of the
incessant heat of August; vines were able to manage any water deficiency and did
not shut down. Canopies were quite small, likewise the berries and bunches, so
an abundant crop was never on the cards.

Unsurprisingly, it
was an early harvest, the reds picked from around August 21 until the end of
September. At Taylor Fladgate, the 2017 harvest finished the same day it began
in 2016. The dryness meant that sanitary conditions were near perfect. However,
as already mentioned, the Port houses were looking at small yields, around 20%
lower than average, Symington cropping at around 860 grams per vine or 2.5 tons
per hectare and some Quintas even lower (information in the tasting notes). One
unusual aspect of the 2017 vintage was the performance of the Touriga Franca.
Charles Symington told me that it was the first time he had seen yields smaller
than those of Touriga Nacional, and he sees this variety as a cornerstone of
quality. He also pointed out Sousão as another possible unsung hero, since it
tends to offer higher levels of fixed acidity, crucially imparting freshness
into the concentrated 2017s. In terms of the winemaking, it was possible to
ferment at lower temperatures and maximize aromatics and structure. Both David Guimaraens, head
winemaker at Taylor Fladgate, and Johnny Symington compared the summer to 1945, which produced a
raft of legendary Vintage Ports (even though it was so dry that they had to
ship drinking water up the Douro.)<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1559678324599-port_2016_bridge.jpg">The famous bridge that spans the mouth of the Douro River in Porto. 

General Quality

The consecutive
declaration inevitably means that the 2017s will be compared to 2016s. Quite
rightly, those that splashed out on 2016 will want to know why they should open
their wallets again. Well, the answer is clear when you taste them: whereas the
leitmotifs of 2016 are elegance and finesse, 2017 is more about structure and
intensity. The 2017s are more hedonistic than their 2016 counterparts and yet
the startling aspect of these Ports is their freshness. Theoretically the heat
of summer ought to have sapped the wines of their brightness and acidity, yet
it is clearly locked in and there is plenty of tension. The result is a number of
very intense though not exotic Ports, in that they avoid hedonism and there is
no loss in typicity. At times they verge on overwhelming the senses, though of
course I am sinfully approaching them decades before their prime. Conjecturing
what the 2017s will become, the mind boggles. The quality of the vintage is
such that all Port houses saw fit to release special labels, and there is good
reason for this. The dry conditions meant that the oldest vines with the greatest
spatial root systems performed exceptionally well. So not only do we have the
famous Quinta do Noval Nacional that debuted back in the 1920s, but we have
maiden releases of Serikos from Croft, and also the Vinha Velha from Quinta de
Vargellas and Capela da Quinta do Vesuvio. (I have sneaked in an additional
tasting note for the recently released non-vintage “VV” from Niepoort.)<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1559678336624-port_serikos.jpg"> 

Clearly, these 2017
Vintage Ports merit a General Declaration. In fact, it would not surprise me if
General Declarations do become more frequent, because winemaking techniques
have improved so much in recent years. Nowadays not only is there more
expertise in the vineyard, but winemaking techniques have been vastly
fine-tuned, not least in terms of temperature regulation in the vat and the
cellar. Perhaps what might limit General Declarations is if global warming
continues and seasons become too hot and dry. But at least what we do not have
is a “2016 Part Two” (a bit like 2009 and 2010 in Bordeaux – the same wines cut
from different cloths). I expect prices to be pegged close to 2016, probably
with a small increase since 2017 is one of the smallest declarations in terms
of volume (figures detailed in respective tasting notes where possible).

When will the next
General Declaration be announced? Wait and see. But one thing that is
guaranteed is that I will still love Port.You Might Also Enjoy <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vinous.com/articles/hurdling-over-time-19th-century-madeira-feb-2019">Hurdling Over Time: 19th-Century Madeira</a>, Neal Martin, February 2019 <div><a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/port-is-for-life-symington-vintage-tawny-ports-dec-2018">Port Is For Life: Symington Vintage &amp; Tawny Ports</a>, Neal Martin, December 2018 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/vintage-port-the-2016-declaration-jun-2018">Vintage Port – The 2016 Declaration</a>, Neal Martin, June 2018 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/cellar-favorite-1948-taylor-fladgate-vintage-port-may-2018">Cellar Favorite:&nbsp;1948 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port</a>, Neal Martin, June 2018 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/cellar-favorite-blandy-s-madeira-recent-releases-mar-2018">Cellar Favorite:&nbsp;Blandy’s Madeira – Recent Releases</a>, Neal Martin, March 2018</div>

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