Port Wine Fonseca Guimaraens Vintage 2005 75cl
TASTING NOTES
Black as ink, with narrow purple halo. On the nose it is still young and crisp, displaying fresh and vibrant flavors of raspberry and black currant with hints of tea and plum leaves. The palate is relatively austere, showing a lot of depth and capacity. The dense and velvety tannins reveal an attractive clamshell and firmness in the end, which is marked by a magnificent explosion of fresh red berry aromas.
NEAL MARTIN – EROBERTPARKER.COM – JULY 2007
“Very closed nose, with delicate touches of blackberry, wild bushes, dark chocolate and a touch of raspberry sauce. The palate is firm and muscular, the spices and with good acidity, but at this time lacks a bit of sharpness and still little cohesive in the end. It may improve but need 4-5 years to calibrate. Drink between 2012-2020. “
Richard Mayson – DECANTER MAGAZINE – DECEMBER 2007
“Deep color and opaque, mature but still retracted; delicious flavors of ripe plum type at first, quite soft and voluptuous, but supported by firm tannins dense, with powerful persistence of flavor..”
WINE ACCESS – 93/100
“Spicy aroma and tobacco, black tea, menthol, dried herbs, black cherry jam and black chocolate with a touch of spirit. Full, round, moderately sweet palate but with good acidity and young tannins. Very flavored licorice, jam black cherry, dried fig, orange, smoke, earth, black tea, pepper. Good elegance and persistence, need 7-10 years to develop. “
NOTES OF THE YEAR
The winter preceding the 2005 vintage was extremely cold and dry, leaving severely reduced water supplies, after one too hot and dry in two thousand four.
Due to cold weather and water shortages, the growing season started later than usual. Throughout the growing season was marked by a smaller vigorosidade and a smaller size of the berries, in all castes.
From May 16th until September 6th hardly rained. However, despite the extreme heat and conditions similar to those of a dried, the maturation process continues normally, albeit at a slower rate than normal. Fortunately, dry summer conditions were mitigated by the constant rains that fell between 6 and 9 September, giving the vines relief that both needed, allowing complete the process of maturation and get a perfectly ripe harvest and balanced.
