1999 Vintage Port
1999 was the largest vintage since 1996 and turned out to be a useful vintage for the trade with some small quantities of outstanding single quinta wines. Not a general declaration.
Drinking Status
These wines are likely to provide excellent medium term drinking maturing well into the 2010's.
Tasting Notes
The wines are characteristically aromatic and elegant in structure, probably due partly to the cool fermentations.
Climatic Conditions
The winter of 1999 was cold and dry. Rainfall in March, April and May was significantly above average and required preventive action to be taken in the vineyard.
Flowering took place at the end of May under favourable conditions and set the scene for an above average size year. June and July were particularly dry, temperatures being normal for this time of year however due to lack of rain, the grapes started to show signs of dehydration.
At the beginning of August, however, some very useful rain corrected this situation and was later followed by another spell of rain in early September, maturation taking place under near textbook conditions.
The vintage was set to start on the 20th September. Unfortunately, the weather broke on the 23rd September and was cool and unsettled, with almost daily showers for the next twelve days, spoiling what might have been a classic year.
Vinification
The harvest saw mainly cool musts arriving at the adegas, around 20ºc. Heating was therefore often required in order to achieve more extractive wines.
Due to the moderate temperatures during the maturation period and the low temperatures during the vintage the wines are particularly aromatic, this being the case for wines of all qualities.
Winemaker's Comments
"The overall quality of wines produced in 1999 was above average, and a useful amount of wine to replenish stocks of LBV and Vintage Character was produced. However quantities of very top quality wines are limited. 1999 was undoubtedly a year where wines from the Douro Superior stood out, where very little rain was experienced during the vintage."
Charles A Symington
November 1999